robertj298 

I want to mount a water bottle cage on my 1972 Legnano.. I have the original cage
but I don't want to scratch the beautiful original finish on the downtube,
. Is there a padded clamp that will work well to do this? The original clamps
were padded but the padding has worn off I thought new ones might be easier to
use rather than trying to pad the old ones

bboy314

A cut out piece of inner tube works nicely.

SurferRosa

I don't like any inner tube to show. I instead file the clamp edges smooth, so they don't scratch the finish. I use long bolts to get everything square and perfect, then substitute smaller bolts. Always on the down tube.

After seeing your full pics of your bike, many here would use a cage attached to the bars, which would also be period correct.

jamesdak 

I use the bottle cage clamps from Velo Orange lined on the inside with electrical tape. Paste wax on the frame before I mount them as an added layer of protection.



When I can match the frame color to the tape it's a lot less noticeable.

tiger1964 

OP's black should be an easy match! Lizard Yellow would have been tougher, or someone's Bianchi in one of the 47 shades of Celeste...

Paul Waque 

Elite makes clamps with a yellow rubber pad.
They are called:
VIP vintage
Edit:
These clamps are pretty bulky, I have not removed them to see if there are scratches on the frame.
Note, the chain is loose because the driveline will not handle the chainwrap withthe undersized chainring and oversized cassette.

Aubergine 

I just use a strip of narrow cloth rim tape or bar tape.

Maxey

I haven't yet added a bottle cage to any of my vintage bikes that are lacking cage bosses, but I do use 3M paint protection film a/k/a Clear Bra film to protect various parts of my bikes especially the chainstay area and areas where you would lose paint due to cable rub. I would think it would be ideal for clamping a cage to frame tubes as it is virtually invisible when installed. Here are a couple of close-ups. First is some chainstay and bottom bracket shell (look closely) protection on my Ritchey Outback.


And on my old PGN10 Peugeot:


The material looks pretty thick in these photos, but again, they are closeups; from a standing height view the film is virtually invisible. I have tons of scraps of the film from car protection projects and save the scraps for bicycle applications and just trim them to size before applying.

Robvolz 

keeping with the electrical tape tip….
Don, a member here had me install cable guides on his 1939 beautiful Holdsworth. The stress of not scratching was great.

I placed electrical tape next to where I wanted the guides to go, so I wouldn't scratch the frame as when the guides are expanded to go over it, then slide them to their final position.

In your case, I like the Velo Orange (on sale now, $4 a set) which come flat and use the electrical tape on the inside, trim with a razor blade.

Chombi1 

I just file the all the edges that will come into contact with the frame, smooth and mount the clamps on the bike very carefully and avoid overtightening them

John E

Another vote for handlebar mount, which looks great and fitting with most bikes, at least pre-1980.

1973 Brooks Pro on the 1959 Capo. Still serviceable, plan to put on a different bike. Campag. crankset shown

rm -rf

Helicopter tape
Like Maxey posted.

External shifter cables can rub the paint along the side of the headtube, and can really wear through the paint. Wrapping the cable with something soft didn't work well -- it still moves against the paint. A better method is clear "helicopter tape", which protects the paint and doesn't shift around or allow grit into the gap between paint and cable.

For the best paint protection, applying the tape to the frame would be better than applying it to the inside of the clamp.

bikemig 

+ 2 on the handlebar mount. It looks right on an old bike and avoids mucking up the paint/decals as well.

jamesdak 

Yep, I finally bought some of this too and am using it more and more for protection purposes. I think it would be just fine for the OP's concerns too.

Maxey

The stuff really is amazing. I think the paint protection film (PPF) was derived from what another poster called 'helicopter tape.' As I understand it, it was developed to protect helicopter blades from sand blowback in desert environs due to it being really, really bad if the blades start to get pitted. Helicopter blades rotate at supersonic speeds, so if it will stay put under those conditions, a little bottle cage on a bicycle is easy duty. I've used it on the front end of cars, on the tanks of motorcycles, and, of course, on bicycles.

Mad Honk 

A thin layer of cork sheet would work nicely if glued or double sided taped to the cage bands. It is easily trimmed to match the band with a small blade or knife. JMHO, Smiles, MH

tiger1964 

Any info, data or otherwise, on thickness and what effect on "effective diameter" for clamping? Fitting bottle bands, FD's, DT shifters, pump pegs, whatever. I've found a few to be "unforgiving"...

cyccommute 

Self fusing silicon tape is better than rubber strips. Sticks to itself and sticks in place so that you don’t have to fumble with the loose rubber strips.

Alternatively, you could use something like the Zefal Gizmo is a nice way to add water bottle mounts.

rjhammett

I built this bottle holder using a Cateye reflector frame. I didn't want to destroy the decals. It works quite well.

Kontact

Seems like a good application for Tool Dip. Just coat the entire clamp.

tiger1964 

Similarly, I seem to have a dim memory of using this stuff on the backs of various clamps: LIQUID ELECTRICAL TAPE (CLEAR)

tiger1964 

I just got a new bottle of this stuff; I do not recall knowing that it came in clear before, if indeed it did BITD. Not bottle clamps but I did five pairs of pump pegs, did two thin coats on the back of the clamps with cheap art brushes (I presume cleaning this stuff off brushes is unlikely, so they were discarded after each coat). The resultant film is probably similar to a layer of electrical tape, or maybe less, a good thing when any clamp comes with "almost long enough" bolts. If I got any of this product on the visible surfaces of the clamp -- frankly I cannot see it. I cannot report if there's risk of chemical reaction with paint, but after fully cured for the recommended 24 hours, I rather doubt it.