PDW The Bird Cage

PDW stands for Portland Design Works who as you can probably guess are based in Portland. We're talking US of A here though for the makers of this The Bird Cage bottle holder - not on the coast of Dorset.

Since 2008 the guys at PDW have been coming up with various bits and bobs to customise your bike from bar grips, to racks, mudguards and plenty of things in between. They've now turned their attention to the humble bottle cage.

The Bird Cage is as you can probably see a bird shaped sheet of 5052 grade alloy rolled to create a holder for your bidon. Coming in either a chrome plated finish or sandblasted black or silver it should match any frame colour without too much issue.

Once on the bike it is actually quite subtle unless you really pay attention to it - we've placed on both oversized carbon tubes and skinny steel ones and it suits them all.

Thankfully the Bird Cage isn't just a bit of bike bling; it actually performs as well. Whether you're using a 500 or 750ml bottle the grip remains tight both full and empty so you shouldn't see your bottle disappearing off down the road. Even on a harsh aluminium test bike there was very little in the way of rattling through road buzz and engaging and disengaging is relatively easy to.

Weight wise it is heavy compared to most bottle cages, especially carbon ones but 57g isn't exactly going to effect your climbing ability.

Price is £15 for the chrome and £13 for the sandblasted versions which is pretty damn good I reckon. That price includes two stainless steel bolts as well.

Even after hundreds of bottle movements it's showing no signs of wear and still holding with a vice like grip.

Verdict

A top performing bottle cage that brings a bit of fun to your bike.