Catch up on the Project Any Road build here.
I have used King Cage stainless bottle cages for few years now. I had a pair of Iris cages on my commuter, and their standard stainless cage on my roadie. Their performance has always been nothing short of perfect. They even hold my Kleen Kanteen 20oz insulated bottle (full of coffee) with no issues, and only slight marring to the stainless bottle. At Interbike 2012, King Cage was showing a new Kargo Cage designed to hold a small bag with a minimalist flat pack contained inside. I ended up with one in the parts bin and it has found a welcome home on the Project Any Road rig.
Roll through for the breakdown.
The cage is the same as their stainless steel affair with the additional of two bands on the rear designed to snuggly constrain a nylon bag. The bag comes in either a road version, or a mountain version that will fit a 29er tube.
I have the mountain version here because that’s what they sent over. I prefer it however, as the option to move it to any bike in the stable is nice. I have it stuffed with a CO2 inflator and cartridge, one 700c road tube, two Park Tools tire levers, a patch kit and zip ties (not pictured), and there’s still room for something like a set of Fix It Sticks. Most regular multi tools won’t fit, however.
In use, the bag has yet to eject on its own free will. It fits very snugly into the bands, but still manages to be easy to install and remove. Should you decide you don’t want to run the cage, there are two straps fitted with buckles and metal grommets that will allow you to bolt it directly to the bottle bosses (they buckle to the ends, and then fold behind the bag to hold it down).
This product fits in great for the rider that prefers a minimalist pack on their bike. It’s been a great fit for my commuter as well. I carry all the stuff to fix just about anything on my bike in my backpack. But at lunch, or on runs to the coffee shop etc, I don’t ways need the backpack. The Kargo Cage’s redundancy is nice in case I find myself with a flat on one of those rides. Part with $45 plus shipping and you can own one.