28 January, 2015

Introducing the VO Mojave Cage

By Chris

Carrying enough water on longer rides can be a problem, especially for touring cyclists in the southwest, but also in other parts of the country where potable water sources are far apart. We designed the Mojave cage to fit 32oz Nalgene bottles or 40oz Kleen Kanteen stainless steel bottles. Regular tall bike bottles usually hold between 20oz and 25oz. The design is based on our standard size retro cages which we find are better than most cages in keeping bottles secure even on rough terrain.
You may notice that the mounting tab has 5 holes. This allows you to mount the Mojave cage in three positions, higher or lower as best fits your frame. You can also mount it on newer frames with three water bottle screw bosses. We think the three attachment point system is a great idea and you'll see it on some of our future frames.
One caveat, the Kleen Kanteen bottle is pretty tall, about 29cm with the sport top. It may not fit inside the main triangle of smaller frames. The Nalgene is shorter, but doesn't offer a sport top. There are probably other bottles that fit; we plan to check large beer bottles first.
Mojave Cage compared to the standard-size Retro Cage.

13 comments:

way wakka said...

This is awesome news! On my bike with multiple triple mounts, I was able to snag an older prototype 3-mount King Cage & fell in love with being able to haul around Nalgene bottles. Bummer was that when trying to get CK to pump out some more they said there was issues either with the cage or bosses on the frame breaking when romping around with heavier Kleen Kanteen bottles. I haven't had any issues in over a year of heavy off-road use, but wish I had more of these types of cages. Thanks VO!

Brad said...

Totally awesome! Tabs cut in to the sides of the mounting plate would also allow you to mount the cage on the underside of the down tube with hose clamps. But still, awesome!

Anonymous said...

To Way Wakka: FYI, King Cage and Chris King are different companies. Trying to get Chris King to make more waterbottle cages would be tough.

These look awesome!

Unknown said...

Nalgene makes a 32oz squeeze bottle, that has a lid to keep the spout clean, that would work with this cage

http://store.nalgene.com/product-p/2591-0032.htm

I have this bottle and have been waiting for someone to make a cage for it.

dwinks616 said...

These look awesome, but I'd recommend against using them with any sort of plastic bottle. Even the supposed 'BPA free' Nalgene bottles leech all kinds of nasty chemicals into the water, and do so even more when exposed to UV light (such as would be the case one a bike).

See here for more info on safety issues with BPA-free bottles when exposed to UV light: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/06/bpa-free-plastics-tritan-nalgene-dangerous

Stainless costs a bit more and weighs a bit more, but it's definitely worth it when it comes to avoiding hormone-altering chemicals.

The Old Cycling Fred said...

What kind of material: chromed steel, stainless steel, aluminum, titanium, or what??

Anonymous said...

Neat. Have you tried it yet with a disposable 1.5-liter plastic bottle from the grocery store?

VeloOrange said...

Fred, they are stainless steel

Unknown said...

No-one yet commented on the fact that they're teasing us by putting the bottle cage on that gorgeous blue bike.... which isn't even available yet!!!! When?! I want to see more!

Anonymous said...

Great! The 40oz KK finally has a suitable non-custom cage to carry it.

Anonymous said...

Looks very nice. How much do they weigh?

Unknown said...

Does anyone here know if this cage will fit a 38oz nalgene, or are those wider? it would make sense to me that nalgene would keep the width but go longer.

VeloOrange said...

The 38mm SS Nalgene is within 1mm of the 40oz Klean Kanteen, which works. If you meant the 48oz Nalgene, then yes, but you'd need to measure your bike's main triangle to see if it fits.

-Igor