I’ve got a few multi-day road events coming up, and I’m looking to upgrade my bottle cages. I’ve used King Cages on my winter bike, but these tend to crush the Flite Fly bottles.
The current ones on my race bike are AliExpress carbon knockoffs that have worked well enough for 550ml bottles, but I don’t have the same confidence with larger bottles.
I’m looking for something that will reliably work with 950ml bottles and not break the bank?
I have used ELITE Custom Race plastic cages for many years with out any issue. No experience with bottles that large but, now and again I freeze bottles in the summer which is hard on cages. I see them on Amazon for around $22 USD…
As you’ve likely experienced by now, the Elite Fly bottles don’t have the little curve inwards at the neck of the bottle, so many cages designed around the standard Specialized Purist type bottles don’t let the Elite bottles sit perfectly true in there. I have successfully ran the Pro Carbon Cage, but they do offer a similar thing in alloy… “Pro Alloy Bottle Cage”. I’ve also used the aluminum side loader version on my MTB with good luck, including the 950ml version inside the frame.
I use the Specialized Rib Cage and they hold my Elite Fly bottle securely…zero issues.
I have had Elite bottles in the past and my bikes have Elite bottle cages. I have the fancy carbon ones for my road bike, because they look cooler than their cheap plastic(-only) cages that are on my mountain bike. Both have been rock solid. I think I only lost a (large Camelbak Podium) bottle when I hit a massive pothole once.
I presumed Elite branded ones would be the sensible choice to make but wanted some confirmation as I won’t have much time to test them beforehand.
The non-carbon ones were quite cheap, too.
Well they do brake the bank, but King Ti cages (side loaders) have held my Fly 750s on some pretty chonky MTB descents.
I use King SS Flat Top cages with Elite 950ml SRL Jet clear bottle. Never had any trouble.
If your frame triangle is small or you are considering a frame bag under the top tube, they even have a lowering version which lowers the cage by about 1.1"
I use the Ti version of these on my winter bike, I’ve managed to lose a bottle on a rough descent. I’ll likely be using a frame bag so it’s a great feature I just find they have a little too much side to side sway which is amplified with larger bottles.
This is said in the tone of support, not talking down to you.
Get rid of the cages entirely. Aero disasters.
Do a narrow and slender top tube bag w a Platypus bite valve bladder, zip tied up to your bars. Magnetic clip & sip if needed, but can probably just bite & sip from it.
I’m in the process of converting to this system for a long race, and when I tossed the idea, which I assumed was stupid, to the crowd, some very (way more than me) intelligent people actually chimed in to encourage me to try it, and that some semi-pro had rocked up a rig like that for unbound 2023 and killed it.
Just my two worthless pennies! Good luck and mad love!
It’s too much faff for multi day races. Aero doesn’t as much as there’s 26,000m /1,000km. Setup is otherwise dialed in. A bladder might work for shorter off road events but there’s ample water fountains as it’s paved.
It’s easy enough to carry 8-12 hours of mix/nutrition at the start and maintain 80-90g /h. I’ve tried experimenting with refilling bladders and adding powders and it gets too messy. I want to upgrade my cages so there’s less risk of losing a bottle at 2am down a descent and suffering until I can replace it.
The reason I’ve stuck with Elite Fly bottles for so long is how easy they are to clean if they get clogged mid ride.
We can agree, to disagree 
@BST we absolutely can not “agree to disagree”.
Bc I do not disagree w you! 
It is a use-case scenario. If bottles are better for you, and you are comfy / efficient at pulling, drinking, restoring, then you da boss!
If that is the case I would recommend Rockbros ( Yes; stupid name. ) twin behind the seat rack. I have bought a fair bit of Rockbros gear (headtube phone-in-your-face w clear & waterproof but touchscreen active cover; usable, and also cool / cold weather articulated cycling pants, and I am thrilled w their quality.)
Let us know what you think.
( I am not affiliated w Rockbros in any way, I just want to help fellow cyclists have great experiences.)
I’ve had good luck with Arundel cages with both the Elite Fly and ELite Race Day bottles
I have the Elite Leggero cages with my Elite Fly bottles, I use both 550ml and 950ml and it’s the best bottle/cage solution I’ve ever had.
I second this suggestion. Best cages I own and they work great with my 950ml bottle (I’ve never lost a bottle on any of my rides or races, on a hardtail MTB), but definitely “buy once, cry once.”
I’ve just purchased the Elite Leggeros, thanks for the recommendation. They should arrive tomorrow.
Report back. I just ordered two.
The regular King Ti cages haven’t dropped a Fly bottle for me either. I run the 950 and 550 bottles and have King Ti on both my Road and Gravel bikes. Have done some decent singletrack, long gravel events, etc. and not one chucked bottle.