Zefal Pulse B2 bottle cage review

The Zefal Pulse B2 is a very light bottle cage which is available in a rainbow of colours and a few more - last time I looked, black, grey and white weren’t included in that meteorological phenomenon - making a total of 10 colour options.

Zefal Pulse B2: construction

The skeleton of the cage is made from a reinforced composite to give vibration-reducing rigidity to the structure, whilst the techno polymer resin of the 'wings' offers flexibility and the option of all of those colours.

It is the lightest cage on test by a small margin if you accept my measuring of the weight which was 31g/33g (manufacturer's/author's measurements).

The titanium Silca Sicuro is 2g heavier and the Topeak Ninja in bottle-only mode is 3g heavier. The Tacx Deva is also 2g heavier and the closest to the Zefal in style. It is a close run thing, perhaps unsurprisingly.

The ride

Once out on the bike I used my reference 700ml (790g) full water bottle and headed out onto my rough lane test route. The removal and insertion of the bottle on the move was extremely easy, almost too easy, and I wondered whether the bottle would stay put over the fast, washboard-like road section. It held firm, as it did over the horrible potholed section. So my skepticism was proved wrong. 

I was curious about this so I swapped a High 5 bottle that measures 73mm in diameter for a Charge bottle (74.5mm diameter) which holds 500ml of water. It felt more secure and more solidly placed in the cage to me. 

To be fair, Zefal has designed the jaws of the cage to accept different bottle diameters and it is possible that the High 5 bottle is at the slimmer end of the range, although the skinnier bottle hasn’t presented a problem with any of the other cages on test. 

There is no adjustment available on the boss plate, but a limited allowance for differently spaced bottle bosses is provided since the lower hole is a slot.

Value and conclusion

This Zefal Pulse B2 bottle cage is reasonably priced at £12.99 and it certainly looks the part on a road bike but the looseness of the bottle grip holds me off from fully recommending it, especially when the Tacx Deva is very similar aesthetically, weight-wise and price-wise but holds a bottle much more strongly.

Specifications

• Weight: 31g/33g (manufacturer's/author's measurements)
• Adjustment: via lower slow
• RRP: £12.99