Re: [CR] Why do older frames have only one set of bottle bosses?

(Example: Production Builders:Pogliaghi)

To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Ken Wehrenberg" <wnwires@htc.net>
Date: Thu, 6 May 2010 11:32:01 -0500
Subject: Re: [CR] Why do older frames have only one set of bottle bosses?


List, this topic has lingered for a while, but no really has really mentioned how the need to carry more water progressed/evolved in the one braze-on era. Around 1977, I think, Specialized came out with a taller bottle which held more, yet fit into a standard cage. This was accomplished by increasing the volume above the point where on a normal bottle the tapering inward begins. They did this by designing in a groove which aided in allowing the standard cage to grip the larger, taller bottle, even when full. Pretty good, I might add except with ultralight cages on bumpy roads.

Later, as bikes became ridden on even rougher terrains and prior to the Camelback, Blackburn came out with an oversize capacity cage capable of holding a store-bought 1 liter bottle. This then led to the grandest attempt: the 1.5 liter-holding B-52 cage. By the time things got this ridiculous the Camelback came out and things like the B-52 fell out of favor as they did not fit into the new sloping top tube frames, first MTB and then road.

Ken Wehrenberg, Hermann, MO where all my road frames have level top tubes