Reviewing a water bottle seems silly. It holds water, and when the valve is open, and the bottle squeezed, water comes out. Fabric's bottle does all that, but how it attaches to your bike is completely unique.
- Water bottle designed for jersey pockets
- Camelbak Podium bottle review
- Specialized Purist bottle review
First a bit of back story. I spent the better part of six months agonizing over frame angles and lengths, tubing bends, paint colors (lack there of), seatstay designs, dropouts and more with the guy who builds Meriwether custom steel frames. Another month was spent debating parts, forks and drivetrains. When it was finally put together, it was gorgeous.
People who have less than zero interest in bikes were like "wow, that's a cool bike." So when I bolted on a water bottle cage to the down tube, having this incongruous blob in the middle of this rolling work of art bummed me out. In my opinion it ruined the carefully curated lines of the bike. So when I saw this crazy new bottle with minuscule mounts from UK company Fabric, I had to have one.
The best 'cage' ever
Two tiny studs mount on to your frame's water bottle bosses to secure the water bottle. And that's it. Three minuscule grams (not that I'm counting). More importantly for me, no unsightly, weirdly bent metal cage, or worse yet a random mishmash of carbon cluttering up my custom frame's design that was so obsessed over.
The bottle slides over the two tiny studs and clicks into place. Grabbing the bottle is just as simple as a standard cage, possibly easier than some carbon cages with considerable retention. It does take a bit more practice to locate the studs and replace the bottle, but once attached the bottle stays put; full or empty, a bottle hasn't ejected ever.
Bottle let down
The 600ml bottle itself isn't as slick as the cage unfortunately. I find it a bit hard to squeeze, and the valve isn't nearly as good as ones found on Camelbak or Purist bottles.
The bottle is BPA free and has been taste-free and leak-free thankfully, but it's a bit of let down when paired with the clearly brilliant mounting system. And all of my other bottles, and likely the schwag bottles I get in the future aren't compatible with the mounting studs.
More options coming
Fabric is releasing more bottles and a tool keg (for holding tools, tubes, food, etc.) this Fall.
Fabric Water Bottle and studs pricing
£9.99 / US$15 / Australian pricing not available