Portland Design Work is known for their whimsical bottle cage collections that can add some fun and character to any bike. In this review, we’ll be looking at the Sparrow cage and the companion Jake Tong Flash Sheet bottle which take inspiration from sparrows. Retail price on the Sparrow cage is $25 while the matching Flash Sheet bottle is $11.95. As with most PDW bottle cages, the Sparrow is constructed from a single piece of aluminum 5052 alloy with details cut into it. There are also a number of metallic color choices to choose from to match the Sparrow cage to any bike color scheme. The Flash Sheet bottle is a 26oz Specialized Purist bottle with a MoFlow cap and matching spring themed design.
The Portland Design Work Sparrow cage combines one piece aluminum construction with adorable design details to bring the sparrow to life.
| Retail Price | $25 (per cage) / $11.95 (per bottle) |
| Rating | 9.6/10 |
| Measured Weight (in g) | 56 (cage), 90 (26oz bottle) |
| Likes | + Secure hold on bottles even over rough terrain + Robust and durable aluminum construction + Beautiful design with metallic paint and feature details |
| Dislikes | – Non-color matched mounting bolts |
| Where to Buy (US) | Portland Design Works |
MOUNTING
As far as mounting, the bottle cage uses a standard two bolt design with the bolting area recessed in. Unfortunately, PDW does not include color matching bolts which means the stainless steel isn’t a perfect match to the cages. That difference is more obvious on the brighter colors like the rose gold and copper cages. The top bolt hole has no forward or aft adjustment while the bottom bolt has a little adjustment to make installation easier. With a bottle installed on the cage the mounting hardware is hidden and the wrap-around wings with its cutout feathers stand out and can be confused for angel wings instead of a bird in the shiny colors. As with all PDW cages, the fit is quite tight which holds water bottles firmly in place.
FIT & FINISH
Visually, the Sparrow cage takes the outline of a sparrow bird and wraps the wings around the bottle to hold it in place. This is actually an evolution of their previous Bird Cage but improves the design with feather shaped cutouts and additional detailing. The bottle cage is a one piece design that is cut out of a single sheet of aluminum 5052 which is quite thick at almost 1/16” inch. That means there are no weld marks or seams on the bottle cage which gives it a sleek appearance. Portland Design Works offers the Sparrow cage in four different colors: copper, rose gold, black and silver. We have the two brighter colors which are copper and rose gold that both feature beautiful uniform finishes. Under the light you’ll also see that the finishes have a metallic finish which sparkles in the sun.
The bottle is primarily held in place by the wings which compress the bottle while the tail of the sparrow is bent 90 degrees to prevent the bottle from sliding through. Unlike most cycling bottle cages which have a retention tab on the top of the cage that fits into the corresponding grip ring on water bottles, the Sparrow has a flat design. This is actually intentional as PDW found that the tab would make the cage difficult to use with non-cycling specific bottles. As a metal bottle cage you can also compress or expand the bottle cage to adjust the fit for different sized bottles.
BOTTLES
As with many of the bottle cages, PDW also creates a matching water bottle to pair it with. In this case, the PDW x Jake Tong Flash Sheet 26oz bottle is the perfect companion to the Sparrow bottle. The design of the bottle was inspired by Jake Tong and has a flash sheet design with birds, rain, flowers and captures the beauty of spring. If you are not familiar with the term flash sheet, it’s actually related to Tattoo flash sheets which are sheets of designs you can choose from to select a tattoo design.
This bottle is just a Specialized Purist bottle with their MoFlo cap and PDW’s custom design printed on it. It’s an attractive design with the design repeated twice and transparent slit that lets you see what the water level is. The main body of the bottle has a white background with the design printed on top, and a bright red cap on top. The MoFlo cap is a standard pull/push style cap that locks into place by pushing it down. Although Specialized hasn’t designed the mouth piece to be easily removable, if you do some googling you’ll find there are some tricks to releasing it for a thorough cleaning.
ON THE BIKE
We installed the rose gold and copper Sparrow bottle cages onto our Trek Emonda ALR with a matching Radioactive Red to Marigold Fade color scheme. The metallic gold colors of the Sparrow cages not only looks great in the sun but are also a perfect match for our gold-fade bike. Even with a bottle installed on the cage, which obscures the sparrow head and tail details, you can still see the wing and feather cutouts that wrap around the exterior of the bottle unlike the Very Good Dog and Lucky Cat bottle cages. Compared to traditional carbon fiber bottle cages, the Sparrow is quite a bit heavier but worth the minor weight increase for the style in our opinion. Out of the box, the Sparrow cage has a very tight fit that requires a fair amount of force. It is easy to adjust the fit by simply stretching the metal cage outward or inward though.
As far as the matching Flash Sheet bottle, the Specialized Purist bottles have a great squishiness and high-flow from the MoFlo caps. The elaborate graphics are durable as well and show minimal scratches and wear and tear from being used in bottle cages. The color choices for the bottles are pretty limited which means the white bottle body and red cap may not be a great match for all bikes. We also still preferred our Polar Breakaway insulated bottles over the PDW bottle variations as they help keep our fluids cool during warmer weather.
THE VERDICT
Overall, we found the Portland Design Works Sparrow bottle cage and matching Flash Sheet bottle to be well designed and attractive. PDW has done an impressive job incorporating a bright metallic paint finish with detailed feather cutouts and bird outline shape to give the Sparrow a unique and eye catching appearance. The single piece aluminum construction also results in a premium look with no seams weld marks. We found the cages to also be very functional with a tight fit that worked on any terrain. The matching Flash Sheet bottle is also a nice companion bottle that adds matching spring themed designs to a Specialized Purist water bottle. As far as improvements, we would like to see PDW include color matched bolts to better match the bright color options of the cages. That said, if you’re looking for some unique and eye-catching bird themed bottle cages and water bottles then the Sparrow and Flash Sheet are a great choice.
Disclaimer: The product for this review was provided by Portland Design Works. The views expressed on this website are solely those of the authors and are here to help people make an informed choice before a purchase. The authors or the blog itself does not get any monetary compensation from the product manufacturer or third-party websites/vendor links that are posted here.