Elite Bottle Cages

Elite Bottle Cages preview

Bottle cages are one of those accessories that you will find on pretty much every bike; well, except track bikes! We have two Elite bottle cages to try out, each of which has a unique feature. They are the Struka and Ambo, both of which are made from FRM, Fibre Reinforced Material.

Elite Struka

First of all we have the Struka bottle cage. The Struka is a little different from your average bottle cage, why? Well, it’s got a micro-adjustable ratchet on the front of it; pretty strange eh? Perhaps not, if you look through some of the other Elite bottle cages, you come across the Pria Pavè. This is designed “to offer exceptional bottle retention while riding on cobbles and difficult trail conditions“.

The two cages differ in a couple of ways, firstly weight. The Struka weighs in at 34g, meanwhile the Pria Pavè waddles in at 42g. Secondly and the main noticeable difference, is their closure. The Struka uses a Fitgo ratchet dial, that reels in a steel wire. Turn the dial clockwise and it will reel in the cable, one click at a time. Turn it one click anti-clockwise and it completely releases the cable.

Why do you need an adjustable bottle cage?

I can think of a few reasons. First off is that not all bottles are created equal. I have few bottles that only get used on the turbo, or taken to school by the kids. The reason why? They’re just a little undersized and annoyingly rattle around in my cage, looking for the slightest bump to eject themselves out onto the road.

Secondly it’s handy for those days when you reach down for your bottle, only to realise you left it at home! You could go back and get it, but that would mean a thirty minute trip home and then another thirty minutes to get you back to where you are. Or, you could stop and buy a bottle of water, but they never fit.

Lastly there’s off-road riding, where a rocky chute can see your favourite bidon flying off into the undergrowth. For all those scenarios the Struka would come in handy. It can adapt to take a bottle between 65-80mm, solving the fit issue. It can also be tightened up to add some extra security on rough trails, or even cobbles.

Elite Ambo

Next we have the Ambo, which at first glance looks to be a standard bottle cage. Made from the same FRM as the Struka, it weighs 53g. Turn it sideways and you see what makes it different, the Ambo is a side opening cage. This allows you get to your bottle when normal access is blocked, by a frame bag for instance.

The Ambo has a large degree of adjustability afforded by its two-part design. The spine of the cage, has long cut-outs allowing you to shift the cage up or down the cage. Meanwhile the cage itself can be rotated 180 degrees for left or right hand access. The cage opening also has two positions it can be fixed in, allowing more options. This adjustability comes in handy for bike-packers, who might need to attach extra cages in unusual positions. It’s also useful for MTBers who may have to deal with reduced space on their frames due to suspension fixings.

Elite Bottle Cages

So there we have two Elite Bottle Cages, each doing the same job, but in their own way. I’ll be trying these two out and will let you know how I get on. Check out the Ambo and the Struka on the Elite website.