Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

TECH NEWS

Zefal’s new lightweight carbon bottle cage looks like a bit of a bargain

A lightweight bottle cage that doesn’t cost a fortune

How much does your bottle cage weigh? It’s probably not something you ever worry about, but Zefal’s brand new Pulse L2 weighs a paltry 18g yet it costs a very reasonable £18.

To put that in perspective, there’s a German company that will sell you a 4g carbon cage for €90, satisfying even the neediest weight weenies.

Zefal’s new cage works out at £1 per 1g then, compared to about €22 per 1g with the aforementioned German-made carbon bottle cage.

zefal Pulse L29.JPG

We first saw Zefal’s new cage at the recent Cycle Show but we now have a pair to test so here’s a quick first look.  It’s a nicely made cage with a very slender appearance thanks to the skinny wings that clasp the water bottle. There are two smaller tabs lower down to further support the bottle. It’s made from carbon fibre, naturally, and it’s made in France, which is rare in this era of Far East manufacturing.

zefal Pulse L213.JPG

The Pulse L2 is the company’s lightest ever cage, being about half the weight of a regular cage. Typical weight for a cage, from looking through the road.cc reviews are 30-40g and prices range from a tenner up to £40. So the price and weight of the new Zefal cage seem very sensible indeed.

But is it really 18g? I put it on the scales and… it weighs 19g. That’s probably within the margin of error, and these kitchen scales probably aren’t the most accurate.

zefal Pulse L218.JPG

But does it deliver secure bottle retention? Based on a quick ride this morning, yes it does. The bottle slides in easily, it stays firmly in place even over some rough gravel tracks, and the bottle is easy to extract when you need some sweet hydration. Testing will continue for the full review coming soon.

The price includes two aluminium bolts, in case your frame doesn't have any. There's not the range of adjustment you get with some cages that let you mount higher or lower. 

More info at www.zefal.com

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

Add new comment

4 comments

Avatar
The Sledge | 4 years ago
0 likes

Good weight, good price but will it scratch and scrape and scuff bottles, which too many cages do? And will it accommodate lardy Camelback  bidons as well as hold Elite bottles firmly? 

Avatar
srchar | 4 years ago
4 likes

Put 14ml less water in your bottle and the all-up weight for a caged bottle will be the same as the expensive German one.

Avatar
bobbinogs | 4 years ago
1 like

Thing is, my Spesh rib cages are usually seen (disparagingly) as "cheap and weighty"...yet they come in at about ~30g for a tenner.  The weight differences between the majority of cages is really not that great and the fit for specific bottle types is usually a much bigger factor for selection.  Still, £18 seems to be very reasonable for some carbon bling if they work well, although there is not much of them to notice/admire.

Avatar
ConcordeCX replied to bobbinogs | 4 years ago
3 likes

Bobbinogs wrote:

Thing is, my Spesh rib cages are usually seen (disparagingly) as "cheap and weighty"...yet they come in at about ~30g for a tenner.  The weight differences between the majority of cages is really not that great and the fit for specific bottle types is usually a much bigger factor for selection.  Still, £18 seems to be very reasonable for some carbon bling if they work well, although there is not much of them to notice/admire.

it's rather like buying underwear for one's mistress - less is more.

 

Latest Comments