This month’s Star Letter ponders, not unreasonably: “how anyone can drink from a plastic bottle that’s been in the dog shit zone all ride is beyond me”.

>>> How to fit a bottle cage to bikes that don’t have bottle mounts

Bottoms up

In the last few months there have been comments about rubbish on the trails. But it’s not just the rubbish on the trails, it’s the doggy doos. This must be a Yorkshire thing: everyone seems to have more than one dog, two is the minimum. In fact we counted 10 dogs out with one bloke in Wharncliffe Woods a few weeks back, and of course he’s picking up after every dog! The little black bags left everywhere are really foul, especially if they have been there a few days fermenting: some owners even go to the trouble of hanging the bags in the trees next to the trails. Needless to say most rides one of us gets covered in dog poo – wheels, frames, clothing, it’s really disgusting, and a danger to your health.

So why, when I’m looking through mbr, do I see so many photo’s of riders with drinks bottles lashed to their frames? The May issue had a feature on the Orange Five RS, a bike with the most stupidly positioned bottle bosses in the world, and a rider with a bottle in situ. I had to look to see if it was the April issue and you lot were taking the piss.

I know we are all different, but how anyone can drink from a plastic bottle that’s been in the dog shit zone all ride is beyond me, and why are frame designers still trying to accommodate such nonsense?

Regards

– Rob the dog lover… not

mbr – Rob we totally agree that irresponsible dog owners are reprehensible, and anyone letting a cowardice of curs run wild is even worse. You raise an interesting point about frame design too, we’ve often wondered why bike companies design frames around bottles and not the other way round. Finally, there’s a solution to the mucky bottle top, just buy a vessel with a cap on it.

Contact us: mbr@timedia.com

All Star Letter correspondents win a Madison Zenith waterproof jacket worth £99.99.