I use Camelbak insulated bottles in my Iris cages for their superior grip. These worked fine on the Port Angeles Metric Century gravel a few years ago.



But they don’t work if I want to carry the Stanley 16oz thermos with coffee, where the standard King cage works fine. I’ve been known to switch out a cage (or ride the other bike equipped with those cages) if I’m headed for a morning of volunteering at Bike Works (bikeworks.org)

Just tried the CamelBak Podium (found a cheap one) -- it seems to work too. Maybe my cages need a little stretching? The Podium is somewhat narrower at the bottom so it helps going in. It seems to fit well, on the verge of being too small. I guess it's the nature of this cage and plastic bottles, that they need to be tight to stay in, but are at risk of deforming. Thanks all for helping me figure this out!

Good choice.

That's all I use and they are readily available at the shop I hang out at.

They fit tightly in both of the King Cages, but I primarily ride off road and prefer the snug fit.

Question though. What about the long term use and rewashing of these plastic bottles?

Any health concerns or should we all be drinking out of Klean Kanteens?

We are really trying to reduce the use of plastics at our house and my wife brought this up at breakfast.

I never figured that handle on the polar bottles was a permanent accessory, and they get tossed with the packaging. I lost one of the tops to my Polar bottles and found out they have free lifetime replacements. I use them for years, so I don't feel too guilty about their plastic content. I don't like the top on my camelback, but it's a nice bottle. Sometimes it is difficult to clean the dimples on the inside of the polar bottles, so it make sense to clean them as soon as possible after use with something that might get stuck.