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review

Topeak Feza Cage Tubular Carbon R10

9
£59.99

VERDICT:

9
10
The lightest cage we've tested combined with a great hold – but there is no getting around that price
Good-looking minimalist cage
Very, very light
Great bottle hold
Premium price
Takes a little more force to remove bottles
Weight: 
12g

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The Topeak Feza Cage Tubular Carbon R10 is a very light and capable bottle cage that holds bottles well, but it does require a little more force than others to get them out – and it comes with a heavyweight price tag.

One thing is for certain with this bottle cage – it won't weigh you down.

That is because it hits the scales at only 12g. To put that into context, this is the same weight as a £2 coin. That 12g even includes a 'bottle glide', which is a small piece of plastic that sits between the cage and the bolt holes to allow the bottle to slide in more easily. Take that out and you're down to a virtually imperceptible 10g.

That is, from my research, the lightest bottle cage we have tested on road.cc – impressive.

One of the main reasons for this low weight is that there is not much to the cage. Its tubular construction resembles aluminium bottle cages from the 1980s, but it's made from carbon fibre, which is considerably lighter.

During my first couple of rides with the bottle cage I was worried that I would accidentally snap it because it doesn't look particularly robust, but after dozens of rides I didn't find any issues at all. I don't tend to be somebody who aggressively wrestles my bottles out of their cage, but even so, I didn't find anything to complain about in terms of potential points of weakness through regular use.

It doesn't have the kind of side entrance/removal that you often find on modern bottle cages, which means it won't be particularly good on smaller frames or bikes laden with frame bags, but for my 56cm road bike there were no issues. This is because this cage is exclusively top entry, so if you've got a larger bottle then you'll need the space above it to remove the bottle easily.

One thing to note about the cage is that it holds bottles very well and there's very little movement even over rougher surfaces. Even when I was using particularly tall bottles there wasn't any excess movement. This comes at a slight price though, which is that the hold on the bottle means you need a little more force to remove the bottle than you would with some cages. That said, it isn't like lifting you're Thor's hammer and it didn't ever feel like I needed to really yank on it, just that it requires a little more effort than on other cages I've used.

Fitting it is just a case of either using your bike's frame bolts or the black T20 Torx bolts that come with the cage, which sit in recessed holes in the cage. You can also install the bottle glide, which sits between the cage and the frame and allows the bottle to slide into the cage more easily.

The RRP is £60, which is steep for any bottle cage. However, given that this is the lightest cage we've tested, some may feel it's a cost worth paying. It certainly won't be something you'd stick on a commuter bike but may be ideal for a money-no-object weight weenie.

Value

You could compare it to the Specialized S-Works Carbon Rib Cage III that Liam reviewed, which comes in £10 dearer and is double the weight – yes, a whole 24g! 

If you're looking for a similar-looking 'retro' bottle cage, then you could splash £90 on Silca's Sicuro Cerakote Titanium bottle cage that Hollis liked, which is titanium so should prove durable – but it weighs 21g more than the Feza.

Overall – I like this bottle cage, it looks great with a minimalist retro look, it weighs less than a £2 coin, and it grips bottles well. The hold on the bottle means slightly more force is required to get the bottle out and there is also the small issue of that £60 price tag...

Verdict

The lightest cage we've tested combined with a great hold – but there is no getting around that price

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Topeak Feza Cage Tubular Carbon R10

Size tested: n/a

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

The featherlight, matte natural finish, carbon fiber composite ø5.5mm tube cage offers high strength and optimized geometry for lighter weight. Includes two aluminum bolts ready to mount and enjoy on your ride.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

MATERIAL Carbon fiber

SIZE 11.7 x 8.2 x 7.8 cm / 4.6" x 3.2" x 3.1"

WEIGHT 10g

DIAMETER Fits standard water bottles

ADDED FEATURES Fezā Bottle Glide, Two aluminum water bottle bolts and T20 Torx® wrench included

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10

Very sturdy despite its relatively fragile first impressions.

Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10

Does exactly what it needs to do – holds bottle securely and easily connects to the frame.

Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10

I initially thought that this may be fragile, given its slender tubular construction, but in reality this is more than adequate for everything I threw at it

Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
10/10

The lightest bottle cage we've tested.

Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

It's light, it holds the bottle well – weight weenies would happily pay this price.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Very well, it held my bottles in place, looks good, and weighs practically nothing.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The weight! Being able to make something this light that still manages to hold a bottle securely is an impressive achievement.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

The price – not as much as others but many will baulk at the idea of paying £60 for a bottle cage.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

You could compare it to the Specialized S-Works Carbon Rib Cage III which comes in £10 more expensive and is double the weight. If you're looking for a similar retro'-looking bottle cage, you could splash £90 on Silca's Sicuro Cerakote Titanium bottle cage, which is titanium so should prove durable, but it weighs a whole 21g more than the Feza!

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes – at a sale price.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes – if they were a weight weenie.

Use this box to explain your overall score

It holds bottles very well, looks great on the bike, and weighs practically nothing. There is no getting around the price, but the fact that it is, by some way, the lightest cage we've tested and still holds a bottle well, is very impressive.

Overall rating: 9/10

About the tester

Age: 35  Height: 6 ft  Weight:

I usually ride: CAAD13  My best bike is: Cannondale Supersix Evo

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed,

George is the host of the road.cc podcast and has been writing for road.cc since 2014. He has reviewed everything from a saddle with a shark fin through to a set of glasses with a HUD and everything in between. 

Although, ironically, spending more time writing and talking about cycling than on the bike nowadays, he still manages to do a couple of decent rides every week on his ever changing number of bikes.

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10 comments

Avatar
Sredlums | 9 months ago
0 likes

As far a sales are concerned these copies from Topeak and other, cheaper ones on eBay etc. are a non issue, really.
I can surely understand that it doesn't feel nice when others take your design and run with it, but with the enormous price difference CarbonWorks won't lose a single sale on them. People who buy 25 dollar eBay knock off's, or even the 60 dollar Topeak one, would simply otherwise never have bought the original as it is too expensive for them, and people buying the original have the money to spend and want the real deal.
It's a sucky thing to do from Topeak, but it won't hurt CarbonWorks at all.

Avatar
CarbonWorks | 10 months ago
5 likes

I don´t find words...

 

Registered in the year 2015 and still in force!

Topeak knows it, but doesn´t care  2

Avatar
ColnagoDreamHP | 10 months ago
1 like

Nice cage, but Tune claims 9 grams for their H2O cage

Avatar
Dadams7378 replied to ColnagoDreamHP | 10 months ago
1 like

They claim it, but the all in weight of this cage with bolts (I have 4 of them) is between 14 and 15 grams.  I don't have the Topeak cage advertised, but the Carbonworks cage is 8g with bolts.  All very silly and irrelevant of course, but the Tune cage is definitely heavier.  The carbonworks cage also has better retention.

Avatar
MatzeLoCal | 10 months ago
1 like

Oh wow, it seems Topeak took a a very close look at carbonworks bottle cage… not a very kind move from Topeak 

Avatar
Drinfinity replied to MatzeLoCal | 10 months ago
1 like

Very similar designs! These ultralight cages all seem to have a missing direct connection between the two mounting bolts. I had a (much cheaper) cage with this feature, and flex in the cage caused the top and bottom parts to rotate around the bolts. I binned it and went back to one with about 2g more weight that kept its  integrity. 

Avatar
Dadams7378 replied to MatzeLoCal | 10 months ago
0 likes

Yes.  It's a blatant copy.  I know that carbonworks are concerned this will possibly put them out of business, as though expensive, its still a lot less than the CW cage.  Cheap Ali Express copies that don't really work are one thing, but this will be at least as 'good', plus cheaper.  Not very ethical as you say.

Avatar
Blackthorne replied to Dadams7378 | 10 months ago
3 likes

I don't know about this. It's not exactly a Swiss watch of mechanical complexity. It's less design copying than it is the minimum structural material remaining where there's none left to take away. And if carbonworks is hedging its entire future on a 5gram twig of carbon that costs more than a flight to Italy then I don't see why a company should be discouraged from offering something more competitive. 

Avatar
philhubbard replied to Blackthorne | 10 months ago
1 like

I think the issue is that Topeak know exactly what they were doing as carbonworks is essentially a one-man band. It's not just Topeak's design is similar, they are actually banned from selling the product in Germany as it infringes on his copyright. Unfortunately as a smaller operation he couldn't afford the legal fees/copyright for all territories

Avatar
Dadams7378 replied to Blackthorne | 10 months ago
2 likes

It's very cynical from Topeak IMO.  Carbonworks came up with a great looking design that managed to stand out from the crowd and remained functional whilst being materially lighter than anything else out there.  It proved very popular for this reason, and Topeak have just seen some easy sales and copied it, relying on their much better financial position and the probability that carbonworks would not have the financial ability to enter into a legal battle.  I very much doubt they would have done the same if the original design had been created by Specialized for example.  Perhaps carbonworks haven't done all they could / should have in terms of putting in place legal protections for their design (I've no idea whether this is true or not), but it still leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

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