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review

Zefal Pulse B2 Bottle Cage

8
£12.99

VERDICT:

8
10
A decently priced, lightweight cage that'll hold your bottle snug
Weight: 
31g

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.

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The Zefal Pulse B2 bottle cage is light, easy to use and offers excellent drink retention for not a lot of cash. It comes in a range of colours too, so you can tie it in with your bike's paintjob.

  • Pros: Works with a range of bottle sizes, easy to add and remove bottles
  • Cons: None really... you can buy cheaper bottle cages

The Pulse B2 is manufactured using two different materials: a reinforced composite structure for the main body, which brings strength and rigidity to the mix, and a technopolymer resin for the 'wings' to offer some flexibility to allow for different bottle sizes.

> Find your nearest dealer here

For most of the test period I used the Zefal on a Pinarello Grevil gravel test bike, and smashing it over the local trails saw no issues with bottles flying out, even on the fast sections.

There is a lot of flex at the extremities of the cage to clamp the bottle in place, which means you can use bottles of different diameters. I've got quite a collection of brands in the cupboard that vary in diameter and they all stayed put.

Zefal Pulse B2 Bottle Cage 2.jpg

The spring in the outer body means that inserting and removing the bottle is easily defined, with just a firm grasp to withdraw it and a bit of force to relocate it.

With a circular hole for the top bolt and a slot for the bottom one, there is some adjustment for fitment to your frame in case the bolts are slightly out, although most bikes don't really need it.

On the whole, it is a quality bit of kit. It seems well made and durable plus I like the shape. It comes in a range of 10 colours, too: blue, green, yellow, orange, red, dark blue, black, grey, white and pink, all with black inserts and graphics.

At 31g it's also pretty light.

As for value, you can get this style of bottle cage for around six quid in various places over the internet, but when you compare the rrp to others we've tested it isn't bad value for money and they always make more sense than carbon fibre when it comes to pounds per gram.

> Read more road.cc reviews of bottle cages here

The Tacx Ciro is a similar cage with plenty of colour options and comes in at £15.99, while something like the Vel Race Cage weighs the same and does a decent job too for £11.99.

Overall, the Zefal is the right ball park when it comes to price and weight, plus it does a very good job of keeping your bottle in check.

Verdict

A decently priced, lightweight cage that'll hold your bottle snug

road.cc test report

Make and model: Zefal Pulse B2 Bottle Cage

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?

Zefal says, "With innovative construction, the Pulse B2 bottle cage combines two materials with distinct properties. The centre of the reinforced composite structure brings the necessary rigidity to reduce vibrations and ensure excellent bottle retention while the technopolymer resin offers flexibility and lustre to the bottle cage to facilitate its use."

It's an all-round decent bottle cage for the money.

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

From Zefal:

LIGHTWEIGHT

Only 31g. Lighter than a carbon bottle cage.

BI-MATERIAL

Resistant material at its centre. Light and flexible on the outside.

OPTIMAL DESIGN

Easy bottle insertion and removal.

UNIVERSAL

Adapts to different bottle diameters.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

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

Even on rough surfaces it held the bottle tight.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Great bottle retention.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

There is nothing to really dislike.

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

For the type of cage that it is, it's exactly where it should be really.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

Nothing groundbreaking in terms of weight or price against a lot of the opposition, but it looks good and does its job very well. It's easily a 7, but I think its ability to hold a variety of sizes securely nudges it up to an 8.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 40  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: This month's test bike  My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components

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

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

As part of the tech team here at F-At Digital, senior product reviewer Stu spends the majority of his time writing in-depth reviews for road.cc, off-road.cc and ebiketips using the knowledge gained from testing over 1,500 pieces of kit (plus 100's of bikes) since starting out as a freelancer back in 2009. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 170,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him, he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. With a background in design and engineering, he has an obsession with how things are developed and manufactured, has a borderline fetish for handbuilt metal frames and finds a rim braked road bike very aesthetically pleasing!

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1 comments

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Freddy56 | 5 years ago
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Highly recommend. A year in and not one bottle out

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