New Salsa Anything Cage HD

[JRA]

http://salsacycles.com/culture/page/introducing_the_anything_cage_hd

[joeydurango]

As of the other day, we've got 'em, in house and on the webstore.  Burly!  Also limited, no more coming to Salsa until February...

[jhl99]

I love this quote from the web page link:

"Salsa has had great success with the original Anything Cage"

I wonder if the customers have also had great success ?     


Got to love the marketing folks.  

[joeydurango]

I think the first run, quite a while back, had durability issues.  Haven't seen any problems with any of the originals we've sold over the last year, though... they beefed 'em up after some breakages.

[Wilburforce]

These are also superb:

http://www.freeparable.com/gorillacage

Their Monkii Cage is superb too.

[Aushiker]

Guitar Ted has a review and an update on the Anything Cage HD. I do wonder if they are worth the "upgrade" over the older one. Anyone have any experiences to share?

I am considering using them to carry my cooking setup (stove, pot) on one side and my tent (Tarptent Scarp 1) on the other.

Regards
Andrew

[Area54]

Andrew it wouldn't matter if you went with the latest plastic model or the gen 2 cage - both are good.

[Aushiker]

Andrew it wouldn't matter if you went with the latest plastic model or the gen 2 cage - both are good.

Thanks. Being in Australia, it seems that buying options are such I might not have much choice but the Gen 2 cage anyway so it is good to know either option is a good one.

Thanks
Andrew

[sfuller]

Got a first hand look at these during the Iowa Bike Expo this past weekend. The plastic they are made of is fairly thick. While they had some flex to them, being plastic, it was no where near as much as I expected. Seems to be a solid update.

[jeremy11]

Copied over from another thread.

Disclaimer - I have a vested commercial interest in the following discussion...





Salsa didn't consult with me about the Anything Cage HD http://salsacycles.com/culture/product_process_the_anything_cage_hd
and I was a little shocked to see them talk about the R&D process like they came up with the idea out of nowhere... perhaps they did and just never stooped low enough to see my little micro business.

Their coming out with the Anything Cage HD is a rather obvious admission of the weakness of their previous design.

I did think about a molded plastic version of my Everything Bag a while back (long before Salsa) but don't have the order volume or distributor network to make it work.

While the Anything Cage HD does fix a number of the problems with the original cage, here are a few design details in which my Everything Bag still wins out.

1. The Anything Cage HD (ACHD)  has a stiff rounded back so will only work well with rounded objects.  The Everything Bag (EB) has a flat framesheet with fabric sides so conforms to whatever shape you put in it - rectangular, round, odd shaped, you name it.  The following picture shows the Everything Bag carrying a rectangular 2 liter juice bottle - try that in a stiff round plastic cage!



2. The EB has a broad enough bottom and metal cam buckle straps so if you're carrying a Nalgene bottle, and run the straps just a tiny bit loose, you can get the bottle in and out without adjusting the straps.  Does this work on the ACHD?  I don't know but suspect not.

3. When ladderlock or side release buckles are tensioned over a round hard radius, the friction decreases with the angle of the straps.  So when the radius gets to small, the buckle creeps open or jolts open.  This is one of the major reasons the EB uses metal cam buckles which do not slip no matter what the angle.  I don't know if the buckles supplied with the ACHD suffer from this problem, but I'd be surprised if they didn't.

4. The ACHD has a wider plastic frame than the EB so when the plastic is bumped against a rock or tree or the ground the longer lever arm will put more force on the bolts, mounting bosses, and plastic frame, increasing the likelyhood of failure.

5. The EB is available with p clamps and hardware to mount on just about any fork on the planet - including suspension forks.  Only forks with sever tapers from top to bottom do not work.  The ACHD could also be used with p clamps but they leave you out in the cold to figure it out for yourself.  P clamps are readily available, but are not typically found at your local hardware store in sizes over 1 inch.  So that leaves the customer to figure it out for themselves, and more than likely, they'll have to get a bag of 25 when they only need 6 of them.  Salsa would be wise to come up with a molded plastic widget that fits on a wide range of diameter fork legs and allows the cage to be bolted on...  I would do it but don't have the sales volume to justify getting a plastic mold made.

[bobjenkins79]

^^ Those are some interesting points. You may have just changed my mind.

[bmike-vt]

with all due respect, your bag is a completely different animal. the 2 salsa offerings are cages / racks that can use straps to hold down whatever you wish (within reason) - be it a dry bag, nalgene, tent, etc.

your everything bag is a cool product and idea - but its different - a soft sided frame harness is the best way i can describe it.

i like the things i've seen you make, but you have a pretty debbie downer attitude regarding this product. celebrate and promote whats good about your bag. show how its used for a variety of things. lay off the salsa bashing. its a turn off.

[joeydurango]

Jeremy, please don't take this the wrong way, but I completely agree with everything bmike-vt said.  I just don't see your argument in the slightest.  And Salsa didn't steal any of your ideas.

The bikepacking world has an awful lot of overlapping ideas and creations, some better thought-out or executed than others.  I try not to think of anything is a copycat move unless it's an absolute detailed ripoff (which I've seen more than a few times).  But beyond blatant copycatting, ideas in a burgeoning pursuit/market will tend to build on the shoulders of previous ones.  Simultaneous development, constant improvement, and so on... that's how the world works.

[bmike-vt]

Salsa Anything Cage HD and Porcelain Rocket Anything Bag by mbeganyi, on Flickr

Cages arrived, and so did my anything bags from Scott @Porcelain Rocket

[JRA]

Salsa is now offering a matching bag:

http://salsacycles.com/culture/new_product_wednesday

[blurltd]

The Gorilla Cage below is a cool looking! The only thing that makes me nervous are those velcro straps are not the sturdiest for long hauls. Add rain, dirt, mud and sun, weight, and vibration to mix and those straps will one buy one eventually shear off. I had a small water bottle strapped to my down tube last year on the Divide and it was 3x the width it ripped off by the time I got to the US border.

IN NO WAY AM I SAYING these are no good but just something to consider. In fact I am currently playing with the new Salsa HD cages and bags and was looking through my collection of lash straps pulled out similar veclro ones and decided against them. Might be a little extra cautious from my water bottle experience. 

I'm sure for overnighters and week long trips these rock hard, but extended trips, I would reconsider.

PS as for jeremy11 comments... I think you just lost more business for yourself with that post and the one you put on Salsa's blog.

These are also superb:

http://www.freeparable.com/gorillacage

Their Monkii Cage is superb too.

[blurltd]

bmike-vt
I was about go with the Porcelain Rocket bags (Scott's work is amazing!), but I wanted something more water proof so I went with the Salsa Anything bags. Please let me know how the PR bags hold up and mount to the HD cages. The Salsa bags are bomber but the straping system is a little cumbersome and messy, not super clean like the Porcelain. Function over design.

[jhl99]

SARCASM ON

The Salsa SOBs stole MY IDEA from 2009 and couldn't adapt it for mass production without screwing up!!!

http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=363.msg3882#msg3882

SARCASM OFF

Here are working links:

http://home.comcast.net/~JHLange99/SeatPostBikeCage_Nalgene.PDF
http://home.comcast.net/~JHLange99/SeatPost_Bike_Cage.pdf

For the record, the JHL99 big cage is still going strong at 5+  years.

I kind of feel sorry for Salsa with those original Anything Cages... it seems like none of their engineers are old enough to have experienced welded, aluminum cages fatiguing and breaking back before the invention of  water bladder systems.

JHL99