The first thing that you should put on your bicycle after a pump is water cages. Don’t stop with one but put two or more if possible. Most bicycles have room for two inside the main triangle part of the frame usually on the down tube and the seat tube. Some bicycles also have a third mounting facing forward at the bottom of the down tube.
Water cages come in different sizes and shapes and hold different amounts of water. There is also the option of using a water back pack. They are called many names, but are basically a bladder in a small backpack that you carry on your back. Once again they come in different sizes and hold different amounts of water.
A view of water cages and a water back pack.
So you say that putting water cages on your bicycle and adding water to the bottles puts extra weight on the bicycle?. You could use the water back pack.
A water back pack and it's bladder.
The one pictured above is a Malvern star, the bladder fits inside and the tube pokes out of the top and you suck on the tube letting the water flow into your mouth. I found these good because you are able to sip often. The downside is that I found that my back heated up and got hot.
So if the water back pack is not the thing for you, then it is water cages. As mentioned above, these are mainly fitted to the down tube and seat tube on most bicycles. The mounting holes are all ready pre drilled and threaded. Most even have a bolt in them. All you have to do is remove the bolts and add the cage.
View of water cages mounted on the frame.
If you are towing a BOB trailer you can add water cages to the rear of these. Some older models don’t have water cage mounts, but you could use clamps to fit them.
Rear view of BOB trailer with water cages.
Water cages come in many sizes. We are looking at a stock standard water cage which holds the normal size water bottle and the over size water cages that can hold the 1 or 1.5 litre bottles. The first picture is of a standard cage. There is not really much to it.
View of a standard water cage.
View of an over size water cage.
The above picture is a standard over size cage; this one can be adjusted very easily by just moving the top part of the cage and then locking it down with the metal slider. The bottle is held in place by elastic which works fine but would have to be replaced after a lot of use which is also easy to do.
Things to look out for on water cages are the mounting holes on the cage. They have to be as low to the bottom as possible. This will allow you to put two water cages on your bicycle. You can fit an over size cage on the down tube and a standard one on the seat tube.
There are also some water cages that come with height adjustable mounting points. These allow you to move both mounting points to suit the mounting position of the cage. The brand in Australia to ask for is Velocity. These cages have adjustable mounting points in both directions and also have enough clearance to clear a derailleur clamp.
Topeak water cage, note higher mounting points.
You can have problems with fitting some cages. The Topeak water cage is a good cage as it fits 1 or 1.5 litre bottles and it also has a screw for height adjustment allowing up to 40mm adjustment. It also has an elastic rubber strap that holds the cap of the bottle tightly.
The problem with this cage is that the mounting holes were too high. The problem this causes can be seen on the BOB trailer (photo below). It puts the water bottle too low to the ground. This could be a problem when going over rough areas.
Note how one water bottle is lower than the other.
There are many ways to carry water for long touring trips. Water is very important. No water means no riding, so next time you venture out just see if you could just add 1 more water cage. It may save your life.
