Tandem Cycling - Extra bottle mounting accessory or camelbak

With the summer coming, (wishfull thinking) and my unusually high water drinking requirement, I was thinking that the 3 H2O cages on the Coupe will probably not be enough, even if I can fit some mega bottles like the 20 oz Zefals....

I there a cage mounting accessory so I can get another on the frame, w/o it looking like some really bad feat of garage engineering?

I have a Thudbuster ST for the stoker, fyi.

Or 50 oz camelbak :eek:, or any other ideas?

Thanks
INDY-Bob

There's all kinds of gizmo's out there. Probably the most common is hardware that holds one or two water bottle cages onto the rear of the saddle.

There are (3 X 24)+(2 x 20) here, 112 oz total. We can swap the 20's for 24's and re-allocate the tools from the downtube cage to the under-saddle bags for a total of six 24's or 144 oz. without camelbacks.

There's all kinds of gizmo's out there. Probably the most common is hardware that holds one or two water bottle cages onto the rear of the saddle.

+1

You might be able to use a Twofish velcro-mounted cage under the stoker's stem. We use one.

invest in a camelbak.

it carries about 3L of water (3/4ths of a gallon), tubes, multitool, pump, wallet, keys, phone, etc.

once you get used to one, you'll never go back to bottles except for quickie rides.

invest in a camelbak.

it carries about 3L of water (3/4ths of a gallon), tubes, multitool, pump, wallet, keys, phone, etc.

once you get used to one, you'll never go back to bottles except for quickie rides.

Not for everyone... For us if I use a camel-back it gets in the way when my stoker stands. We could stand together but sometimes we don't. Also camel-backs are heavier than water bottles and cages. They are very handy while on rough terrain or while doing steep climbs particularly on the triplet.

Minoura also puts out a handlebar mount for waterbottle cage and believe Nashbar also has one on sale.
Don't like stuff on our backs so we don't use camelbacks
Have 4 braze-ons for bottles on the frame, one Minoura on pilot's handlebar and a custom mount for stoker on her stokerstem. The bar mounted bottles are visible in this photo. Pilot uses a non-flexible plastic tube and stoker a flexible plastic tube inserted through drinking cap hole for no-hands drinking.
We also insulate bottles for summer riding to keep water cooler with old biking sox. Bend head down and sip. Works for us.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

I don't care for things on my back, and I might be too old-school for a camelback, though many swear by them. I throw extra bottles into a single pannier that most of the time makes the trip, for clothes, lunch extra tire, lock, would not take a pannier just for water, but there is usually other stuff.

A camelback's purpose is not as much for water carrying capacity, which as pointed out can be resolved in a variety of ways, its purpose is to take small sips of water often. I know that when I am riding I cannot be bothered with small sips, I go for large gulps every half hour or so, I manage to stay hydrated, but I admit it is not the best technique. Perhaps with a camelback I would drink more often.

I use a camelbak but only off-road or when doing other climbing activities. I would prefer not to have it on my back but it really is a better way to hydrate when on technical trails. The same goes for climbing but additionally, there are not alot of options to carrying things when climbing.

On the road, I prefer a waterbottle.

A camelbak takes extra time and more care to clean than a waterbottle, especially if something other than water is used in them.

For us the camelback is the only thing that makes sense in the summer.
Reaching for the WB for the stoker is awkward at best and for one WB
that is a max reach swapping requires cessation of pedaling for a short
time. Camelbacks are available that are quite flat and still hold reasonable
amount of water. They do require some attention to biological gardens
and even water will support algal growth over a few months. Cleaning
kits for the tubing and a swab out with clorox and brushes is needed.
Same is true for WB however and it your WB are opaque a periodic eyeball
of the innards may be an eye opener. We put gatorade in the WB and
water in the camelback and this allows constant sipping on the go. Depends
on how you ride: 25-40 mi between stops versus 10mi between stops.
WB are fine for 15-40 mi rides starting in the morning in July. 60-120mi rides
need camelbacks for adequate hydration IMO in summer.

Tandemseast has an L-bracket for mounting two bottles vertically in a single bottle mount. It looks like it would only work on the lower stoker bottle mount.

Thanks, lots of great ideas. I have a camelbak already for my mtnbiking, but I think I would only go for the water only ones if I went that way. I do go through water in mass quantities in the summer. But you guy's other ideas and mounts need some looking into.
I don't think I want anything attached to our saddles, though.

Where are those double up cages available?

Thanks

INDY Bob