Carbon bottle cages from AliExpress

[tellyho]

I can't remember what I ordered for my hardtail but they have been working fine (on a bike that I ride over lots of chunky New England singletrack).

[buckfifty]

Originally Posted by CAAD

I have a pair of legit mandibles on my gravel bike, they hold so tight they crush my bottles. These ali ones have just the right amount of resistance when using specialized bottles. While still feeling sturdy, no issues yet.

Same, the legit mandibles will be a very tight fit and mar up your bottles. The replicas are not as tight but tight enough

[cgolvin]

I took the plunge and bought two of the Lightweight knockoffs. For some reason each of the vendors limited me to only 1, so I bought 1 each from 2 different vendors.

The first one is very nice, stable, subtle graphics, and came with low profile bolts. The second one feels like plastic, wobbles with a bottle in it, and didn't come with any bolts (not that I care about the bolts). Now trying to decide whether it's worth sending the second one back or just replace it with one of the first ones when it inevitably falls apart.

[nmrt]

This makes one wonder, doesnt it. Some knockoff company made the knockoff and did a decent job of it. The knockoff took off and was a success. Then someone made a knockoff of a knockoff to get in on the cash grab and did a terrible job at the knockoff of a knockoff.

Originally Posted by cgolvin

I took the plunge and bought two of the Lightweight knockoffs. For some reason each of the vendors limited me to only 1, so I bought 1 each from 2 different vendors.

The first one is very nice, stable, subtle graphics, and came with low profile bolts. The second one feels like plastic, wobbles with a bottle in it, and didn't come with any bolts (not that I care about the bolts). Now trying to decide whether it's worth sending the second one back or just replace it with one of the first ones when it inevitably falls apart.

[benb]

Bontrager has a 20g model ($90) and a 29g model ($65).

Neither has much branding on them currently.. they would make it much harder for me to get the Arundel ones for $80. You can either save $15 to have a 1g heavier bottle or spend $10 more to save another 8g, which actually seems like a lot once you're looking at cages this ridiculous.

I have an earlier version of the 29g model that is a little louder on the branding. They have been 100% satisfactory and I've had them 8 years now. Never had a bottle come out. They do chew the bottles up, I use the Specialized Purist bottles.