I've used various Elite products for years, always happy with the purchase, though they do tend to be pricier than competitors. I bought these to pair with a speedy Italian bike that I wanted to trim with Italian bling.
Based on about 25 hours of road riding, this holds various bottles of standard diameter well and even hitting some hard bumps I'm confident I won't be losing bottles. If anything, the weight-saving design with the thin, angled arm may work too well, catching on any indented bands on some bottles.
One general concern with carbon cages over plastic or metal is the flexibility versus fragility. There's enough flex in this to accommodate slightly different sizes/styles of bottles, and other than the potential catching on indented bands, I find it is reasonably forgiving when trying to return the bottle when riding by feel, imperfectly aligned.
I just replaced both of my cages on my road bike out of necessity. I used to have the Blackburn very light carbon cage which was just kept breaking all the time. This Elite cage is much better design no problem at all and almost as light as the blackburn.
Extremely light cage, have used 2 different bottles 20,24 oz. bottles. 20 oz was a little tricky getting out but the 24 oz was no problem. Sturdy thus far.
These hind water bottles tightly and are very light and strong. They are a little more finicky to get your bottles back in during the heat of a race, bit im very satisfied with the design.
