FREE PARABLE MONKII CAGE REVIEW

FREE PARABLE DESIGN MONKII CAGE

47g £14.99

The Free Parable Design Monkii Cage is essentially a flexible composite model with Velcro straps designed to capture things traditional bottle cages cannot. Nudging the scales at a feathery 47g and boasting a 1.5 kilo maximum payload; it’s essentially a flexible composite cage with easy adjust Velcro straps.

In common with its beefier Gorilla cousin, it slots onto two cleats, which attach to the frame’s bottle mounts via 5mm Allen screws and allow the cage to be whipped on/off in seconds-remember that when parking in the street…

No bosses; classic frame? Ground ‘em off your fixer conversion in a fit of pique…Don’t panic, £12.50 buys you the brand’s aptly named Monkii Clip adaptor. This also permits fitting to fork legs, seat posts, extending its horizons to folding bikes and other specialist machines.

Ah, a quick word about smaller semi/compact geometry framesets. While our Monkii played nicely with adjustable and side-entry designs, there wasn’t enough room in my Univega’s main triangle for it and a more traditional T6 cage, so it’s worth checking first, if you weren’t looking to upgrade/replace your existing setup.

The Monkii can then be slipped on and filled with cargo. Composites feel disconcertingly whippy, compared with those used standard bottle cages. This is so it can expand and contract to accommodate cylinders of varying diameters.

Talking of which; in common with the aluminium alloy PET types designed for 1.5 soft drinks bottles, it’s not intended for mid-ride swigging; keep another bottle or two on your other bosses for day-rides/touring.

Ours has spent much of its time lugging my bike specific thermos, fending off caffeine withdrawal on long summer evenings when the cafe’s shut. However, it has also proved a capable host to skinny soft drinks cans, 1.25 litre bottles of tonic water, full tool caddies, NIMH bottle batteries and yes; wine.

So long as you’ve nipped the Velcro tight, there’s no hint of annoying chatter, much-less mortar-esque ejection over poorly surfaced/unmade roads. That said, 50 mile mixed terrain outings with carbonated mineral water en tow, required a more tentative opening to avoid saturation of self and unwitting bystanders!

Most manufacturer claims are pretty reliable these days, though I was still a little sceptical of the 1.5 kilo boast, so fed ours a 1litre, 1.2 kilo disposable Argon/Co2 welding gas cylinder. Having mummified said gas in bubble wrap, rather than risk it dinging my tourer’s down-tube, I set off for the six mile scoot to my friends’ workshop...

Given its due, we all arrived without incident (although I stuck to smooth, well-surfaced roads). However, handing it over was a relief - felt as if two puppies were fighting in the cage when negotiating bends, junctions/roundabouts. This wasn’t an issue with surplus bottles and other impulsive roadside purchases.

Summing up; we’d go for the Gorilla when bulkier items need to cadge a lift. Nonetheless; it’s an incredibly useful utility cage, discrete and svelte enough for bikes on calorie controlled diets.

Michael Stenning

Verdict 3.5/5 stars brilliantly simple means of carrying bottle shaped objects but plastics feel a little taxed near to maximum payload.

PUBLISHED JUNE 2016