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review
Bottle cages
Giant Airway Dual Side Bottle Cage Giant Airway Dual Side Bottle Cage Giant Airway Dual Side Bottle Cage Giant Airway Dual Side Bottle Cage Giant Airway Dual Side Bottle Cage
2021 Giant Airway Dual Side Bottle Cage

Giant Airway Dual Side Bottle Cage

8
by Stu Kerton
Fri, Feb 12, 2021 15:45
2
£12.99

VERDICT:

8
10
Easy-to-use side-loading cage that keeps your bottle in situ securely
Easy to reverse
Left and right-handed positions
Holds bottles securely
Only available in black
Weight: 
49g
Contact: 
www.giant-bicycles.com
How we test

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 Giant Airway Dual Side Bottle Cage is a cost-effective solution for small frames or those with limited clearance. It can be rotated to suit left or right-handed entry and holds your bottle tight and secure.

The Airway is a side-loading bottle cage, making it ideal for small frames which might not have the room to accept a large bottle in a standard top-loading cage. I've also found it useful on my gravel bike which uses varying sizes of frame bags.

> Find your nearest dealer here

The nifty thing about the Giant cage is that the tab that holds the bottle in place at the bottom is removable, and you can place it at either end of the cage. This means you can get access to your bottle from either the left or right side of your bike.

Giant Airway Dual Side Bottle Cage 4.JPG

When it comes to bottle retention, I found the Airway to have good grip on a range of sizes and bottles from different brands. On rough gravel rides the bottle stayed put even at speed, so there are definitely no issues on the road.

Giant Airway Dual Side Bottle Cage 5.JPG

It doesn't hold the bottle too tightly though, so I still found it easy to remove and replace the bottle on the fly. The injected nylon material used is tough and hardwearing too.

Giant Airway Dual Side Bottle Cage 2.JPG

Priced at £12.99, the Airway is cheaper than the recently reviewed Bontrager Side Load at £14.99 and you can't rotate that one either. Topeak's Dualside is also £14.99.

> Read more road.cc reviews of bottle cages here

Overall, the Giant Airway does everything you'd expect a bottle cage to do and it does it well. The reversibility is a neat idea, and as long as you aren't wanting to colour code it with the other parts on your bike, it can't really be criticised.

Verdict

Easy-to-use side-loading cage that keeps your bottle in situ securely

road.cc test report

Make and model: Giant Airway Dual Side Bottle Cage

Size tested: Reversible

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?

Giant says, "The reversible Airway Dual Side Bottle Cage can be easily switched from right to left hand, making it ideal for smaller sized frames where the bottle mount can be hard to reach."

It's a neat design that works anywhere clearance is tight.

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

Giant lists:

Reversible cage design for easy use from both the left and right-hand easily.

Highly flexible injected Nylon material

Ideal for smaller sized frames

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:
 
6/10

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

You put your bottle in it easily, it holds it. Job done.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Good grip.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

You can have any colour you want as long as it's black.

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

It's cheaper by a few quid than the Topeak and Bontrager options mentioned in the review.

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

Great bottle retention for frames with limited clearance and it's well priced.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 42  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,

Giant Airway Dual Side Bottle Cage 2021
Giant Airway Dual Side Bottle Cage
Giant 2021
Giant
Stu Kerton

Since writing his first bike review for road.cc back in early 2009 senior product reviewer Stu has tested more than a thousand pieces of kit, and hundreds of bikes.

With an HND in mechanical engineering and previous roles as a CNC programmer/machinist, draughtsman and development engineer (working in new product design) Stu understands what it takes to bring a product to market. A mix of that knowledge combined with his love of road and gravel cycling puts him in the ideal position to put the latest kit through its paces.

He first made the switch to road cycling in 1999, primarily for fitness, but it didn’t take long for his competitive side to take over which led to around ten years as a time triallist and some pretty decent results. These days though riding is more about escapism, keeping the weight off and just enjoying the fact that he gets to ride the latest technology as part of his day job.

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2 comments

Avatar
Sriracha | 3 years ago
0 likes

The Earthwell thermos bottle looks interesting. Is that up for review too?

Avatar
Stu Kerton replied to Sriracha | 3 years ago
0 likes
Sriracha wrote:

The Earthwell thermos bottle looks interesting. Is that up for review too?

No, the Earthwell bottle is mine. I bought it for carrying coffee on my gravel adventures a couple of weeks back.

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