A water bottle for my Hightower

Initial problem

I love my Santa Cruz Hightower. It suits my requirements perfectly. As it is the first generation frame, the shock connects midway on the downtube. The new frame design of SC line-up features a low mounted shock, which leaves plenty of room in the main frame for accessories. Not so with the old design.

To even put a bottle in the front frame triangle the use of a side mount bottle cage is a given. Due to the space restrictions of the frame, the bottle has to be on the small side.
Unfortunately most bottle cages have a critical build height, so the bottle collides with the shock even if it would fit length wise.

Solution

I did some research when I first got the frame and someone recommended the Fidlock bottle system. It’s definitely on the expensive side, bit it does fit on my bike.
In a nutshell: Fidlock uses magnets and a nifty design to attach the bottle to an unobtrusive base plate. The bottle will snap on to the base plate installed on the bottle cage mount on your bike frame. To remove the bottle you have to twist it. Fidlock have an interactive display (external link) of the system on their website.

With the Fidlock system I can fit a 600ml bottle inside the frame and it’s a near perfect fit. There is not a millimeter on any side to spare, not to say it touches the shock and the frame. I had to elongate the slot holes on the base plate by 2mm to make this work.

Fidlock releases bigger bottle

600ml is better than 500ml or less, but then again in other frames I could fit a 750ml bidon without any problems. While I do wear a hip pack or a small backpack with a hydration system for single day rides, on multiday rides, when I haul everything I need between over night stops, I’d like to have a light as possible backpack. So I need to put some of my water on the bike.

Fidlock recently presented a new bottle with 800ml capacity – Yay. But they did this by simply making the bottle taller – booh. As you can see in the picture above. I can NOT fit a taller bottle in that frame.

Now, Fidlock is in a unique position. Their bottle doesn’t have to fit in a bottle cage. With their system they don’t need to have round bottles. They could shape it any way they please. So why don’t the do this? Your guess is as good as mine.

So that’s it then?

No more options for a bottle with a higher capacity to fit in my Hightower?
Not from Fidlock, but from the german mtb brand YT. They have a similar problem with their frame design and simply took matters in their own hands. They started out with a cage mounted bottle, the Thirstmaster, which deviates from the round shape of traditional bidons. For the Thirstmaster 4000 they adapted their design to the Fidlock system. It’s got a 600ml capacity while building a lot smaller.
Hold on. 600ml is not bigger than what Fidlock offers. That’s right. They also added a ‘Thirstmaster 5000’ bottle about a year ago. Until recently you could only get a complete system for about 50€. Too much for my taste. Since a few weeks, they also offer the bottle itself as a replacement part for 15€. Still expensive compared to the traditional bottle & cage system, but good enough for me to try it out.
YT’s new bottle has a capacity of a whooping 835ml. That’s a 39% increase compared to my 600ml bottle and it’s even bigger than the new Fidlock bottle. Or is it?

From the side view there is almost no difference in height and the YT bottle is merely a tad beefier. From the front view you really see where YT found the extra volume.

So it’s bigger without being taller (almost like a TARDIS), but does it fit in the frame?

The bottle lid is just not touching the shock. I will move the base plate down a bit to even the gaps. The bottle is extra wide, but not in a way that will cause problems, e. g. it has more than an inch clearance to the crankarms.

The Take-away

YT managed to increase the bottle capacity by almost 40%, while maintaining the same overall height. Due to the unique shape it offers better clearance inside the frame and leaves plenty of room to the cranks.

You can buy the Thirstmaster 5000 as an accessory from YT’s webshop (external non-affiliate link). Please be aware, that you will get only the bottle. The adapter to connect the bottle to the baseplate is NOT included, you can buy them separately. I removed the adapter from my Fidlock bottle and attached to the YT bottle.

DISCLAIMER: I don’t have any affiliation with any of the companies or brands mentioned. I bought all the parts you see in the pictures from my own money and I don’t get any compensation for this article.