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I use cheapo cages (alumin(i)um, I presume) from Minoura. I've no idea what they weigh, but it seems very little. I'm happy with them. But then I'm happy with my Tiagra RD too, so there's probably something wrong with me.
Nothing wrong with you... at least regarding bikes....
 
I use cheapo cages (alumin(i)um, I presume) from Minoura. I've no idea what they weigh, but it seems very little. I'm happy with them. But then I'm happy with my Tiagra RD too, so there's probably something wrong with me.
There is nothing wrong with the Tiagra RD or with you! :D

I have used two different models of the Minoura aluminium bottle cages on my Bike Friday, the AB100-4.5 and the AB100-5.5. The second number in the model name refers to the thickness in mm of the wire used for the cage construction. Both are made from #2017 Duralumin (aircraft grade aluminium alloy with a small amount of copper), but one weighs 38 g vs 58 g for the other, the same 20 g weight difference as between the King Cage Ti and stainless models.

After a year or two the lighter Minoura cage would would break right next to where the wire is welded to the mounting bracket, at a stress riser.

When I thought about it, it actually made sense. The Bike Friday being a folding bike, the seat tube is hinged to fold forward for packing, which means a cage can only be mounted at its rear (where it doesn't interfere with the fold), which means it is tilted away from the vertical position. On a normal road bike, both cages mounted inside the front triangle (on top of the downtube and on the front of the seat tube) will lean towards the tube, meaning the tube carries the weight of the bottle and the wire only stabilises it. On a cage mounted on the back of the seat tube or on a frame attached to the back of the saddle (triathlon style) or a third cage under the downtube (often used for tool containers) however, the weight of the bottle is not supported by the tube but rests on the wire of the cage and tries to open it when you hit a bump in the road. That means the cage is subject to repeated stress from vibration, elastically bending right next to the attachment frame bolted to the tube. This is fine for steel or titanium which can handle basically unlimited load/unload cycles below their elastic limit, but aluminium will stress-harden over time from such repeated load-unload cycles. It becomes brittle and will eventually fail (see Aloha Airlines flight 243). That's what had happened to my Minoura cage and happened again to its identical model replacement after the same amount of time.

So I finally went for the 20 g heavier part (AB100-5.5) and lived happily ever after :)
 
I ordered 2 King Ti cages. I have a US address, so I am able to shop at the US shops at about 1/2 the price of Amazon.jp.
2 Cages + Shipping came out to $124 USD. <-- To me, that is ridiculous for cages - but I didn't buy the bike, so technically $124 is all I have in it.

The other technically is I did buy the bike. My wife knows what accounts I don't look at.... and since we have joint accounts, it came out of the same pot.
But I am not responsible for having bought the bike...... :D

I am still all over the place with tires. There is not a ton of gravel here and I have my Fargo for nasty stuff... So do I run Road 700x35 or 38 and just love the comfort OR do I go with a Gravel tire that will allow me to climb Futago's gravel road not far from my house and accept it will be a little slower on the road and tires will wear faster....

My heart says off road, my head says road.
 
Do you really have that many problems with bottle cages? I used to have cheap Elite reinforced plastic bottle cages and the only reason I thought about replacing them after a few years was because you could see wear. But they worked perfectly. In all my years of riding, they ejected one bottles one time once, when around a left-hand turn I was suddenly confronted with a ginormous pothole. Oh, I actually did replace the black bottle cages with the identical make and model — in red. Our team captain thought I should have the German flag's colors on my bike. (I had yellow handlebar tape, because that was the original color combo and I like yellow).

On my new road bike I now have Elite carbon bottle cages that look smarter have don't show much wear yet. I don't think I have stress tested them, but no issues either.

Apart from looks (let's be honest, that's why my bottle cages are carbon now) why should metal bottle cages function better?
 
I have never had issues with cages on road bikes. (MTB is different)
But having no issues also means I only have to buy them once.
Wife splurged on a 4K frame, I can splurge on matching material cages. :D

Trying to keep this bike a bit on the classic looking side - so carbon wasn't a consideration.
 
Go for the fast road tires, you can always drop pressure off road IF you find yourself losing traction.
Gravel King slick in 38C should do the job.
I looked at this tire several times already actually.
The biggest complaint I saw was the rear can lock up quicker and lose traction that others in the same genre.
But this tire keeps coming back as a contender.

The Semi-Slick is the one that most intrigues me tho.

 
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Apart from looks (let's be honest, that's why my bottle cages are carbon now) why should metal bottle cages function better?
Yes, plastic works fine and lasts for a very long time. It's also quite light. Functionally there is little wrong with it for this purpose, but we are not very rational beasts. This is one of the rare cases where I'm swayed by looks for a bicycle part ;)
 
I looked at this tire several times already actually.
The biggest complaint I saw was the rear can lock up quicker and lose traction that others in the same genre.
But this tire keeps coming back as a contender.
If you don't mind splurging a bit, I've been extremely happy with Compass / Rene Herse tires. They are made by Panaracer, i.e. by the same company as the Gravel Kings but using different grade components.

I have used the 650Bx42 Babyshoe Pass and Babyshoe Pass EL. It has low rolling resistance but seems to last forever. At least in its 42 mm version I am not afraid of gravel. I puncture less than once a year and get over 10,000 km out of those tires. Given the amount of wear I get out of them, I think they're worth every yen and a pleasure to ride.

You can find them at the Above Bike Store in Kawasaki at better prices than online.
 
Yes, plastic works fine and lasts for a very long time. It's also quite light. Functionally there is little wrong with it for this purpose, but we are not very rational beasts. This is one of the rare cases where I'm swayed by looks for a bicycle part ;)
I perfectly understand.
We buy so many things based off of looks in other areas, I wouldn't hold it against anyone. I was just curious how metal bottle cages fare. (If I had a titanium or steel bike, I'd probably also go for metal bottle cages. Plastic wouldn't feel right …)
 
If you don't mind splurging a bit, I've been extremely happy with Compass / Rene Herse tires. They are made by Panaracer, i.e. by the same company as the Gravel Kings but using different grade components.

I have used the 650Bx42 Babyshoe Pass and Babyshoe Pass EL. It has low rolling resistance but seems to last forever. At least in its 42 mm version I am not afraid of gravel. I puncture less than once a year and get over 10,000 km out of those tires. Given the amount of wear I get out of them, I think they're worth every yen and a pleasure to ride.

You can find them at the Above Bike Store in Kawasaki at better prices than online.
I looked at their tires and was tempted putting a set of "Barlow" tires on the "Barlow"
The Barlow was coincidence - I was looking for a 35-38mm tire.
 
I looked at this tire several times already actually.
The biggest complaint I saw was the rear can lock up quicker and lose traction that others in the same genre.
But this tire keeps coming back as a contender.

The Semi-Slick is the one that most intrigues me tho.

That is what I have on my Surly. Rolls nice and fine for light gravel, IMO. Also, @saibot has a YouTube video on them. He seemed to like them a lot.
 
Test ride after work
A bit warm, but fun.
I need a smidge longer stem to get more weight over the front. Lots of wandering in my current position. Also.
I needto man up. 42x42 was a tad difficult when the gravel got loose and ruts.20210910_161353.jpg20210910_160918.jpg20210910_160038.jpg20210910_160011.jpg
 
Wanted to thank @bloaker @Half-Fast Mike @OreoCookie for the offer of trying out pedals. I discovered that EggBeaters V1s were only 6,000 yen so decided to just go ahead and give them a try. So far I really like them, especially the float and the ease of unclipping. I'm still getting the hang of clipping in quickly, but figure I'll get the hang of it sooner or later. Thanks again kind sirs. Much appreciated.
 
As a result of this incident... I just oredered a set of Gravel King Semi-Slicks. 700x38. I will set them up tubeless and try again!
 
Semi slick panaracer don't look much different from my slicks. I'd go sk (small knob) if going remotely off road
 
Semi slick panaracer don't look much different from my slicks. I'd go sk (small knob) if going remotely off road
I was going back and forth on that... but I think this trail I just took a picture of is me being dumb. I will most likley stay off single track most of the time. Road, Gravel, smooth trail are most likly how this will be used.

I am running the WTB Riddler 700x40 on my Gravel back in Virginia. Those tires are great off road, but at the expense of maybe 4 or 5kph on pavement.
Where I live - I have way more pavement than gravel. :(
 
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