Same! After that first time I drank ice cold water 4 hours into a 100F ride, I’ve never gone back. Bivos work great, aren’t too hard to clean, and the weight penalty is totally worth it.
+1 for the Elite Fly. It’s the easiest to drink from of all the bottles I’ve used, being very easy to squeeze and having a very high flow valve. It also weighs next to nothing.
I do like the thicker Elite Jet bottle but I wish they have made the bottle opening as big as the Fly. All the plastic or compostable (Tailwind) scoops that come with the exercise drink mixes I buy are too big to fit inside the Jet.
I am a fan of the Hydro Pak water bottles.
What are people’s favorite ~1L bottle for MTB?
Liking the podium ice here for insulated. Specialized seem to be no fuss all rounders as well.
Specialized purist for the lack of plastic taste, and from some research I did hopefully less micro plastic getting into the drink. I do hand wash only for this reason to try and preserve the lining. There are various different lids, the ones that have to be squeezed are best for not leaking, but do limit maximum flow so I tend not to use them for racing. The more free-flowing lids tend to get a bit dribbly.
I think the idea is that you shouldn’t have to take it apart beyond removing the plug-type thing at the bottom of the new style cap at which point you can run a small round brush back and forth through the inside of the cap. (Personally I still prefer the old style caps as well though.)
+1 for the Specialized/ Purist bidons. I use do use the Podiums, but I found them hard to keep clean
1 Like
+1 for Camelbak Podium. As with all bottles, you need to change them after a while. I’ve used Elites, Tacx, and others, and so far, Podiums are still my firm choice for the whole family.
Unfortunately, if you use a Camelbak Podium for a while and then you fully disassemble the valve, you will see black stuff in a few more places than just under the plug. How do I know? Take a guess.
1 Like
I don’t have any Podium bottles but have had plenty of Specialized Purist. You find the Purist easy to keep clean? I’m referring to the nozzle.
Have you managed to put them back together afterwards?
I just disassembled and cleaned (and reassembled, of course) my remaining old style Podium caps yesterday for the umpteenth time so yeah, thanks, I know. I don’t use the new caps as much but I’m not sure I have ever had to disassemble them when regularly cleaning them like this does a good enough job already:
1 Like
I do. I rinse after a ride, and put them in the dishwasher. I put the lids with nozzles open in the cutlery bin and the containers on the top rack. No issues at all. With Podiums, I had to take the nozzles apart to clean and they still didn’t come clean.
I tried some Elite Fly 550’s as they were short enough under the shock on my mtb and really liked them. I have subsequently replaced my aging Podiums with them. One question, I see that Elite stocks replacement caps on their website, but do they ship to the US?
If I can get it I go for one that has the name/logo of a local bike shop on it so I can give it some (minimal) advertising. I generally find these are SiS bottles, which I clean with a bottle brush, and also soak in a Milton solution every month. Not sure how international Milton is, but in the UK it’s intended for sterilisation of baby products.
Another +1 for Bivo. I made the switch when I came indoors and got hooked when I realized I was actually drinking more water then I had been with plastic bottles.
Zefal magnum - about 1% too large to fit in some cages, but 2x 975mL bottles really helps in the summertime. Three different caps that I’ve used, one is better than the other two but I have only found in France
Bivo insulated - now an essential for 90+ degree days
Specialized purist - for race days it’s the best fit/easiest to use, and if you lose it you probably have 10 freebies from other races anyway
2 Likes
I have a few depending on the ride/season:
-Keego Titanium bottle, my most used one, when frozen it keeps colder a lot longer than the Elite Fly.
-Elite Fly, my second most used especially when it’s cold enough that I don’t need to freeze my bottles.
-Elite Nano Fly, stays frozen for super long, awesome on hot rides after your first bottle is empty, this one still has some ice in it.
-Maap insulated bottle, probably my second favorite, I use this in summer instead of the Keego, it’s insulation is in between the Keego and the Nano Fly so in hot weather this stays cold long enough before I have to use my Nano Fly.
Yes I freeze my bottles almost everytime it is above 17°C, I hate to drink warm sportsdrink/water.
What is a surprisingly decent bottle is the free bottles that The Feed uses as giveaways. Don’t leak, relatively easy to squeeze and good flow.
The only downside to them is that whatever screen printing they do for them starts to flake off immediately.
1 Like