This $150 stainless-steel bottle cage is vanishingly rare. And that's probably a good thing
This scrappy-looking bottle cage comes from Mr. Iribe, an apparently mythical Keirin track-frame builder in Japan. When he is not busy making bikes for the Samurai, ?he makes a few bottle cages as well?, says the blurb on Compass Bicycles? (Seattle) website. These hand-made cages are so good, it seems, that they are worth $150 apiece.
So what do you get for your money? The Iribe Bottle Cage is made from stainless-steel tubing, with the sections silver-brazed together. Compass says that stainless steel is poorly suited to fillet-brazing, so Mr. Iribe first wraps the joints with strips of steel first. This, combined with the un-plated finish and what looks like a spring from a ballpen, results in an accessory that looks like it was hacked together by a somebody during an emergency.
Compass?s writer would disagree, saying that the cage ?reminds me of a Samurai sword: a piece of art that provides exceptional function.?
The cage is light, though, at just 36 grams, or 1.27 ounces. I just weighed the first cheap aluminum and plastic bottle cage I pulled from my bike-spares bin and it weighs in at 60 grams. Of course, once you add in a liter of water, which weighs 1000 grams (on top of the weight of the bottle itself), then that 24 gram difference looks vanishingly small.
And my bottle cage cost like $5, not $150.
Iribe Bottle Cage [Compass Bicycles via BSNYC]
See Also:
- Bottleclip Keeps Stylish Cyclists Hydrated
- VelEau, The Most Complicated Bike Drinking System You Could ?
- Danger: Handlebar Mounted Cup-Holders
Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/04/the-150-bottle-cage-for-cycling-samurai/
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