I’m a cyclist. Like most cyclists, I love getting new gear or kit. My friend recently introduced me to a new brand of bicycle accessories, Fidlock. This company has taken a new direction with water bottles, saddle bags, etc. with a magnetic mounting system. The system is really secure as the magnets are only part of the equation. For a video on how the system works, look below.
Problems with Traditional Bottle Cages
Until I found Fidlock I was using some inexpensive aluminum bottle cages from Ibera off Amazon. They worked well enough, but they scratched up my bottles and some of them became loose and my bottles and cages started to wiggle during gravel rides. I was worried the braze-ons that secured my cages were going to get damaged. In addition, I was running two bottles on my down tube and extracting the top bottle in the necessary forward direction would get it caught up in my shifting and brake lines. So what to do?
Christmas Refresh
Around Christmas, Fidlock was having a 20% off sale on everything in their shop. I sorted out what I wanted and provided a Christmas list to my wife, three bottles which all come with a magnetic “twist base” mount, and an additional two additional twist bases, for my second bike. Then the bottles could easily move between bikes and my need for bottle cages and my beat up old bottles would become a thing of the past.
The bottles come off the twist base with a simple twisting motion. Getting them back on the mounts is slightly trickier that a traditional cage as you don’t have the cage to guide you in, but the magnets do a good job of taking over once you’re close enough. I’ve ridden some rough gravel and never had one of my bottles come off of the twist mount.
Came Back for More
I loved these bottles so much that when it came time for a new saddle bag, I looked to Fidlock. First off, I was tired of saddle bags mounted with straps. They never sat right, they blocked my tail light. They had the awkward strap around the seat tube. I knew I wanted something different. I’d seen bags that mounted to the seat rails, so once again, I looked to Fidlock.
Like with my bottles, I bought a second seat mount for my second bike. Now I have a packed saddle bag, with push button release, ready for either bike within a few seconds.
They’re Actually Economical
When you think about it, $40 may sound like a lot for a water bottle. But digging deeper, $40 for a water bottle and cage is rather reasonable. Unlike other companies, when you buy into Fidlock’s systems, the accessories are reasonably priced and readily available. A new twist mount is $14. Replacement bottles, without the magnetic mounts are as cheap as $12. New bottle mounts are $17. You can buy most of this stuff of Amazon with Prime shipping and Fidlock runs occasional free shipping and discounted sales from their own site as well. It’s a great system and I highly recommend it.
