Elite Ala Resin bottle cage

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Elite says: "Weighing only 39g, ALA is a bottlecage designed to ensure lightness on your bicycle while maintaining reliable performances thanks to its variable sections structure, relieved of excess material and reinforced in those areas subject to most stress."

I would agree that it's light enough for all but the most obsessive weight weenie, and performance is not only reliable but also very impressive, especially when used with Elite bottles.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Elite says: "ALA is the new entry in Elite's range of highly-resistant fibreglass reinforced bottlecages. Characterised by a dynamic design available in three different artworks, to suit any frame, ALA features a structure developed to embrace the bottle in its upper part, as if two wings were ready to unfold and expand on any course. It's a sophisticated yet athletic solution to have great bottle retention on any terrain.

"Available in three graphic artworks with a strong aesthetic impact, the ALA bottlecage features an elegant and modern design, created to make it easier and more ergonomic to extract and insert the bottle, even when there's not much room on the frame.

"The new design features two wing-shaped arms connected in the front, created to envelop the bottle in its upper part, thus enhancing the retention abilities of the bottle under any circumstance, such as high speed descents or off-road courses."

I would guess it's injection moulded. It has popped out of the mould with no defects and has been finished very neatly. Made in Italy.

It performed extremely well with Elite's own Jet bottle.

I have no doubt that the cage itself is durable, but it was a bit disappointing that the graphics were easily damaged.

Plastic bottle cages are heavier than carbon ones mainly because they have to use more material to achieve the same level of stiffness, so 40g is ballpark for this type of cage.

It's in line with other similar cages, but has a has a good quality look and feel, is made in Italy, works very well, and should last a long time, so for under a tenner it's definitely money well spent.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

It performed very well indeed when used with an Elite bottle; acceptably well with other manufacturers' bottles.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The open design makes it very easy to slot in a bottle quickly, and it clicks home with satisfying thunk – particularly Elite's own bottles.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

It was a shame the silver graphic damaged so easily.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

It's cheap at just under a tenner, but in line with cages from rival manufacturers such as Deda with the Gabbia, and undercutting the Tacx Ciro, which is admittedly 10g lighter and incorporates carbon.

Use this box to explain your overall score

Although the silver graphic damages easily, and those people who like to use whatever free bottle comes in a goodie bag won't like that it's designed for and works best with Elite bottles, I've given it a score of 'very good' because I was impressed with its design, construction and performance, all for under a tenner.