Author Topic: Under seat bottle cages - regular or side entry?  (Read 2442 times)

Under seat bottle cages - regular or side entry?
« on: 29 October, 2020, 08:08:41 pm »
If mounting bottle cages under the bottom edges of a two-wheeled recumbent seat, do regular or side entry cages work better? Was thinking something that grips the bottle well, like Arundel or King Cage, is also a requirement. Any suggestions? I like to use Specialized water bottles, if it makes any difference. Thanks!
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Kim

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Re: Under seat bottle cages - regular or side entry?
« Reply #1 on: 29 October, 2020, 08:23:23 pm »
Probably depends on your arm length, I haven't tried it myself.  (I have a bottle cage under the boom below the seat on the Streetmachine that isn't reachable while in motion, and two normal cages on the *back* of the Baron's seat that I could in principle extract a bottle from inna He-Man sword style, but wouldn't rate my chances of getting back in place.)

My preferred approach for drinking on the 'bent is a hydration hose, with the loose end magnetically clipped to the underside of the seat (strong magnet taped in place under the pad).  Fed from either a bottle on the back of the seat or a bag on the rear rack.  Works well, though I tend to use an inaccessible bottle for shorter rides because it's less hassle to keep clean.

Barakta has a side-entry cage above the boom of her trike, which works acceptably well for access while in motion by leaning forward.  I'm not sure I'd trust it hanging upside-down, as it's quite easy to mis-align the bottle while you replace it.

Re: Under seat bottle cages - regular or side entry?
« Reply #2 on: 29 October, 2020, 08:28:39 pm »
I have these which I can confirm hold my 700ml bottles securely

https://tacx.com/product/deva/

I stop pedalling whilst taking bottles out / putting back and pedal whilst drinking.

Re: Under seat bottle cages - regular or side entry?
« Reply #3 on: 29 October, 2020, 09:11:09 pm »
I quite like Kim's idea of using a hydration hose going into an inaccessible bottle (e.g. in a cage behind the seat or in a bag with a bottle pocket) for on-the-go drinking (which I would like to have the option of)  then perhaps another one easily accessible when stopped under the right hand side of the seat.

I'm realising there's lots of odd new logistics to think of with a recumbent, e.g. where can I mount my Wahoo GPS and will I actually be close enough to it to follow a mapped route on it?
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Re: Under seat bottle cages - regular or side entry?
« Reply #4 on: 29 October, 2020, 09:14:30 pm »
I have these which I can confirm hold my 700ml bottles securely

https://tacx.com/product/deva/

Thanks! They look quite good, and pretty light. Pretty cheap too.

I stop pedalling whilst taking bottles out / putting back and pedal whilst drinking.

I won't always be able to do that, as also want to be able to ride in (probably behind most of the time) groups with my road cycling club
Old enough to know better, but young enough to do it anyway

Re: Under seat bottle cages - regular or side entry?
« Reply #5 on: 29 October, 2020, 09:19:07 pm »

My preferred approach for drinking on the 'bent is a hydration hose, with the loose end magnetically clipped to the underside of the seat (strong magnet taped in place under the pad).  Fed from either a bottle on the back of the seat or a bag on the rear rack.  Works well, though I tend to use an inaccessible bottle for shorter rides because it's less hassle to keep clean.

BTW How do you get the bottle to retain the hose? Something like this?: https://sourceoutdoor.com/en/accessories/22-convertube-hydration-system

I do have a Widepac hydration back, but prefer using bottles generally
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Kim

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Re: Under seat bottle cages - regular or side entry?
« Reply #6 on: 29 October, 2020, 09:43:59 pm »

My preferred approach for drinking on the 'bent is a hydration hose, with the loose end magnetically clipped to the underside of the seat (strong magnet taped in place under the pad).  Fed from either a bottle on the back of the seat or a bag on the rear rack.  Works well, though I tend to use an inaccessible bottle for shorter rides because it's less hassle to keep clean.

BTW How do you get the bottle to retain the hose? Something like this?: https://sourceoutdoor.com/en/accessories/22-convertube-hydration-system

That sort of arrangement, yes.  I cobbled it together with food-grade nylon hose fittings from eBay.  (I started out with a 4-litre Ortlieb water bag[1] with their drinking tube, and improved it with fittings that don't leak.  The bottle version came later to work with the Baron.)


[1] The original idea being this was enough for camping overnight, and it's easy to strap to a rear rack.

Kim

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Re: Under seat bottle cages - regular or side entry?
« Reply #7 on: 29 October, 2020, 09:57:31 pm »
I'm realising there's lots of odd new logistics to think of with a recumbent, e.g. where can I mount my Wahoo GPS and will I actually be close enough to it to follow a mapped route on it?

Easy on tiller bars, doable one way or another with most open-cockpit arrangements, and a complete pain with under-seat steering.

On the Streetmachine (USS) I have my eTrex mounted on a stem attached to the derailleur post (so about mid-shin distance), which is extremely practical for everything except visibility.  I tend to use carefully crafted routes with auto-routing, because the turn by turn prompting is easier to see at a distance.  Sometimes I do have to stop (which involves sitting forward) and study the map.  I've done a similar mounting on barakta's ICE trike (also USS), but I think it's only me that's ever actually used it for navigation.  The eBike console is barely readable at that range, but that's mostly Falco's fault for it being shit.  (There isn't enough handlebar real estate for the usual bar end extension thing-mounting tactics, for disability reasons.)

On the Baron's tiller I have the opposite problem, where it's a bit close to my face for optimal button-pressing, but it does mean I can peer at the screen under the lenses of my (distance) glasses, which works well for readability.

I think a GPS mounted at kneecap-distance as per most open-cockpit type bars is likely to be fine for readability unless you suffer from Wrong Glasses, but may be out of easy button-pressing range.

Re: Under seat bottle cages - regular or side entry?
« Reply #8 on: 29 October, 2020, 10:11:09 pm »
I'm realising there's lots of odd new logistics to think of with a recumbent, e.g. where can I mount my Wahoo GPS and will I actually be close enough to it to follow a mapped route on it?

Easy on tiller bars, doable one way or another with most open-cockpit arrangements, and a complete pain with under-seat steering.

I'll be using Schiltter double J bars
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Blodwyn Pig

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Re: Under seat bottle cages - regular or side entry?
« Reply #9 on: 29 October, 2020, 10:39:39 pm »
On my street machine I have the std double bottle cage that fits behind the seat. But I was told many years ago by a swimming coach, that I'm double jointed, whatever that means. Anyway, whilst riding, I can bend my arm round, retrieve the bottle, that magically appears upside down, "drink, hail!" Then replace said bottle , right way up, all without so much as a wobble, even managed whilst in racing mode a few weeks back.

Kim

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Re: Under seat bottle cages - regular or side entry?
« Reply #10 on: 29 October, 2020, 10:57:33 pm »
I'm realising there's lots of odd new logistics to think of with a recumbent, e.g. where can I mount my Wahoo GPS and will I actually be close enough to it to follow a mapped route on it?

Easy on tiller bars, doable one way or another with most open-cockpit arrangements, and a complete pain with under-seat steering.

I'll be using Schiltter double J bars

*googles*

I think I'd be inclined to molish some sort of bracket to put it in that useful looking space over the two bars where they meet in the middle.  Or on one side up from your resting hand position, assuming it isn't otherwise occupied by mirror.  The front part (bottom of the 'J') looks quite far forward, though is obviously a good candidate for lights etc.

ElyDave

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Re: Under seat bottle cages - regular or side entry?
« Reply #11 on: 30 October, 2020, 04:45:33 pm »
S40 - single cage mounted under the boom - 750 ml bottle, does for shorter rides. 2 x under seat cages, not so easy to access while riding - I Can just about do so - but then I tend to stop every hour to check blood sugar anyhow.  On very long rides I've had a bladder on the rack or in the rack-pack with the tube threaded through the head-rest arrangement. Could not get my existing side entry cage to mount under the seat.

M5 - I ended up with two bottles under the seat.  Tried the behind the seat in a twin bottle holder but like Kim could take a bottle out whilst riding but not get it back in.

Bladder in a banana bag also works OK
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