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.
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road.cc test report
Make and model: PDW The Bird Cage
Size tested: Black
Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
PDW just wanted to add a bit of fun into the humble bottle cage and they haven't done it at the expense of performance.
No bottle ejections so a thumbs up.
No slackness issues yet but we'll keep you posted.
Not one for the weight weenies.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Very impressive. Holds a bottle tight even on rough terrain.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
It's fun.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.
Would you consider buying the product? Yes.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.
About the tester
Age: 34 Height: 180cm Weight: 76kg
I usually ride: Ribble Winter Trainer for commuting, Genesis Flyer My best bike is: Sarto Rovigo
I've been riding for: 10-20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed,
Stu knocked out his first road.cc review back in 2009 and since then he's chucked the best part of seventy test bikes around the West Country, a couple of them quite literally! With three alloy and two steel bikes in his fleet he's definitely a metal man (that'll be the engineering background) but is slowly warming to that modern carbon fibre stuff along with fat tyres & disc brakes.
It's not all nostalgia though, after spending the last few years in product design Stu keeps banging on about how 3D printing is going to be the next big thing and he's a sucker for a beautiful paint job too.
1 comments
something a bit different, i like. dont think it would be going on the race bike but certainly a good shout for my winter