Fuel bottle mounting (pics & how to)

[Yellow7]

A while back someone on here asked for ideas on where to mount their fuel bottle, I subsequently answered where, on my last tour, mine ended up being placed. After recently over-hauling my bike ready for the next tour I’ve made a small mount, should anyone else be interested here are some pics and the steps:

Cut to the same diameter of the fuel bottle a piece of plastic (acrylic, polycarbonate, even a large pipe blanking cap from a plumbers shop - aluminium or steel sheet would also do, Wickes / Homebase normally have a selection.

Glue or double-sided tape a slightly larger piece of foam on the plastic, this prevents it from rattling!..trim the foam afterwards. (Lengths of narrow ~ 8mm wide (draft excluder) foam tape could also be used)
Buy, or make, three small L brackets, I used a piece of aluminium angle, cut, drilled & trimmed.
Cover the base with masking tape to allow marking the holes, placing it on the rack’s support bars is obviously required, at the same time also mark where the bars are so the cable-tie holes can be drilled.

Secured the L brackets with m3, 6mm long screws (I ended up using just two as my Surly rack supports the bottle above the third mount (photo)

Cable-tie in place, strap the bottle to the seatpost using velcro straps.

Have a cup of tea.

 

[Alun]

The rearmost bolt at the top of the seatpost will soon wear through the bottle spraying your legs and the underside of your saddle with fuel, I hope you're a non-smoker !

 

[Yellow7]

I cycled on a year long tour over 13,000 miles and it never gave any problems, also the bottle is always stored unpressurised. (The head of the bolts were also chamfered using a pillar-drill & file)

 

[robgul]

... a more obvious and much simpler solution would be an extra bottle cage under the downtube, in front of the chainset. Fixed with cable ties - or there's a band-on bottle cage mount - or drill the frame and fit Rivnuts to bolt the bottle cage on properly.

I don't carry a fuel bottle as I don't camp .... but my No1 Tourer machine does have an extra cage as described containing a "storage bottle can" with tools and spare cables etc in it.

Rob

 

[Aushiker]

... a more obvious and much simpler solution would be an extra bottle cage under the downtube, in front of the chainset.

That assumes a bottle would fit there. I have the braze-ons on my 58 cm Surly Long Haul Trucker there, but with the wide tryes and mudguards there is no-way a fuel bottle or any bottle is going there. The best I can do is mount a pump there. That said I do appreciate that for some this works.

I think the Yellow7 has posted an innovative idea and with some refinement it is probably a good option for some; I know I will consider it for sure.

For me it sure beats the approach I currently take which is using a couple, well now one Ortlieb Bottle Cage on my panniers. I lost one competely and had to tie the other one to the pannier along with the bottle to keep it all togther.

Regards
Andrew

 

[mcshroom]

That really depends on the frame then, as I carry a 1L Sigg flask in the carrier under the downtube (full of water, I cook on gas normally).

 

[Yellow7]

... a more obvious and much simpler solution would be an extra bottle cage under the downtube, in front of the chainset. Fixed with cable ties - or there's a band-on bottle cage mount - or drill the frame and fit Rivnuts to bolt the bottle cage on properly.

I don't carry a fuel bottle as I don't camp .... but my No1 Tourer machine does have an extra cage as described containing a "storage bottle can" with tools and spare cables etc in it.

Rob

I do already have said bottle cage. If I was doing a European tour then it would be fine there, but as on the last tour I had to maximise water storage, using three 1 litre water bottles & on desert sections I carried 2 litre folding pouches on the front rack, this way the fuel bottle is tucked up out the way, as it’s only used in the evenings.
My next tweek is to modify the bicycle bell bracket to include a small support arm for a Go-Pro camera, in order to minimise bar-clutter.

Andrew, Using the SiS 1 litre bottle I also had similar problems with it rubbing on mudguards so I ended up making a narrow strip that bolts on to the fuel bottle eyelits, then mounting the bottle cage ~ 2cm further down, I used piece of 3mm stainless, cut, edged & polished.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Our solution - we were due to head off into more remote territory so carried 2 fuel bottles. (the crutch was a late addition...)
Standard water bottle holder with a handle bar or seat stem mount (costs a few pounds) - also used on the handle bars for our "drinking bottle". The mount comes from topeak http://www.topeak.com/products/Bottle-Cages/cagemount
Never had any issues with it located there (about 7,000km). I just added a strap to deal with any possible theft issues more than anything else.

 

[Yellow7]

I guess on my frame I'm fortunate the rack supports are 90' to the seat post tube, unlike with yours of which my method would not work, nice bike, I also roll with a Rolf, of which I've recently made a tool to enable removal of the rear sprocket without carrying a (rather heavy) chain whip, it also includes an 8mm allen key for removing the crank bolts, & to loose a tad more weight (& I like making bits!), used in conjuction with the 15mm pedal/wheel-nut spanner.....my only reason for the next tour is to wear the sprocket out as an excuse to use the tool!

 

[Blue Hills]

Impressed by your fettling skills I must say.

I think I was the person who raised the query a while ago - I went for one of the kind suggestions - on the downtube - no mounts on that particular bike so as suggested got a perfectly good bottle cage from Wilkinsons (nice silver colour, simple classic design) and fastened it using jubillee clips with old inner tube to help the grip/prevent frame damage. It's an old bike anyway and I quite like the retro industrial look of the arrangement - sorry - can't take a pic at the mo.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I guess on my frame I'm fortunate the rack supports are 90' to the seat post tube, unlike with yours of which my method would not work, nice bike, I also roll with a Rolf, of which I've recently made a tool to enable removal of the rear sprocket without carrying a (rather heavy) chain whip, it also includes an 8mm allen key for removing the cranks, & to loose a tad more weight (& I like making bits!), used in conjuction with the 15mm pedal/wheel-nut spanner.....my only reason for the next tour is to wear the sprocket out as an excuse to use the tool!

What a great idea... I could easily see a market for that! small and exclusive I know but...

Can I assume it would only work with a certain number of teeth - as in changing the number of teeth on the rear sprocket would mean you need a new tool? Reason I ask is that we changed from a 16 tooth rear sprocket to a 17 tooth rear sprocket mid tour last time around (we were heading into Turkey and had worn out the 16 teeth sprockets, 17 teeth & appropriate change on the front as well made a huge difference to the steep ascents giving us that extra lower grannie gear that was needed). just a random thought.... but love the idea. Now all I have to remember is why we needed a 24mm spanner as well. We always cursed that it was so big & heavy...

 

[Yellow7]

Happy new year all!
Cheers SatNav, yes, it will only work on a 16 tooth sprocket, so you'd need one to match a 17 tooth, or any other. I spent a while playing with several designs before it evolved to what you see, strong (4mm steel), simple & light. To get that laser cut would be ~£5 in quantity, then there's tapping for the four threaded pins & welding for the cut down allen-key.

I agree, lugging [heavy] tools thousands of miles to use once-in-a-blue-moon is not good so reducing weight can only benefit, I only carry a 15mm spanner, if major repairs are required then they happen in big towns / cities where mechanics are plentiful, as an engineer I pay attention to the finest of details so (touch wood) things are okay....did I just temp fate!

On my next tour I'll be passing close by to where Rohloff's head office is in Germany to get my hub serviced so will show them my tool (ooh ah miss's) ....maybe I'll get a free service for my idea, a fair barter I think.
What are the highs & low's of Turkey? My Michelin 758 map only arrived yesterday, time to start plotting so any input would be appreciated.

As the devil makes work for idle hands it's time to finish the Go-Pro handlebar mount, pics to follow later!
Mark.

 

[Blue Hills]

That really depends on the frame then, as I carry a 1L Sigg flask in the carrier under the downtube (full of water, I cook on gas normally).

View attachment 244357

old thread i know but doing some more tinkering and websearch found my old thread

Can I ask what size those wheels are?

26 inch?

If so I have the idea that this makes things easier.

 

[mcshroom]

old thread i know but doing some more tinkering and websearch found my old thread

Can I ask what size those wheels are?

26 inch?

If so I have the idea that this makes things easier.

That's a blast from the past! That was my first proper camping tour

Actually they're 700c, wearing 35mm Marathons IIRC. I'm 1.78m/5'10" so take a large frame if that helps at all.

 

[Blue Hills]

Thanks for the reply mcshroom.
Glad you are still peddling/here.

The 700-wheeled frame I'm fiddling with is a 19inch (from BB to middle of top tube) - I think part of the problem may be that the screw on bottle mounts I have used, these:

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/s?q=dmr+hinged+clamp&cat=product

pushes the bottle and bikebuddy gubbins lower down where the bottle faces a bit of the wheel that is facing back more (if that makes sense).

I do have a smaller (500 mil instead of 1 litre) Trangia bottle but it seems to be too small for the bikebuddy to hold.

And I do like the Trangia bottle - not metal - good stopper - handy for pouring.

More experimenting needed.

Anyone else use a bikebuddy on the bottom of that tube?

Or successfully use another system to hold a fuel bottle there?

This is the bike I am trying to sort: