Canadian Tire Cup Holder
One advantage car drivers have over cyclists during the morning commute is the ability to sip a cup of coffee/joe/java/liquid cocaine during their ride, but not anymore. Canadian Tire began stocking wares from what appears to be a new company called Everyday and one of Everyday’s new products is the Traveler Handlebar Cup Holder. 
At $7.99 this simple contraption beats the price of other similar products such as the Felt Café Coffee Cup Holder which retails in the $20′s and looks eerily similar.
Using a single bolt, the Cup Holder mounts onto most handlebars allowing riders the option of carrying their coffee with them. The mount does not fit every handlebar out there, but it will fit the common 25.4mm handlebar used on mountain bikes and hybrids as well as 26mm handlebars on some road bikes. Don’t bother trying to fit it on any 31.8mm OS (Oversized) bars, though. The ring is one-size fits most so it may not be able to fit every coffee cup or mug (adding one of those tree-wasting hand protector thingies may help). Bikeroo recommends you use a re-usable coffee mug as it not only helps the environment, but since it is sealable, it prevents any unnecessary spillage as you hit a pot hole or hop a curb. Another possible issue is interference with your cable housing. As you can see in the image below the Cup Holder was installed facing the rider instead of away so as to not interfere with the cable routing.
During my initial test-ride, the Cup Holder did a fantastic job keeping a medium sized, Tim Horton’s Iced Cappuccino in place. Despite running over some potholes and sewer grates the drink remained upright with no spillage. Unfortunately, when hopping off a side-walk curb I did spill some of my Iced Capp (again, opting for a re-usable mug is ideal).
Overall, the product is definitely worth the money, especially if you want to enjoy your morning brew like our commuter counterparts in their cars or on the subway. Despite its limitations in versatility it’s a welcome addition to any commuter bike and just makes the morning ride a bit more awesome.
Posted: April 4th, 2010
Author: Bikeroo
Filed under: Review, Uncategorized
Tags: bike accessory, Review | 15 Comments »
Sweet! I bought a similar product a friend’s birthday gift and it was a little over $20. Nice to know there’s a cheaper one out there.
Anyway, my friend really likes it – it’s more for bringing a coffee from home to work rather than sipping on the go. We did have to take a moment to figure out where to install it on her bike so it wouldn’t interfere with cables and not get knocked mounting/dismounting the bike. As you did, she also found it was fine until she got off the bike and just not thinking tipped the bike to the side while locking up.
I’ve traveled with beer and coffee in my bottle cage. The beer was a little shaken but the coffee was fine. Obviously not as safe, but works!
p.s. that’s not beer, officer. That’s Pabst water, duh!
That’s a pretty fantastic price. Would you classify this as a knock-off? Fits great on your folding bike, too.
@Duncan: It seems that this company is trying to make lower end alternatives to snazzy accessories. They have this imitation leather saddle with faux-copper rivets that looks decent from afar and the prices for these things aren’t bad, especially when stacked up against brand-name components.
@Twowheels: Bike water bottle cages are great for carrying many things from a rolled up jacket to a burrito (http://twitpic.com/xnmx2), but coffee is hit or miss depending on the size of the cup used. PBR and water bottle cages go together like a foot and a pedal.
@Mark: Yea the tipping thing also seemed to be an issue (yet another reason I advocate the use of a re-usable coffee mug thing).
I know what people are getting for presents now!
I bought one of these too – mounted, but yet to be tested. I had to use a fair bit of foam gasket around the handlebar to get it to grip tightly enough – otherwise it was sliding all over.
@cFletch: if the foam doesn’t work try getting an old inner tube. Tubes cut into strips make great shims to ensure a snug fit and they prevent your handlebars from being scuffed from mounting it.
Please do purchase the Felt industries one – support your small businesses.
CDN Tire is the original dollar store – I’m sure it costs them $0.75 to have made in China, and there goes the revenue that could have supported innovation in North America.
If you had a small business, what would you want? Its only $20 fer codssakes.
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Hey torontodad – your reasoning is so terribly flawed it’s actually funny.
You are advocating spending almost 3 times the money on something just because it is a small business.
All CTC stores are owned and operated by individual franchisees.
If Felt needs to charge over $20 for a simple metal ring with a bolt on it, maybe they should be in another business.
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