General Cycling Discussion - I need a water bottle recommendation

Can anyone recommend a good bottle, the one I am currently using sucks, it is one of those plastic ones, and the water stays cold for about 10- 15 minutes, then I have to refill it, after a while that becomes a pain in the ass. I need one that can keep water cold for several hours, and won't break the bank either, and it needs to hold quite a bit as well. If anyone can help, it would be much appreciated.:)

Polar Bottles, the only ones i use :)

Thanks Joe, is there a website for this company, I will try and obtain one of these bottles. Thx again.:beer:

Also be conscious of the colour, although I've heard good things about polar water bottles. I've seen people getting around here with dark coloured water bottles which will take about two minutes to get hot here in Queensland.

Originally posted by Crazy Cyclist
Thanks Joe, is there a website for this company, I will try and obtain one of these bottles. Thx again.:beer:

http://www.polarbottle.com/ - Plan on paying ~$8 each.

I have two on my road bike. In HOT weather I fill them with ice and then add cold water. I still have COOL water 1-1/2 to 2 hours later. :)

You may be able to get them at your LBS.


Or you can get them at Nashbar (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=&subcategory=&brand=0313&sku=2507&storetype=&estoreid=), Performance (http://www.performancebike.com/shop/Profile.html?SKU=4853), Planet Outdoors (http://planetoutdoors.altrec.com/shop/detail/2913/PLB), or REI (http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?productId=28038&storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&langId=-1).

Well, I like clear bottles, so I can quickly assess my hydration situation. You can freeze half a bottle, and fill the rest before leaving. Frankly, during the seasons where cool beverages are important, it melts too fast to help much.

fill the bottle 3/4 full and freeze it solid, when you did it top off with water and it will last much much longer.

A camel bak does this way will last over 4 hours in 100F+

how about taste wise, what do you guys use?

i know that nalgene is famous for making taste-free water bottles.

putting a lemon in there works wonders though for masking the plastic taste in regular el cheapo water bottles.

I live in Bakersfield California, and in the summer it gets over 100 degrees here, so the only thing that comes close to working is the Polar Bottles, and I use the large 24oz bottles. BUT when it is 90 degrees plus your still only going to have cold to cool water for about 45 minutes. So I fill up two of my bottles with ice, this will keep things cold to cool for about 2 hours. Also when it's that hot (I try not to ride when it's over 100), I will make my drink mix the following day and stick 2 bottles in the freezer 3/4 full as 1oldroadie does also, than add cold water to top it off before I leave and this will stay cold to cool for about 4 hours as well.

But when your talking over 100 degree riding you need to take plenty of water. I take 5 24oz bottles! 2 are frozen solid, 2 are chuck full of ice and one is 1/2 full of ice.

If your interested in how to carry 5 bottles on a bike that only has provision for 2 cages let me know; sometimes I will carry 7 bottles depending on the distance I will be going.

If your interested in how to carry 5 bottles on a bike that only has provision for 2 cages let me know; sometimes I will carry 7 bottles depending on the distance I will be going.

Yup I'm interested....

So am I. I am someone who on an average day drinks 5-10 litres of water.

I'll admit it. I'm curious. I won't be giving up my CamelBak any time soon but I'd still like to here the explaination on this one

Thats all i use is the polar but i just put my g aid in and keep it in the refrig bucause when its hot out and i am working hard,i dont want really cold drink,cramps me up. Oh who cares about marked up bottlkes,90% do that and look like that.Hell they look better used anyway.Looks like you've been riding.

Originally posted by froze
If your interested in how to carry 5 bottles on a bike that only has provision for 2 cages let me know; sometimes I will carry 7 bottles depending on the distance I will be going.

"Back in the day," it was common to commit 1 or 2 of your jersey pockets to additional water bottles. Don't see that much any more, but I still prefer it over a CamelBak on hot days. And frankly, it's not that much of an issue in the well-populated eastern US... you're rarely ever too far from some kind of country store/gas station.

I like warm water on my rides.

Sorry it took so long to get back. First is the obvious and that is the two cages on the bike.

The next thing I have found to be very useful is the PROFILE AQUA RACK, this thing attaches to your rear seat post and will hold 2 (I use 24oz) bottles and sells for about $30. This device does clear my seat bag, another device I tried would not made by X-Lab Saddle Wing. The only minor weakness to this Aqua Rack is this very thin round rubber band that goes around the top of each cage and this thing breaks fast, so what do you do? just get a standard rubber band and replace it!

The next thing I use is a cage with a velcro strap made by TWOFISH that straps to the frame, but I strap it to the stem which entails really cinching down the strap hard to keep from moving much (my stem is the long Nitto Tech which this technique may not work for you if you have a threadless headset or a short stem). There is also on the market a device that clamps on the handlebar made by Minora (spelling?) that seems like sturdier device than the TwoFish but the TwoFish was cheaper and that's why I opted for it!

Also there is a device that connects to the handlebar or to a aero style bar made by JET STREAM that comes with a 28oz bottle and is hands free thanks to a straw-I do not have that since it is not insulated.

For really long rides I take a handlebar bag and put 2 water bottles in the bottom of the bag and food on top.

And you can always do as we did in the old days and stuff a couple of bottles in your jersey pocket. But on long rides I usually put food back there since it's lighter than water bottles.

So on long rides I can carry up to 7-24oz bottles.

That's a lot of stuff to be buying when you could just use a CamelBak for about the same price or less. Here I thought you had a homebrew system. (which would have been cool) Oh well such is life.

Hmmm i'm gonna be getting some aero bars in the near future, i might get the sipper bottle that fits underneath.... on my stem i have my fone case cable-tied on :p so that parents can get hold of me easily. Might get a creekflow hydrapak as well.

Brendon

carry 5 bottles on a bike that only has provision for 2 cages Last year I attached 2 cages to my front forks using hose clamps with a piece of old inner tube under the clamps. Worked great. The cages were slanted a little but the bottles never fell out.

The only reason I stopped is that I now have a rack on my bike and I attach a 1/2 gal jug to the rack with elastic cords. I bought the jug at a camping supply store. It has a padded cover for insulation. When I freeze 3/4 of the contents it stays cool for a long time.

If I used the jug AND the 4 cages I could carry haul almost 6 litters (so far I haven't needed to haul more than 4 liters).

I attached two bottle cages, similarly using a pair of hose clamps padded with inner tube, to the upper/forward part of my downtube. Works great. If I really think I need more than 4 bottles I carry my Camelback. Two is usually sufficient since on road rides because there is almost always somewhere to refill bottles even if it means buying some bottled water. I have a couple of Polar bottles plus others. Though it is nice to have cold water I have intentionally not gotten too hung up on the whole thing. If you get too attached to cold water it seems to me it could be mentally stressful if you have to drink warm water. But then I don't use sports drinks except as perhaps the first set of bottles. Using an appropriate gel and electrolyte replacement with plain water in the bottles works for me on rides over 50 miles.

You can freeze Polar bottles.

Just want to add, that I do not like CamelBacks because they make my back sweat like crazy thus I am very uncomfortable. Also by having bottles, it gives me an excuse to move around more and I can something different in each bottle if I choose too.