# Battery Pack holders? What are my options?



## Hyperocity (Feb 5, 2014)

It would be cool if there was a bottle cage that can hold a battery pack. I am not to happy about just strapping the battery pack on the frame.


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## Gharddog03 (Sep 25, 2013)

I believe someone made one. Check the battery thread. Maybe it was using a lipo battery.


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## derekbob (May 4, 2005)

What's wrong with strapping the battery on the frame?


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## Hyperocity (Feb 5, 2014)

My frame shape is not ideal for mounting. Pretty stupid looking too. 😎


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

There have been a few posts in the past where folks cut open a water bottle to fit a battery inside and glued it back together. Also IIRC Pedros make a water bottle that opens up and is meant for holding tools and tube etc. Those have been used for batteries as well.


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## Hyperocity (Feb 5, 2014)

Thanks. Surprised no one has designed a clean sleek solution for this.


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## derekbob (May 4, 2005)

If you don't mind the peanut gallery post a pic of your bike. Maybe we can come up with something. I think the DIY bottle holder sounds easy though. I used to lose water bottles if the cage wasn't bent to hold the bottle tight, you might strap the bottle to the cage to be extra safe. I use an extra cinch strap on my frame mounted batteries just for peace of mind.


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

Hyperocity said:


> Thanks. Surprised no one has designed a clean sleek solution for this.


It seems there is not a lot of demand as it is very rarely discussed (on MTBR anyway). That being said, if there were enough interest I'd try to come up with something. That was how I got into building and selling adapters for lights to fit on the GoPro mounting system. Helps keep this old retired guy in beer money!


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## arphaxhad (Apr 17, 2008)

First one to post a picture of a new solution that THEY came up with gets repped up...


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## Hyperocity (Feb 5, 2014)

Vance, mountain bikers usually carry backpack hydration so the water bottle screws can be ideal mounting and weight distribution. . I'm thinking of a bracket of sorts that will fit the average 4 battery pack. It can be be raw, without covering, but in a neat carbon look. It can resemble a cage which the top locks on.


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

Hyperocity said:


> I'm thinking of a bracket of sorts that will fit the average 4 battery pack. It can be be raw, without covering, but in a neat carbon look. It can resemble a cage which the top locks on.


I'm sure that it would not be hard to do up a bottle mount battery pack bracket. It's not worth the time to me if there is low probability to sell about 10 or more. Since there has been so little talk here about it, I'm not sure the demand exists. Hopefully this thread might get folks thinking about it and interest develops.


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## Hyperocity (Feb 5, 2014)

Make a proto and market it.


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## -Archie- (Aug 25, 2013)

Vancbiker said:


> There have been a few posts in the past where folks cut open a water bottle to fit a battery inside and glued it back together.


It will look really ugly, at least in all the cases I've seen. Better option is, to find a bottle with opening wide enough to put the battery without cutting.



> Also IIRC Pedros make a water bottle that opens up and is meant for holding tools and tube etc. Those have been used for batteries as well.


This is exactly what I did: there's a plenty of companies making such containers - look for "bottle toolbox" on eBay for example, and add a cable gland to keep it waterproof.

My bottle battery:









I also put additional velcro band over frame tube and battery, to assure it won't jump out on harsh terrain...


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## -Todd- (Jun 13, 2011)

I used a wide mouthed bottle, heated it up using an industrial heat gun, then popped the lipo battery inside. Used a bunch of open cell foam to take up the space. Trim the nipple so the cable can slide through, mine is sealed up tight and weatherproof.


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## JohnJ80 (Oct 10, 2008)

Hyperocity said:


> Thanks. Surprised no one has designed a clean sleek solution for this.


That's because the strapping to the frame works pretty well and it's pretty sleek too.

J.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

I can't see any of this being a problem. Just buy a *water bottle and put the battery inside. You will likely have to pack some cloth around the battery to keep it from rattling but that shouldn't be a problem. The hardest part will be cutting the drinking valve out so you can pull the wire through. If you have good bottle holder it shouldn't come loose but you can always use a velcro strap to secure it if it seems too loose.

Back in the day you used to see "water bottle batteries " all the time. Somewhere along the line their popularity faded as most people preferred alternative frame mounting. Owning a bike frame that can't easily mount a battery would be a PITA. In a pinch you could mount it to the stem but would look a little odd-ball. I've mounted a two-cell to the stem before but never a 4-cell. 

( * Note; the water bottle I've mentioned above has a wide-mouth screw off top and will easily fit a 4-cell battery without too much problem. The one I use ( for water ) is the Camelback "Podium" bottle. I use this with my road set-up. )


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## OpenLight (Oct 17, 2011)

These do exist, here is the one from Open Light Systems: Open Light Systems LLC | Lupine Battery Bottle - Bottle Holder: Works with any Lupine batteries | Lithium Ion Batteries and Accessories for Lupine, Sigma, MyTinySun, MagicShine, BikeRay, and DealExtreme Lamp Heads
It has a lupine cable, in it but that could easily be swapped out for other varieties.

Ours is a fairly standard bottle with a plastic compression fitting that locks the cable into place in the top and has 2 compartments, a big one for the battery and a smaller one for keys or whatever else you need to keep with you.

Lupine has moved to making their battery part of the bottle: Lupine Lighting Systems North America | Big Ben 17.5 Ah Bottle Battery

I am quite surprised that there are as few ready made options as there are, but in our experience, the bottles are more popular with road applications than trail applications.

I promise that I am not trying to sell anything here, just pointing out some design options.


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## Hyperocity (Feb 5, 2014)

OpenLight said:


> These do exist, here is the one from Open Light Systems: Open Light Systems LLC | Lupine Battery Bottle - Bottle Holder: Works with any Lupine batteries | Lithium Ion Batteries and Accessories for Lupine, Sigma, MyTinySun, MagicShine, BikeRay, and DealExtreme Lamp Heads
> It has a lupine cable, in it but that could easily be swapped out for other varieties.
> 
> Ours is a fairly standard bottle with a plastic compression fitting that locks the cable into place in the top and has 2 compartments, a big one for the battery and a smaller one for keys or whatever else you need to keep with you.
> ...


Nice win!

I would like to see a very simple aluminum square caged box that a battery drops in and is latched. I do not like the bottle look as it looks too rode and not rugged. For me, it is about balance of function and form.


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## -Archie- (Aug 25, 2013)

Cat-man-do said:


> Back in the day you used to see "water bottle batteries " all the time. Somewhere along the line their popularity faded as most people preferred alternative frame mounting.


IMHO, there's strong reasons behind these changes. Back in the halogen days, current consumption of decent bulb dictated use of big and powerful battery (anyone here remember Sigma Mirage with lead-acid brick?), then first LEDs switched us to the AA, and finally lithium cells developed initially for the notebook market appeared to be powerful enough to provide the current even for "serious" LEDs. Mounting of such small battery into bottle cage was simply meaningless, as it perfectly fits essentially everywhere on typical bike frame.

Now the LEDs are going to be more and more powerful, and multi-LED lights widely available - so, long-time "standard" 4-cell lithium battery is not sufficient anymore, and bigger ones are required. That way, we are back to the bottle form-factor...


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

Hyperocity said:


> I would like to see a very simple aluminum square caged box that a battery drops in and is latched.


What would the inside dimensions need to be to fit your battery?


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## Hyperocity (Feb 5, 2014)

3.2x1.75x1.75


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## TiGeo (Jul 31, 2008)

I love the use of an Tube Tourniquet from backcountryresearch.com to strap my battery to my top tube...bullet proof.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

CAt deleted post.


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## Action LED Lights (Nov 11, 2011)

A frame top bag is one of my favorite ways to mount the battery. Assuming it will work on your bike it makes it real simple to just pop the O-ring and go if I'm headed into a store. It eliminates the temptation to charge the battery on the bike because it's so simple to unplug the battery and lift it out of the pouch. The bigger one also gives you room for a phone and a snack.


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## blackbean (Nov 20, 2012)

-Archie- said:


> IMHO, there's strong reasons behind these changes. Back in the halogen days, current consumption of decent bulb dictated use of big and powerful battery (anyone here remember Sigma Mirage with lead-acid brick?), then first LEDs switched us to the AA, and finally lithium cells developed initially for the notebook market appeared to be powerful enough to provide the current even for "serious" LEDs. Mounting of such small battery into bottle cage was simply meaningless, as it perfectly fits essentially everywhere on typical bike frame.
> 
> Now the LEDs are going to be more and more powerful, and multi-LED lights widely available - so, long-time "standard" 4-cell lithium battery is not sufficient anymore, and bigger ones are required. That way, we are back to the bottle form-factor...


Hmmmm....no, it would actually be the OPPOSITE IMO. As LED's become more efficient they will require less power which means you can get long enough run-times out of ever smaller batteries. The convergence is to smaller batteries if anything. LED's become more powerful and batteries having higher energy densities. The move is towards cordless or flashlight type lights if anyting.

Not that there won't be lights with bottle-sized batteries (24 hour racers, etc.) or that all lights will be cordless, but if you had to choose between a 150g light with 2 hour run time at 1500 lumens and a 4 hour light with 2000 lumens at 400g most people (off course not all) will pick the smaller and lighter light. And then not having to deal with cords and mounting effort required, a cordless light is just a better solution. And it's not a fantasy to think of a 3000 lumen light with 2 hour run times in a self-contained format at 150g in a decade from now. Maybe even less. I think speed-sensors would be usual to extend run-times.

Off course there are other factors to consider light beam pattern and price. Also the excuse of not being able to replace the battery (once it eventually can't hold a sufficient charge anymore) in a self contained unit is also not an issue. The battery in most self-contained lights can be replaced. Besides, with the continuation of LED efficiency (and eventual move to laser diodes) most people would choose to upgrade their light at that point. An LED delivering 180 lumens per watt will give you much better run times for a similar battery than LED's delivering 120 lumens per watt.

Dealing with cords and mounting systems is just a PITA. Cordless lights will eventually be powerfull, cheap and light enough to bypass all this. We are not there yet, but the current crop of cordless lights are just a hint of what's to come. Most people will always prefer convenience.

And when it comes to a clean looking solution, no way a corded light can compare to a self contained unit.

Sorry to derail the topic.


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## Hyperocity (Feb 5, 2014)

For me, a longer charge means a few nights touring without recharging. I use my lights for general use so a 2 hour battery is more of an inconvenience. I can get a week on a Gloworm xs charge at a med- lo setting a couple of hours a night.


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## TiGeo (Jul 31, 2008)

Here is mine. Easy. Secure. Backcountry Research - Makers of the AWESOME STRAPS


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## -Archie- (Aug 25, 2013)

blackbean said:


> Hmmmm....no, it would actually be the OPPOSITE IMO. As LED's become more efficient they will require less power which means you can get long enough run-times out of ever smaller batteries. The convergence is to smaller batteries if anything. LED's become more powerful and batteries having higher energy densities. The move is towards cordless or flashlight type lights if anyting.


What I see here almost every day (well, merely every night) doesn't match this statement. Yes, efficiency of LEDs grows too - but increase in power is more rapid and significant: just compare current consumption of early AA-powered LED lights like Cateye HL-EL530 and today's typical bike light. Development of batteries is not going as fast, unfortunately. Another thing to mention - the people always want more light, so affordable LEDs and batteries are causing yet another cycle of step-up movement.

While self-contained lights can be used for short rides, anything like actual off-road for several hours will require either frequent change of batteries, or switching to separate battery pack. Most of members in our local cycling community have both kind of lights, but single-piece ones are used as a supplement or backup lightning. And believe me - it's not because of our preference of additional weight or pretty looking cabling!



> Cordless lights will eventually be powerfull, cheap and light enough to bypass all this. We are not there yet,


Let's hope so. But everything I've said above was related to the current real life, not future dreams...


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## Hyperocity (Feb 5, 2014)

A larger battery pac provides power for my iphone as well.


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## Hyperocity (Feb 5, 2014)

*Fixed it.*

Made my own battery holder. Much better. I do not care about weight, I have huge legs and not a puzzy. I found the box on Ebay for $14. I need to find a plug for the top and I am done. Pretty cool.


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

I spent a little time modeling up an idea for this. Am a bit stuck on what to do for a lid or other retention system. Any feedback is appreciated.


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## -Archie- (Aug 25, 2013)

Perhaps, simple rubber or Velcro loop?


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## Hyperocity (Feb 5, 2014)

I love the rendition. I would included foam for custom fit. For a lid, how about a compression or snap cap that can route the cable. Make the cage have a catch.


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