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Bike Storage:  Bottle cage mounted storage cannister

No room to store stuff on your racing bike? Don't want to carry stuff  in a rucksack? Bottle cage mounted stoprage not big enough?  Then try this out.  It's a large format storage cannister attached to a Topeak QR bottle cage mount.

So, how do you make one?  

Mk I: Well, a quick trip to your local builders merchant to source a short lengt of soil pipe with a soil pipe inspection cover (that's the top screw cap bit) and a soil pipe cap (that's the bottom part). Join these together with some duct tape, drill a couple of holes to fix on to the bottle cage mount and you're done.

You can see how roomy it is by comparison with the 900ml SKS cage box in the other bottle cage.

I wanted to be able to take it on and off easily, so I fitted it to a toppeak QR cage mount (see below right).  With a second one of these, I can then swap out the storage cylinder with a bottle cage when I want to (and I can swap the storage bottle to another bike).

MkII: I wanted a slightly bigger version for a different bike. I had the tube, but not the ends, so I just sealed off the lower end with a circle of card, secured with duct tape. At the top the cap is made by putting a platic bag over the top of the tube, criss crossing the top with duct tape, finishing by wrapping the tape round the cannister then trimming to get rid of the bits of plastic bag sticking out. This method makes for a slightly lighter finished product as the end caps are much heavier than the tube itself.

After two years of use I can report back that both these designs have fared really well, they have plenty of storage capacity for e.g. an Aladin Stanley flask or a pint glass and beer bottle (the glass must fit over the bottle) or clothes and lunch. All 100% waterproof.

The mount itself is a little fiddly to engage\disengage, but not overly so. A spare QR mount with bottle cage attached means that I can revert to two standard bottle cages if I want to.

I have since come across the "Monkii Cage", and if I were doing this again, I would probably buy one of these as the QR mechanism looks better than the toppeak QR mount.


Mk1

Mk I

Mk II

MkII with plastic bag covered in duct tape to make the end cap.


Mk1Mk1

Topeak QR bottle cage mount. The Dark grey bit goes on the bike, the light grey bit is bolted to the storage cylinder.
QR cage mount
MkII