Creative Ways to Carry Extra Water?
 

Camelbak? Some don't but I don't mind it. I've tried several brands and models but keep going back to the 70oz Camelbak Classic. It isn't pretending to be a backpack and besides water it can hold maybe a few cliff bars, if that.

Fork mounted bottle cages? I've used those too, with Zefal Magnum bottles. The extra weight on the fork was negligible.

Others have a third bottle cage on the downtube. Sweet.

Anyone using Platypus SoftBottles? I have two but have not used them. The idea was to put them in the frame bag.

What else do you guys do to carry extra water?


-Tim-

Sawyer Squeeze

Jersey pocket
Tri-style under-seat double bottle cage, a.k.a "rocket launcher"

On rough gravel? Does it hold or launch? What brand cages and bottles?

Creative?
 

Recycled the bladder bag out of a Box of Wine,,
in a pannier.. bladder bag filled with water..

They got the nickname "rocket launcher" because that style is notorious for ejecting bottles. I've only used the Profile Designs cage on the road and it was fine for the few hundred miles I used it. I heard there were brands with straps that locked them in. But by then, our annual club century was no longer unsupported. We're spoiled now ;-) I haven't used the rocket launcher in several years.

https://www.performancebike.com/shop...iABEgLWJfD_BwE

my rear trunk is large enough & configured in such a way that I can stand up a bottle of water & still fold down & buckle the top with the water bottle at one end. if it's a really tall bottle it might poke out of that end

I see a not-insignificant number of people with the tri-cages on 100+ mile gravel rides/races.

Most people (who have actually tested out their setup) use some sort of retention -- those little stretchy hair ties are a pretty good option.

I'm always amazed at the number of ejected bottles I see during the first 10 miles of a gravel race though -- how did that person not figure out this was a problem during training?

Anyway I just use a camelbak.

I refuse to do anything that isnt stylish so i just stay thirsty and dehydrate.
its better than wearing a camelback or carrying water on my fork like an unstylish commoner. ***


truthfully, I carry a 16.9oz plastic bottle of water in my saddle bag when I need more than my 2 24oz water bottles in the cages. It's a 6l jandd mountain wedge 3 so there is plenty of room for a plastic bottle.


if I wanted to ride with a smaller wedge bag on gravel rides, I would get a wolftooth b-rad mount and just add the 3rd bottle to my triangle.

I use this sometimes. The cage that comes with it is a flimsy piece of crap, but it works well if you put a different cage on it. I've even used it mountain biking and it's remained secure.

https://www.amazon.com/Bell-Clinch-U...ds=Bell+clinch

For long races, I pre-hydrate with 24 oz. of double-strength EFS drink mix or regular strength EFS Pro. The electrolyte concentration is sufficient for it to stay on board. In effect, by doing this, I load a water bottle's worth of fluid into my body. I can get by with carrying one less bottle than I would normally have to carry.

On my AWOL, I keep two bottles in the triangle (3rd bottle holder under the downtube, but it is a mud magnet so I don’t use it much)

I managed to hose clamp a 3rd bottle cage inside the triangle, on the down tube near the head tube. Worked so-so, was a tight fit with my bottles.

If I need more than two bottles plus my hydration backpack, I have one of those rolltop backpacking-style saddle bags...can easily fit 4 half liter water bottles.

Filling up at mountain creeks? Hopefully there's not a dead animal festering in the creek 100 yards upstream.

creative.... fill your friends tires with water. Let them haul it for you. :p

I beg to differ.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c045e6526e.jpg


-Tim-

75oz worth of Podium Chills. Put some Zefal Magnums in there and you're carrying 3 liters.

https://i.imgur.com/a4k45OS.jpg?1

I'd be more worried about giardia.

:lol:

Yup, I once had that. Makes the bottom fall out of your world, and vice-versa.

I second using wolf design b rad two bottle system. I have used on many of my metric gravel century without issues.

I go through a lot of fluids when it's hot. Kind of specific but I did a CC tour with my rack but not my bags, I zip tied bottle cages to each side of my rack and it worked great even on gravel and off road. I had a packed dry bag on the horizontal part so no room there. When I don't have my rack, I use one or both of my standard cages and a hydration pack or small day pack but not the included bladder, just put bottles in it. In my opinion, it is far easier to manage bottles than cleaning out and maintaining the bladder system and tubes. As I empty a frame mounted bottle, I swap with one from the pack.

Guy I rode with a few weeks ago just tied a gallon of water to his front rack. I thought it was pretty funny but it stayed there just fine until he ditched it a few hours later since it was superfluous.

I like carrying extra water in my bib pocket, or getting lunchbox size shorties and putting them in my half-frame bag. Sometimes I'll use a camelback but I've mostly lost my taste for wearing one. Now that it's colder I have a front bag and rack so I could put water in there but I almost never need to since I usually am hydrated enough that one bottle can last 2-3 hours in the cool weather.

Every summer I think about just going full frame bag and using a 100 ounce + 70 ounce bladder and not worrying about water at all. Heck this year I could have bought the framebag with what I spent on water during rides.

Good tip which I think hasn't been mentioned is non-cycling specific bottles, they're lighter and often hold more water with a slightly smaller form factor. I like to use kroger sparkling water 1 liter bottles. They give me ~10 ounces more water in a shorter form factor and last at least a few months. I've never had one fail, just toss when they look too cruddy.

https://ship.kroger.com/img/Products...1110490919.jpg