CULPRIT Enters the BTA (Between-The-Arms) Market

Long gone are the days where, if you are serious about doing full-distance triathlons, you can rely solely on the nutrition on course. Even attempting that over the 70.3 distance is risky, in my opinion. And, thanks to our man Joe Skipper, who started the trend, if you don’t have some sort of bottle on the front end of your bike that makes you more aero and can carry some calories, you are simply doing it wrong.

So, with that in mind, the struggle is real when it comes to all the cockpit options on your bike these days. Getting something that is somewhat easy to adjust, lightweight and won’t break when you have two full bottles of liquid is a big challenge.

Joshua Colp of culpritbicycles.com is a long time forum user and a bit of a bike geek. The engineer, who lives in Taiwan with his family, has been working on this project for a while now.

The current offering is simple and well thought out. Like any engineer focused on a project, his company doesn’t have a skilled creative person, so the website needs some work, but all in all, it does the job.

Colp sent us what I would classify as the “total package” from his site right now – basically everything you can buy at the moment other than the full-arm aero bars.

With that. Let’s dive in.

Complete BTA SYSTEM:

• Culprit BTA Riser
• Bridge Tower Rail
• Bottle Holder Rail
• 2 Carbon cages
• Computer mount

Bridge Tower Rail

The bridge for the tower comes in two styles of wings based on your needs. Both are well made, strong and easy to adjus, although picking the one you need can be a chore for a new athlete. To alleviate any issues, you will want to make sure you reach out and send photos of your current set up before you make your purchase.

Culprit BTA Riser

The BTA riser is well thought out and very easy to adjust once installed. (There is a trick you need to follow to get the under bolts installed.)

It has a height range of 101 mm to 146 mm in 9 mm increments, with five stops. It comes with 5° to 30° of adjustability, also in five stops. Everything is “lock in place,” so while you will be limited with the micro adjustments once the bolts are in, the unit isn’t going to slip. The height and degree adjustments even come with an extra third bolt to add extra protection. (Only two bolts are required.)

Carbon cages

The Carbon bottle cages are almost out of control tight, and I was a little worried at first. But I did discover that a “twist pull” on the bottle helps a lot. I have to be honest, though, I don’t know If I would use these cages on my bike as it really does take a good amount of effort to remove your bottle. The nice thing is that while you are going to have to get used the “twist pull,” you probably won’t ever have to deal with a rubber band to keep your bottle attached. Other than the snug fit, I didn’t have any issues with all three different size bottles I placed inside the cages.

Bottle Holder Rail

This is simple and basic – not anything that is out of the ordinary. There is plenty of adjustability for you to place bottles where you want them on both the top and bottom.

Computer mount

Carefully Integrated into the cage, the computer mount can even attach straight to the bottle rail holder if you just want a bottle underneath. I would like to see some extra bolts included with this, though.

Carbon Composite Speed Rests (CCSR)

These are a good, happy medium between a simple elbow pad and the full-on, custom arm pads/ cockpit flares we see used by some pros. At 210 mm long and 116 mm wide, they feel very compatible the forearm without creating the all-or-nothing feel of a full extension that covers your entire arm from elbow to wrist. There is plenty of adjustability, and the pads are compatible with M4, M5 and M6 bolts. There is plenty of padding, but I would like to see just a little more “stickiness” underneath the pads to hold them in place. (Or, at least an extra set – right now it seems little weak on the “glue.”) I also think Colp has some changes in mind and will eventually include some riser kits to enable some adjustable tilt.

Wrapping this up

Overall I think these are well thought out products that offer a lot of common sense adjustability and compatibility with other products on the market. The only thing I would probably suggest is to go to your local hardware store and change out some of the bolts with ones that are little more sturdy for long term use. Messing around with the system over and over again, the smaller bolts started to show some wear and tear. Also, for now, keep in mind that you will need to pay any sort of import and duty fees (which Colp clearly states on his website).

Colp sent these to us free of charge, and we were happy to give our honest feedback on the product. You can check these out at on his website at https://culpritbicycles.com.

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