Retro Cage, no tab
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These cages are based on an old French design from the '40s or early '50s. In our estimation they are the best looking bottle cage of all time.
The Retro is a regular one-handed cage; you insert the bottle just like in any other cage, but it holds the bottle very securely due to the spring-like shape. You can spread the cage for an oversized bottle, or squeeze the cage inward for a better fit with (for instance) a metal water bottle.
Retro cages are made by hand from a single length of 3mm stainless steel rod, and then electro-polished. If you examine it closely from all angles you'll see that it is, indeed, hand made.
This is "Type I", with no tab, which is the traditional design. This style is preferred when using taller, metal water bottles such as the 27oz Klean Kanteen.
I love these cages. The nonmetal ones I bought from the bike shop cracked, so these are great and durable and fit my Hydroflask.
I put this on a 70s Swedish Crescent bike and it looks great! I researched for for 2 weeks about which holder to use and am so glad I decided on this one. I also bought the 20 oz Klean Kanteen Reflect Double Wall bottle to go with it and it looks amazing. My bike didn't have holes for screws and I didn't want to drill into the frame so I ordered these DMR hinged clamps with holes. The screws from Velo Orange thankfully fit perfectly with the hinges. Couldn’t be happier with this duo.
So far it’s working well.
I can't say enough nice things about this thing.
It truly pulls off the look of a classic water bottle cage like nothing else on the market. It looks fantastic and it's timeless: It looks as good handlebar mounted on a '51 Raleigh 3-speed (with a Minoura adapter) as it does on the downtube of a backdated '82 Schwinn Superior, and it wouldn't look out of place at all on a modern carbon fiber wonderbike. In fact, I wish they had these in black/noir for some of my more modern rigs.
As for practicality, it also wins on all accounts here too. The neck/opening is about 74mm when at rest, and it'll fit just about any 73mm bottle without trouble - whether it's an aluminum or plastic sport bottle/thermos. The circular design without a tab means you're not restricted to modern sport bottles with reduced-diameter necks, so now you can put those 2,398 "swag bottles" you have lying around from useless conferences and meetings to work. Sure, it won't be as snug a fit, but you won't have to fight the thing to get a drink either; particularly important if you like your bottles handlebar mounted.
What's more, this cage will even hold a convenience-store water bottle - the thin plastic spring water kind. Not only will it fit the sport type (which usually run ~73mm and are a direct fit), but it is JUST tight enough to cradle a much smaller, 65mm 16.9oz bottle from flying out. That's something that no conventionally-designed cage (or even the Moderniste) can brag about. And hey, you never know when you'll wind up needing to carry one of those. I like that kind of versatility.
About the only thing you'll find is that aluminum 73mm bottles might clank around a wee bit in the cage, and may not be ideal if you're riding on gravel. I ride pavement, so it doesn't bother me. If you can't stand the rattle (or want a tighter fit), you can always dip the top in black Plastidip, or shove something in the gap as a short-term measure.
Cute and functional!
Love its sleek, minimal look and sturdy functionality