carrying more bottles

[Ben M]

Hello there,

As you may or may not have gathered from my numerous posts mentioning the fact, my girlfriend and I recently acquired a tandem. It is a dawes and is made of reynolds 531 steel. It came with only three places for bottle cages (which all now have cages attached). Now three bottles between two people isn't very much, it's fewer bottles per person than my road bike!

Adding actual braze-ons would cost quite a bit and require a respray would it not? I'm not really for this as I don't want to butcher the frame. Are there any other solutions? I have seen saddlebags which can have a bottle slotted in them which look okay. Can anyone offer another solution?

As it is we have a rear rack fitted and have a front rack waiting to go on. We're intending to tour, so don't want to take up pannier space with drinks, and on top of the rack will be taken up by a tent, sleeping bags etc. so anything that can fit on the frame is ideal.

 

[andystev]

Might something like this work?

Cheers

 

[HLaB]

My old Hybrid bike had no bosses, I attached a cage with these Elite VIP Bottle Cage mounts

I was a wee bit dubious of them at first but after thousands of miles no problem, I'd say they done the job perfectly

 

[4F]

Handlebar mount ? http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/119675.html

 

[Ben M]

Might something like this work?

Cheers

£35 is a bit steep in my opinion, plus there isn' that much room behind the seats, especially not hers.

My old Hybrid bike had no bosses, I attached a cage with these Elite VIP Bottle Cage mounts

I was a wee bit dubious of them at first but after thousands of miles no problem, I'd say they done the job perfectly

Now I was thinking that there might be a solution like this, and I myself was a bit dubious. They seems ideal because there's loads of space on the frame for them! A personal recommendation was what I was looking for. Am I right in thinking that they come as two bits? One for each bolt? Are they good enough to have a 750ml bottle in them?

Handlebar mount ? http://www.allterrai...uct/119675.html

There might be some room on her bars, I doubt there is on mine, might look into that.

 

[PpPete]

We have a Dawes Galaxy 531 tandem with 3 cages too.
It's quite heavy enough without adding kilos of liquid !

I take a 750ml bottle of SIS Electrolyte solution (satisfies thirst better than water) Stoker takes 500 ml water, 500 ml orange squash. Hot day? need more liquid? S'wot pubs & tea shops is for, innit ?

I have looked at adding bottle cages to other bike though.
I was unimpressed with those Elite cage holders, although they are better than the Decathlon ones which are worse than useless.

The Rixen Kaul Bottleclick is the business IMO, can be mounted on frame, handlebars or whereever but not cheap. I bought one for a bike which has aonly single holder in expectation of a hot summer.... still not used it !

Or take a look at http://www.bikebuddy.co.uk/

 

[montage]

easy

 

[Crackle]

Some Jubilee clips over some electrical tape will work for any temporary bottle cages for touring. Not so elegant as a permanent solution perhaps.

 

[Amanda P]

Jubilee clips aren't as pretty as the VIP mounts, but they can do the same job and a lot cheaper.

 

[TheDoctor]

Asda (yes, I know...) do an adjustable bottle cage that'll take 1.5l bottles, and Jubilee clips + gaffer tape are cheap.
Bolt them on anywhere they'll fit. Fill yer boots

 

[tyred]

I attached a bottle cage with large cable ties to my 531 frame. Easier and (very slightly) neater than jubilee clips I would've thought. It's survived over 2000 miles so far.

 

[HLaB]

£35 is a bit steep in my opinion, plus there isn' that much room behind the seats, especially not hers.



Now I was thinking that there might be a solution like this, and I myself was a bit dubious. They seems ideal because there's loads of space on the frame for them! A personal recommendation was what I was looking for. Am I right in thinking that they come as two bits? One for each bolt? Are they good enough to have a 750ml bottle in them?



There might be some room on her bars, I doubt there is on mine, might look into that.

Yip, they come in a top and a bottom section they are basically two strap on bosses for securing a cage to. In the long term, I found they easily and securely coped with a pump, cage & 750ml bottle.

 

[Crankarm]

easy

 

[battered]

I like the hat!

One word of warning, if you build something with jubilee clips or anything else you happen to have in the shed, take the time to ensure that it has no sharp edges or protruding bits. In a crash these can make a hole in you. It happened to a friend of mine, he needed knee surgery after putting a titanium seat clamp bolt through it. 5 minutes with a saw would have seen it shortened to the right legth and he would have sustained at worst a nasty bruise and possibly a cut.

Old inner tubes are very handy for wrapping metalwork - they are non slip so the part stays where you put it, they protect paintwork and I've never heard of anyone getting a nasty gash off a rubber tube.

Then again I did hear of a bloke who needed to use a rubber tube to tackle a nas NO! NO! NO!

 

[Ben M]

We have a Dawes Galaxy 531 tandem with 3 cages too.
It's quite heavy enough without adding kilos of liquid !

I take a 750ml bottle of SIS Electrolyte solution (satisfies thirst better than water) Stoker takes 500 ml water, 500 ml orange squash. Hot day? need more liquid? S'wot pubs & tea shops is for, innit ?

I have looked at adding bottle cages to other bike though.
I was unimpressed with those Elite cage holders, although they are better than the Decathlon ones which are worse than useless.

The Rixen Kaul Bottleclick is the business IMO, can be mounted on frame, handlebars or whereever but not cheap. I bought one for a bike which has aonly single holder in expectation of a hot summer.... still not used it !

Or take a look at http://www.bikebuddy.co.uk/

Yes I know it's going to be very heavy! But I've no intention of strapping bottles of water on to every conceivable bit of free space, I was only going to add one so that we have 2 bottles of water each I'll look into those solutions, thank you.

Yip, they come in a top and a bottom section they are basically two strap on bosses for securing a cage to. In the long term, I found they easily and securely coped with a pump, cage & 750ml bottle.

Nice one, this is looking like a good solution to me

I like the hat!

One word of warning, if you build something with jubilee clips or anything else you happen to have in the shed, take the time to ensure that it has no sharp edges or protruding bits. In a crash these can make a hole in you. It happened to a friend of mine, he needed knee surgery after putting a titanium seat clamp bolt through it. 5 minutes with a saw would have seen it shortened to the right legth and he would have sustained at worst a nasty bruise and possibly a cut.

Old inner tubes are very handy for wrapping metalwork - they are non slip so the part stays where you put it, they protect paintwork and I've never heard of anyone getting a nasty gash off a rubber tube.

Then again I did hear of a bloke who needed to use a rubber tube to tackle a nas NO! NO! NO!

Cheers, I'm an old hand at using old innertubes for stuff. Sadly I've run out at the moment, was trying to fit a bell to my gf's bike the other day and couldn't find anything for the job.