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Fabric’s re-invention of the water-bottle-and-cage combo by scrapping the cage has gone down well at Eurobike. And Rebecca Crowder, the bottle’s designer, has also been a hit.
Crowder’s design dispenses with a bottle cage. Instead, two plastic studs are swapped out for the bottle cage bolts, and the bottle attaches via proprietary slots. Tested on rough terrain, the bottles don’t rattle free, said Nick Larsen, Fabric’s founder.
Getting rid of the cage leads to cleaner lines, said Larsen. It also has another benefit, said Crowder, designer of the bottle: “We can make all sort of different shapes and sizes of bottle, allowing us to create bespoke designs. We’ll be able to go wild.”
The bottle cage killer has been brought to market rapidly. “We came up with the concept after returning from Eurobike last year,” said Crowder.
“The whole thing about Fabric is doing stuff differently. What can you change about a water bottle other than the way it goes on a bike? So that’s how we came up with the two-stud system.”
It has been a baptism of fire for Crowder – she joined Fabric two months before Eurobike last year having been poached from a prototyping company.
Fabric is owned by the Cycling Sports Group, which also owns Cannondale, Mongoose and GT. Fabric’s Nick Larsen is also founder of Charge, CSG’s boutique brand.
As well as the ditch-the-cage system Fabric makes multi-tools, saddles and grips.
