Why overcomplicate things? Elite’s new Custom Race X cages are 35% lighter without any gimmicks

Some things in cycling, as in life, are best kept as simple as possible. Nobody really wants an over-engineered tyre lever, a toaster that also predicts the weather, or a WiFi enabled cup. Your bike’s bottle cages fall squarely into this category; why overcomplicate things?

A decent pair of bottle cages can make or break a ride. If they are too loose your bottle will rattle around and drive you mad, or worse it’ll break free if you hit a bump and you’ll be thoroughly dehydrated, or even worse you could have an accident. If they’re too tight then getting a quick drink when you really need it becomes a mission, and you may just decide not to bother, jeopardising your chances of staying properly fuelled. If they aren’t the right shape they can also be impossible to use on smaller bikes, and over-engineered solutions can add grams to your precious road bike. 

The new Elite Custom Race X is the next evolution in Elite’s bottle cage design, iterating and perfecting the venerable Custom Race Plus, a cage that has quietly and effectively secured the bottles of professional racers for over a decade. 

Every gram counts

With the proliferation of aerodynamic bike design adding mass to frames in an effort to cheat the wind, it has also seen the weight of bikes increase slightly as they need more material. Pros and amateurs alike are therefore constantly searching for the next couple of grams they can shave off to keep their machines competitive for when the road tilts upwards. 

The all new Elite Custom Race X is a full 35% lighter than the Custom Race Plus - itself one of the best bottle cages according to our experts, weighing in at a feathery 28.5 grams without sacrificing durability or useability, which often go out of the window with designs that simply focus on weight above all else. With professional riders swapping parts for savings of a handful of grams, it’s sure to become a peloton favourite as well as a regular sighting at the Sunday cafe ride. 

Saving grams is a worthy endeavour in a sport where riding uphill is key, but the Custom Race X maintains the same build quality as the Custom Race Plus and is proudly made in Italy. Professional riders are some of the most exacting customers out there, and in recent years over half the peloton at the Tour de France has relied on the old Custom Race Plus, a feat unmatched by any other manufacturer. 

Better ergonomics for a quicker drink

When the race is on and you need to have a sip from your bottle there’s absolutely nothing worse than struggling to get it out of the cage. Having the right level of grip is key, but there’s more to it than that. The Elite Custom Race X has taken the perennially popular design of the Custom Race Plus and tweaked it slightly to make it even easier to use. 

The sides have been lowered, meaning that that bottle can come out sideways more easily. For many of us this may not be a consideration, but for gravel bikes, mountain bikes, for anyone using a frame bag, or for anyone who has to use a smaller frame size this is a vital improvement that’ll enable easier fuelling. The lower sides also mean it’s easier to pop the bottle back in too, which, let’s be honest, is usually the harder bit. If Mathieu van der Poel can swap his bottles while trying to keep up with a Tadej Pogačar attack up the Cipressa at Milan-San Remo using the old cages imagine how easy you’ll find the new ones when the chips are down. 

Not just for the road

Lower sides and an easier bottle removal don’t have to come at the expense of bottle retention. While the Custom Race X bottle cage is primarily designed for road riding, the front section of the cage has been extended compared to the Custom Race Plus. More coverage means more grip, and so it has the same vibration-beating grab as the older cage and allows it to be used for gravel and mountain bike use too, without any gimmicks. 

There are no ratchets to dial in and out to maintain grip, no metal to bend that’ll add weight, no special latch to lock the bottle in place. You don’t need to add grip tape over rough ground and you can even choose from ten colour options to match your bike. 

Ultimately, the Elite Custom Race X will become an unconscious part of your bike setup to the point where, like all the best bits of cycling tech, you’ll forget it’s even special at all because you’ll never have to think about it. Simple, lightweight, grippy, easy to use, durable. Why overcomplicate things?