With more and more mountain bikers using hydration packs, water bottle cages are increasingly becoming a place to store … well, things other than bottles. Colorado-based iOmounts has taken this idea and run with it, in the form of the cage-replacing Mule.
The Mule system consists of two parts – a neodymium-magnet-equipped base that's permanently mounted on a bike frame's existing bottle-cage bosses, and a detachable "saddle" platform equipped with two stainless steel discs that engage the magnets in the base.
Using an included pair of rubber straps that go through slots in the edges of the saddle, users can attach items such as tool kits, spare inner tubes, stuff sacks or Bluetooth speakers to it. The cargo-carrying saddle can then simply be magnetically snapped on and off of the frame-mounted base as needed.
Of course, users could also just strap a water bottle to the saddle (or permanently attach it using an included double-sided adhesive strip), for a setup not unlike that of the SnapFlask.
If you're interested in getting a Mule, it's currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign. A pledge of US$39 will get you a system, when and if it reaches production. We're told that the retail price will be around $70.
Source: Kickstarter
