I've used TA bar cages on all my road bikes since the mid 1970s. Hose clamps hold the cage tight, the stock clamps are poor. Exceptions are when touring and employing a handle bar bag.
>I agree with Billy David. I've seen guys with 2 water bottles on the down
>tube but... if you have a pump in front of the seat tube you have to move
>both bottles about 1 1/2" up the down tube. Then there's the problem with
>getting the lower bottle in and out of the cage plus possible interference
>with the top bottle and the shift levers.
>
> In the desert Southwest during the 70s on long rides I used 1 down tube
> cage and one TA handlebar cage. In the heat of the summer I used 2 TA
> handlebar cages.
>
> Then there were the Reg "Erector Set" bar cages with all the sharp edges
> to get cut on...
>
> I've seen pictures of a lot of racing bikes from the 20s and 30s that had
> a dual handlebar mount with aluminum bottles with large corks and flex
> straws.
>
> Chas. Colerich
> Oakland, CA USA
>
>> Hi Michael, all. Not to discount what Todd said in Marc's link, here's my
>> thoughts: Prior to frame braze-ons for bottle cages you wer free to clamp
>> 'em wherever they'd fit. One or two on the handlebars was common. And
>> saddle mounted ones predate the triathelete's use of this tucked away
>> aero conscious position [although that never seems to have been common].
>> The downtube is a nice ergonomic placement for a bottle. and that's where
>> the earliest braze ons, at least for production bikes, ended up. For non
>> hose, frame fitting pumps, which were roughly contemporaneous w/ the
>> bottle cage braze-ons, the seat tube was the logical placement. When they
>> went to the 2nd set of cage b/os on the seat tube, they typically put a
>> nipple on the inside of the headtube. Personally i think this is a
>> horrible place for a pump. It tends to get knocked off easily and makes
>> carrying the bike by the top tube [as when portaging] very awkward.
>> Racers may not need a pump, but i like to have one and th
> e mini ones are pretty much useless. Billy [i also like the bar mounted
> cages] Ketchum; Chicago, IL; USA.
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "michael haddad" Subject: [CR] Why do older frames have only one
>> set of bottle bosses? I find that on-topic frames (like my 1984 Cinelli,
>> 1983 Pinarello & 1978 Masi) tend to have bottle cage bosses only on the
>> down tube. I know that 2 bottles were needed for most road races (even in
>> the 80's), so why only one set? The only thing I can think of is that the
>> braze-ons might weaken the seat tube, but then why have them on the down
>> tube? I have been curious about this and would be interested in hearing a
>> definitive answer or some good theories. Regards to all, Michael Haddad
>> Brooklyn, NY, USA
> _______________________________________________
Andrew R Stewart
Rochester, NY