Quick Take: Fabric’s sleek cageless water bottle
The Cageless water bottle from Fabric is a simple, elegant design (click to enlarge).
Fabric is a small brand based out of the UK that got their start making sleek and comfortable saddles. We will have a write-up about Fabric’s line of saddles soon. Last week at the Bike Press Camp event in Park City, Utah, we got a glimpse at one of their brand new inventions. It is a simple, but effective cageless water bottle that mounts directly to the bike frame.
Two u-shaped cut-outs fit snugly around the mount studs (click to enlarge).
The design is so simple, it gives you one of those “why didn’t I think of that” moments. The super lightweight studs thread in directly to the water bottle bosses and gives your bike a super sano look with the bottle on or off. The 20 ounce bottles come in 7 colors and are BPA free.
Seven different colors of the 20 oz. BPA-free bottle (click to enlarge).
We weighed the Fabric bottle and mounts and it weighed in at 75 grams. Our stock setup included a basic Blackburn alloy cage, Specialized Purist 22oz bottle and bolts which weighed in at 129 grams. In fact, the Fabric bottle by itself weighed less than the Specialized bottle by itself. Besides saving weight over a traditional bottle and cage, the Fabric water bottle definitely provides a much cleaner look to your bike. The design is patented by Fabric and they have plans for insulated bottles, different colors and there is a larger size that is currently being developed.
The Fabric bottle and mounts weighed in at 75 grams and our stock setup weighed in at 129 grams (click to enlarge).
In my brief period of testing on the trail, the bottle did not eject even though the trails I was riding were quite bumpy and far from smooth. The action to take the bottle off and put it back on was easy to get use to and was easier than some side-load cages I’ve used. It is true that it isn’t as fast as slamming in a normal water bottle into a cage, since you have to orient the bottle for placing it back in. So, it might not be the best choice for racers. However, the bottle has ridges on the sides and an hourglass shape that help you orient the bottle.
The hourglass shape and ridged sides help the rider orient the bottle for removing and installing (click to enlarge).
For those of you who ride small size full suspension frames, this water bottle has a lower height than most cages. The only drawback is that these will not be available in the US until September of this year. MSRP for the 20 ounce version is a very affordable $20. The larger 26 ounce version is due out in December (price has not yet been set for the larger size.)
For more information visit fabric.cc/.
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