Fidlock Water Bottle

One of the most banal but important things to figure out for mountain biking is how you’re going to carry fluid. We have seen many bike manufacturers forget the need for a water bottle mount, and then be slaughtered on social media by riders whose climate and needs dictate that they carry a water bottle. Carrying a bottle on your bike is one of the simplest ways to make sure you can stay hydrated when on the trail, be it for a short afternoon jam or a longer ride. But that doesn’t mean all bottle cages suit mountain biking.

Fidlock make a huge array of products relying on the magic of magnets, and the Fidlock water bottle incorporates two magnetic fasteners that secure a specific bottle to the mount with a quick twisting action. The bottles come in 600mL (shown here) or a 400mL option, which would suit some frames that are low on space.

The bottles are what you would expect, being BPA free with a large opening for filling and cleaning. It’s squeezy enough but not the softest out there.

As the bottle doesn’t need to lift upwards or forward, it’s actually a lot easier to get this bottle in and out of more frames than with a regular cage and bottle. You just twist and pull to the right from the top of the bottle and it is a really natural action to remove the bottle. If you’re left-handed and remove the bottle to the left of your bike – you’re out of luck. Fitting the bottle back in is easy enough, bringing it close and lining it up more or less. But it’s nowhere near as easy as jamming a bottle back in an open mouth cage. As for bottle security, that was A1 with no bottles popping free.

So who is it for? If you have an awkward frame shape with limited room for a bottle cage then you’ll probably find this works well to get the most out of designs with limited clearance. If you’re tired of ejecting bottles, this is for you. Similarly, if you race in a discipline where running a bottle isn’t required for race runs but you want one the rest of the time, this is for you. If you just like nifty designs you would also like it. But I think the overall cost is a bit high if you don’t need the extra clearance or bottle security, and I don’t think I would enjoy racing with the system as refitting the bottle is not as simple as a regular cage – but maybe with 1000 hours use I’d be used to that and it would be automatic.