Mukluk

How do carry your water (or whatever you are drinking) on your bike? Call me a Fred but I have to say that I find my camelback mule very handy. I just fill one container, it's semi insulated, it's very easy to drink while riding, and there are little pockets for stuff like cell phone, plus you can stuff a windbreaker in there if necessary. Is there an advantage to water in bottles or is it just an image thing?

LtSPD2000

long rides Camel Back. Short rides bottle.....

cedricbosch

I used my camelback all the time until I got a seat pack... go figure. Camelbacks are awesome, there's nothing wrong with riding with them IMO. I see roadies with them as often as mountain bikers.

TechJunkie

Ditto

Brycycle

long rides bottles. short rides bottle.....

ElJamoquio

I loved mine, too, but they're just too hot some days.

jaxgtr

I'm in Florida and in the summers I will not ride without the Camelbak. I have a 2 liter version, the Rogue. I also have 2 bottles as well when it is really hot. I like them because the fluid stays colder a lot longer in the heat than the bottles. After my rides I fill it up, put it in my frig in the garage and it nice an cool the whole ride.

chevy42083

Greater than 40 miles... camelback
Less than 40miles... bottles.

My jersey and small seat bag carry anything my camelback would except rain clothes.... rarely an issue.

DaveSANYYZ

I used to use my Camelback all the time even for short rides (20 miles) until I started to drink those sports drink with sugar. I didn't realize how much cooler it is until I stop using my camelback.

froze

Ditto; On long rides I use both.

Hammertoe

Camelbak for every ride...

I carry everything to fix anything...

Plus 2 liters of water...

No cell phone service where I ride and I will not walk...I am out to ride...

What happens if your chain breaks, seatpost clamp, bend a derailer hanger, rip a tire, how many more instances can I come up with that i carry the solution in my CamelBak that you can't carry your seat bag...

Edit...

Oh yea and my bike looks a hell of a lot better without a seat bag than yours looks with one...

Even if I look like a Fred...

It is all about the bike isn't it...

biker128pedal

For long hot rides I pack the camelbak with ice. Less than 2 hours the bottles work.

CardiacKid

The main advantage of bottles over a Camelbak is cleaning them. Camelbacks are a pain to clean. Have you ever left water in one for a couple of weeks by mistake. A replacement reservoir costs $30. Forget to clean a bottle for a couple of weeks and you are out next to nothing.
I do use a Camelbak on long rides where there are no convenience stores for miles. For some reason, it cracks me up when I see people on the Veloway with Camelbaks. It is only 3.1 miles long.
I like to carry one bottle with water and one with 1/2 strength Gatorade.

ElJamoquio

Actually, I can carry the solution to all of those in my seat bag. I don't any more, because I've realized how rare some of those things are.

Hammertoe

Wow you must have a huge seatbag...

These instance are rare indeed but when you need a screw for your headset or an extra chain link for your broken chain I am the one you want riding by.....

As an avid cyclist I like to help others out...

And I don't think you understand riding in remote areas or on gravel roads...

Carbonfiberboy 

I used to carry a 70 oz. Camelbak on every ride over 2 hours, mostly because I used it on big rides and wanted to train with it. But I had back pain on a 200k recently and Machka convinced me to try Zefal 1 liter bottles, which I did. I'm a convert. No back pain since. Plenty of fuel and water for 50 miles or so, which is the normal distance between controls. So now it's 24 oz. bottles on ordinary rides and 1 liter bottles on rando, mountain, and double century rides. I never thought the Camelbak was uncomfortable, but I do feel better without it. I don't know how these translucent Zefal bottles are going to be in the summer, though. I hate hot sports drink. Maybe I'll cover them with some sort of insulating material. Maybe duct tape will do it. How Fred is that?

Sirrobinofcoxly

+1

ElJamoquio

Nope, clever packaging and a skinny tire.

And I do understand riding in remote areas. I don't really do that much any more, which is why I don't need much except a cell phone these days.

Psydotek

Camelbak for everything except races.

Hammertoe

Even Cypress learned this wasn't the best method...

merlinextraligh

huge self selection bias. MAjorityof posters here say they use Camelbacks. Yet make an observation on the road,and you'll be ahrd pressed to find 10% of roadriders using camelbacks.

Jack Hammer

I use my camelback for longer rides, especially those where water refills may be difficult to come by. On shorter rides I prefer the bottle(s) and a seat bag.

I vaguely recall an article that mentioned that there was supposedly an aerodyamic advantage to water bottles, especially using two bottles and moreso in a sidewind, IIRC. I'm not sure where I saw it or the exact details (like at what speed it began to matter and how much of a difference it made). Maybe some one else will recall the details.

ElJamoquio

Montana != SE Michigan.

I carry a small allen multi-tool and enough stuff to swap and/or patch a tube. There's a LBS ~12 miles into a 40 mile out-and-back. It's the best biking road in SE Michigan, so you usually see a few people every ride.

Between those things, and my cell phone, if things aren't working out, I'll knock on doors.

Mukluk

Actually, camelbaks are not so hard to clean. Just need a bottle brush that is narrow enough to fit into the reservoir opening and long enough to reach all points within the reservoir. I found it worthwhile to buy the special brush for cleaning the drinking tube and mouthpiece. Hot soapy bleach water and the aforementioned tools keep my camelbak nice and clean.

idcruiserman

Camelback in the winter, since I couldn't keep the water from freezing in a bottle.