Fabric Cageless Water Bottle: Rider Review

Do you hate carrying a ton of weight on your back when going out for a ride? For a lot of people, it can seriously slow them down negotiating trail features with the added concern of weight on your back. Our friend Clay tried out the Fabric Cageless Water Bottle and shared his thoughts on the product, check it out below!

Why Carry a Water Bottle?

After 2 years of riding, I have realized that I enjoy riding more when there is less weight on my back. I know that everyone else has figured this out before me, but I'm slowly catching on. As a part of this realization, I am making the transition to carrying as few items as possible in a backpack during rides. I also have a personal view that water bottle cages aren't the most aesthetically pleasing part of a bike, especially when they are empty. The Fabric Cageless Water Bottle is absolutely necessary to move in this direction.

Why Fabric?

I was looking for a bottle that was small enough to fit inside the frame and below the shock. I tried traditional water bottle cages and there just wasn't enough room to insert and take out the water bottle with how close my shock was to the cage. At this point I was getting a little disheartened as the heaviest item in my backpack is my water bladder. I had also seen online that some of the cageless solutions that used magnets were very expensive and a little out of my price range. Every time I came home and had to clean out my water bladder, I was reminded of how I needed to solve this problem.

Installation and Use

After looking at the Worldwide Cyclery website for solutions, I found the Fabric water bottle setup. I did a little research and decided to try it out. In terms of installation, it was super easy taking about 5 minutes. It came with the screws and mounts, enough to mount to 2 bikes in case you want to use it on more than one bike (say 1 road bike and 1 mountain bike). The bottle slides in and out super easily and secures in nicely with the mounting studs. However, in the 5 rides I've done so far, I will say though that it has fallen out in 2 instances after going over jumps. I may not have secured it in perfectly so will continue to watch it. But for now, it is the perfect way to carry around water.

Final Thoughts

I recommend the Fabric Cageless Water Bottle if you want to carry your water on your bike and need something that is easier to maneuver a bottle in and out of, compared to a cage.