From: "Rick Paulos" <rick-paulos@uiowa.edu>
> Someone was asking why handlebar mount waterbottle cages went out of
style.
>
> Well I put a TA on my wifes late 70s black & gold AD Ventnoir for a week
> long tour in '98. No cage braze-ons on the frame and we didn't want to
> bugger up the perfect paint job. The bottles kept jumping out of the
> cage! Any bumps were magnified and the stem acted like a spring to make
it
> worse. Strings, bread bag ties and rubber bands were added to try to keep
> the bottle in. Also, the cage wants to keep rotating downwards under the
> weight of a full bottle.
I think you have to try different bottles and cages to get a combo that fits together nicely. I haven't lost one yet. If the professional racers (and trickle down effect through amateurs and wannabees) thought there was an aero advantage and / or a center of gravity issue with bar mounts I can see that spelling the end of bar mounted bottles.
Pete Geurds
Douglassville, Pa