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review
£13.75
VERDICT:
Simple, practical, and functional - and excellent value to boot
Weight:
35g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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The Free Parable Design Monkii Cage is a bottle cage, so simple, and so practical you'll wonder why it's not been done before.
Attach the two plastic cleats to the mounts on the bike, and you can, relatively, simply slide the cage on and off the frame as required. Separating the bottle/cage from the studs is a neat touch, as the cage isn't imposing you can keep it attached to the bottle should you wish.
No big deal I hear you say, but that's not the really clever part. The Monkii cage, rather than use a solid cage like most others, uses flexible plastic and velcro to hold your cargo in place.
Yes, cargo. With its flexible sides and adjustable velcro you can secure almost any size and shape of bottle or can in place snuggly. With a maximum weight of 1.5kg, that's 1.5 litres of water. You can carry a bottle of wine or a can of Red Bull easily enough without fear of it either jumping out or rattling itself to death in side the cage!
It's not the raciest of designs, and probably not as aero as a £50 carbon bling-thing, but it's not designed to be. Its purpose is to carry things which may not fit in a normal cage, and it does that impeccably.
At less than £14 I'm really struggling to find fault with it. It's light, functional and super practical on both a commuting bike (hold your lunchtime soup) or on a touring bike (hold a 1.5 litre bottle of water). Money well spent.
Verdict
Simple, practical, and functional - and excellent value to boot
road.cc test report
Make and model: Free Parable Design Monkii Cage
Size tested: White
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?
A simple, removable, bottle cage which expands and contracts at the sides to hold liquids containers from 250ml (maybe less) all the way up to 1.5 litres. Smart Low-Tech is the company ethos, and they absolutely nail it with this.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Simple nylon and velcro-alike construction. Two cleats secure the cage to the frame and allow it to be removed as and when required.
Rate the product for quality of construction:
9/10
Simple plastic, very little to break, nothing has.
Rate the product for performance:
10/10
It does exactly what it should, with aplomb.
Rate the product for durability:
10/10
I've had small cans and large bottles in it, and thus far it's not wavered in its strength.
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
9/10
34 grams is hardly a burden.
Rate the product for value:
10/10
Not for the racing machine, but for almost every other purpose it does a fantastic job for £12.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Spot-on.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
I could carry bottles and cans of varying sizes without breakages or the items jumping out on rubbish road surfaces.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
If i had to choose, it doesn't match my bike's colour scheme.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.
Would you consider buying the product? Absolutely.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? For sure.
Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?
Great little product, smart design and sensible price.
About the tester
Age: 37 Height: 176cm Weight:
I usually ride: Rapide RC4, Raleigh SP Race, Hoffman BMX My best bike is: Rapide RC4
I've been riding for: Under 5 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, touring, sportives, general fitness riding, Adventure-packing, crossing-countries
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21 comments
Will it hold a 1.5l Thermos?
You'll be at the manufactures recommended limits . . . but yes it will. Go for the monkii V cage version. More secure for higher weights and for off-road. http://www.cyclemiles.co.uk/shop/cycle-products/monkii-v-cage-bicycle-bo...
Winter/snow biking season is coming and this may solve one of my problems: carrying a Thermos bottle full of hot chocolate in a bike cage. I've never been able to find one that fits the cage so I improvised by using lengths of old tubes to narrow the cage but it still rattles around.
Now I need to find a Canadian retailer.
Unfortunately, there are no monkii resellers in Canada. However, we ship monkiis all over the world, including beautiful Canada. Shipping is £5.50 (approx CAD$10.00) and takes less than 7 days . . . unless you live on Bank Island
velo [at] cyclemiles.co.uk
"masspike" is that because you average 90 kph?
Took me awhile to figure this out...fortunately those 90kph (actually 110kph) winds were about 1000 km away. It was 28C with blue skies and no wind here -- perfect fall riding weather.
I understand the cage comes off with the bottle, but what stops the cage+bottle flying off the cleats everytime you brake heavily? Is there a release button or is it just friction that holds the cage to the cleats?
Very interesting idea and could be exactly what i am looking for to hold a small camera on a bike.....
If you like the rough stuff, you'll be needing the monkii V cage. Bomb proof. http://www.cyclemiles.co.uk/shop/cycle-products/monkii-v-cage-bicycle-bo...
road.cc that was a nice surprise. 10/10 wow. Glad you liked it.
The monkii range is a complete system for carrying bottles (monkii cage & monkii V cage), tools (monkii V wedge tool roll) and stuff (monkii mono frame bag). There's even a monkii clip for bikes without bottle bosses or if you want to carry a monkii product elsewhere on your bicycle. e.g. under your seat, below your down tube even on your forks.
If you have more than one bike (which a few of us do . . ahem) you can just buy more monkii cleats and use your monkiis on all your bikes. "Simpils" as the annoying furry 'ferret' would say.
Nice idea. And if you need more...
http://www.amazon.com/TwoFish-Growler-QuickCage-Water-Bottle/dp/B00JNAFDQO
re velcro - i used it more as a cargo hold instead of a drinking bottle type of cage. in that respect removal was not an issue for me. a level of dexterity is needed for drinking on the go.
re diameter of bottle - much wider than a Sig flask and you're gong to struggle with ergonomics i think. 1.5lt juice bottles are about its limit - and re the weight, I wouldn't want to go any higher anyway!
never had any accidents with it coming out
Martin. Good to know you like your monkii! The monkii cage has a new big sister or brother now, (arrived just 3 weeks ago) called . . . wait for it . . . the gorilla cage.
http://www.cyclemiles.co.uk/shop/cyclemiles-featured/gorilla-cage-for-bi... Designed with bike packers in mind or anyone who just wants to carry bigger stuff using bottle mounts, 'Salsa Anything Cage' mounts or a monkii clip. If you'd like to take a look at one and let us know your thoughts . . good / bad / beautiful / ugly just let us know. velo [at] cyclemiles.co.uk
How secure does the cage feel in the plastic cleats? I've watched a video attaching it and detaching it and it looks like it could quite easily pop out, is there enough resistance there to keep a heavy bottle in place?
A load of riders on bearbones bikepacking site rate the monkii cage for off-road use so it seems pretty secure. More secure than the copy I saw on ebay, an impulse-chance buy that was karma for buying a cheap copy of a good product.. it is near-useless : )
Velcro strap not so practical for drinking on the move though.
you're kind of missing the point, which is that the velcro and cage come off the bike with the bottle
I guess you may need to mind the tube thickness? Some very thin ones might not take the load, esp side to side?
(Pssst… You've spelt the brand name wrong.)
Whats the maximum diameter it will hold? Cant seem to find that anywhere, but would be really interested if it would hold my klean kanteen 64oz bottle.
Yep. It will carry your Kleen Kanteen with ease. We recommend the monkii V cage for your purposes as with the extra potential weight of 64oz (1900ml) it offers 'bomb proof' carrying reliability. Particularly if you are heading off-road and it gets a little more bumpy than usual. http://www.cyclemiles.co.uk/shop/cycle-products/monkii-v-cage-bicycle-bo...
Ooh. That's really quite the thing as a There When You Need It For Unexpectedly Necessary Stuff Holder on the third bottle cage on the tourer.
I see they do a bag to fit the cleats, too. Nice.