Electricview

I'm sure people have talked about this before but i thought i'd post today's experience out on the trail with 2 polars i took with me..

Anyways I filled the blue logo polar bottle with 6 ice cubes (full cubes, not the thin ones) and then use cold water out of the water tank we have (it cools about 3 or 4 cups worth something like that).. Then i filled the red logo bottle with 4 ice cubes and pretty much room tempature water.. about 25 to 30 (maybe 35 minutes) into the ride the red bottle had no ice left, but the water was pretty cold/cool.. it wasn't the hottest day, about anywhere from 75 to 80 (the tempature gauge on my bike computer isn't the most accurate).. and i was in the sun for about 50% of the ride (the first half).. anyways at this time i checked the blue bottle, and it still had a GREAT deal of ice still in it.. So further on down the road about 1hour into , the red bottle was a little warmer, but the water was still cool, and definatley drinkable.. the blue one, still had a good amount of the cubes left, probably 3? at about half size.. Not bad!.. Anyways even later on i get to the 15 mile marker (about 1 hour and 20 minutes or so).. and the blue bottle has now pretty much melted the ice away.. but the water was still as cold as it was with the ice nearly.. at the 25 mile mark (5 mile away from home and about 1 hour and 40 minutes into it) the blue one was still pretty cool/cold.. both were extremely drinkable the whole way.. neither of them got NEARLY as warm as my old trasnparent water bottles..

Anyways I didnt max out how much ice i could put in these, i guess i thought it would keep them cooler and i wouldn't need much ice, and i didnt want to drink all the water and still have a bunch of ice in there i could drink.. That was not a problem at all.. These bottles are not magic, the ice does still melt.. but the BIGGEST factor here is make sure you put VERY cool water into them with the ice, it makes the ice last much much longer.. I can probably fit 8 maybe 10 icecubes into the bottles, and on an 80 to 85 degree day, i think that might make them last 1 or 2 hours.. I think this bottles do pretty much what they advertise, and make the water much more drinkable then regular bottles.. (my regular transparent bottles would have both the ice melted in the bottles (fully filled with ice that is) in less than 30 minutes.. and the water would be warm after 1 hour..

I definatley think these bottles are worth the 9 bucks a peice i paid for them (REI).. I also got the grey french one, isotype or something i cant remember the name, I haven't tested it yet.. its only 17 ounces of water wihch kinda blows.. but it might keep it cooler..

If you dont have one of these bottles i'd recommend at least 1.. and max it out with ice and ice cold water and it should last you at least 1 to 2 hours on a moderately hot day.. I have not tested these in the INTENSE heat since it never gets that hot here in washington, and i think the summer's starting to die off now.. but maybe next year

great product!

(best feature, the bottle doesnt sweat, so no more MUD on your hands when you go to pick it up!). Great nozzles, easy close easy open (with your teeth too! very great!) and good dispertion of water.. It works best if you squeese small amounts rapidly for me

uplateinoh

One thing I've noticed with my polar bottle is it's much harder to squeeze than a normal bottle. I've only took it out on one ride, but it was a little awkward to use while in motion. Otherwise it's great quality, though, and the insulation definitely works.

Normally, I use a couple of screw on cap bottles from nashbar, and they leak like there's no tomorrow! Can anyone recommend a cheap but good quality bottle that doesn't leak? Are there *any* screw on bottles that dont leak around the cap under pressure?

AquariaGuy

I just recycle my gatorade bottle. I use them for about 2 rides, till i toss them. What i do is, before a ride, depending on how hot it is, if it's really hot, i fill water in the bottle to 3/4 ahead of time, and freeze it, then before i ride, it's all ice and i add regular water. Once into the ride, the ice will melt and voila! Ice water. The ice should last around 2 hrs..it's really thick so yah..unless u mtb and it breaks up a lot.

khuon

I've had pretty good luck with Specialized bottles. I've been using them for over 15 years (not the same ones).

Toothpick

I like the Polar bottles, too. While I like more volume, the insulating factor is worth the trade off to me.

It did take a couple of rides to get used to having to sqeeze them harder.

Guest

Electricview, I'm moving this thread to Shameless Promotions... you have to be a part owner or something. It sounds waaaaaay too much like an infomercial!



Just kidding! Anyway, thanks for the recommendation. I actually was wondering today if there was a water bottle out there that wouldn't bankrupt me that would keep my drinks cold.

Do you think it would keep hot drinks hot too? Wouldn't mind taking koffee with me on the days when it's 30 degrees or less....

Koffee

pointyhead

In July my favorite department store, Target, had a sale on all their summer gear. I bought a big plastic storage box for $2.00 that I use to keep all my bike paraphernalia so its easy to switch out between cars. I also picked up some 28 oz. water bottles for 50 cents each that had a unique freezer core that attached to to the center of the cap. You freeze them and they serve as ice cubes to keep your drink cool. I grabbed an extra pack of the cores for a dollar for 4. I tried them on two different rides, and they still didn't keep the drinks cooler than if I had just put cold water in them. The bottles are great and seal very well. I still haven't found any insulation better than a white sock, clean of course, to keep a drink cool.

msparks

Caution, I would not do this, The plastic that they use can leach materials from the plastice(there was an article that I read in a fitness magazine about this)

If you look on the bottom of your bottle you will see it's only a 2. But a regular water bottle will be a 4 or 5.

https://www.grassrootsinfo.org/plastics.html

https://www.ecologycenter.org/iptf/to...andothers.html

Some types of plastics can leach chemicals into foods and beverages. These chemicals include suspected carcinogens or endocrine (hormone) disruptors.

BTW, I used to reuse plastic bottles as well, coke, water, gatoraid, not anymore. We would just wash them out!

Electricview

Well, i've read other posts of people saying it keeps their water warm enough in the snow from freezing into an ice cube, and i'm sure it would keep coffee hotter than it would normally be in a normal water bottle becuase it basically has two layers and just slows down the heating and cooling process.. but since there's no such thing as "hot cubes" to keep your coffee even warmer i doubt it will work as good as ice cubes in some ice cold water! It basically works on the same principals as those old thermoses that would keep your drinks cool or hot.. cept it doesnt use any metal.. (tho i think the new isotherm (the french brand) one does use some metal inside, impossible to squeeze becuase of this).

I really am quiet happy with these water bottles, i need to try cramming as much ice as i can in there and going out on one of our few last hot days and make sure these guys can handle the hotter days, but they definately keep my water cooler for alot longer then regular old water bottles, and the lids screw on nice and even.. (older bottles i have, the lids are tough to get on, they like to go on wrong and not screw on nice).. these haven't leaked on me yet.. and its so nice to pick up the botte and not have a wet dirty hand! I'd definately recommend going to REI if you have one and just check one out.. its in a weak half plastic box so you can pretty much take it out and open it up and look inside and inspect it and test out the nozzel..(i did.. it works much better than the isotherms nozzel)..

I wonder how good freezing half water in these things then adding water would do i'm sure that would last a good deal on a really hot day!

slotibartfast

Electricview, I also got a Polar waterbottle from REI this year and it works great to freeze it about halfway the night before a ride. I did this before a ride out on the Centennial Trail in the Valley on a 90+ degree day and it kept the water nice and cold for about 2 hours. I also use it golfing and it's great there, too. By the way, I think it gets plenty hot here in eastern Washington. Please don't wish for any hotter weather.....

mightypudge

Performance had some Polar Bottles on sale today so I picked a few up for this evening's ride. They worked great. Thanks for the tip!

Krispy

I love the Polar bottles also. When it's over 100 degrees outside I carry three, two in my bottle cages one in my jersey pocket. Prior to each ride I fill one half way full, one three quarters full, and one completely full of water and freeze them in the freezer.

Right before my ride I fill them the rest of the way with water. While riding in the heat I start drinking the half ice/ water bottle and by the time I've drank it down it has completely melted but still much cooler than if it hadn't been iced. By the time I've drank down the second bottle the third bottle is still about a quarter to one half ice and by the time I finish it it too has melted but still cool.

The other day I forgot to freeze the bottles before I road. By the end of my ride my water was so hot I almost couldn't drink it!

Revenig

Here in Denver, it was in the upper 90s everyday for what seemed like over a month. The sun literally cooked the water in my old bottles. I purchased two Polar bottles and only once did they become warm. Part of the problem had to do with the fact that I was not closing the nozzle after each drink. I ride 4-6 hours at a time and have found the use of Polar bottles the best way to keep water cooler for the longest time.

Merriwether

Polar bottles: good.

Keep water pretty cool in summer, and keep water from freezing in winter. Nice combination for a $9 bottle.

Prosody

I like that the cap of the Polar bottle comes apart for cleaning. I won't dismantle the cap for cleaning if I have only water in the bottle, but after I've kept a sports drink in one, I like being able to clean the spout.

My experience as a life-long coffee addict suggests that if you use any bottle for hot coffee, you ought to dedicate a bottle for it. I expect water in a bottle used often for coffee would taste gnarly.

Revenig

Yes, this is another great feature that I've come to appreciate about this bottle.

Baldy88

I don't know the recycling number, but I do know that metal water bottles make a lot of noise with ice and rough roads. I no likee.

fitmiss

Not only do these bottles keep water cooler longer but this is a great company to deal with. I worked with them to get bottles for my bikeclub and found them to be a small company who cared about their product and about their customers. This is a company to whom I like to give my money and my business.

Kayakado

I freeze my bottles but then I live in FL. I tested Polar vs Zefal and found the Zefal bottle to keep things colder for almost an hour longer.

dobber

Horse-hockey

https://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/petbottles.asp

dobber

Real Gatorade bottles (https://www.anacondasports.com/webapp...44293&af_id=38) and Catmount cages (https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=) are a pretty good combo.

I also like the Zefal Magnums, Nashbar occasionally blows them out for $3-$4. I usually put them in my Nashbar orders as filler.

Portis

Polar water bottles also keep water from freezing in the winter. At least for awhile. Compared to standard bottles, it takes a lot longer for the water to freeze up. I have had the water stay liquid for over 1 hour in temps around 0 F. Standard bottles begin to freeze immediately.

So remember that these bottles are just as functional in the winter as they are in the summer. I will never use anything else.

betes

After reading this thread yesterday I picked one of these bottles up at my LBS for $10. So far I like it a lot! It looks well made and the insulation seems like a great idea. The only thing is that I haven't been able to take the cap off. I am afraid I'll break it if I do it wrong. Do I screw it counterclockwise while pulling up? Screw first, then pull? I must be making this too hard.

pricklycommute

I have used a Polar bottle years ago, but no longer do. It worked great, but got a little old and now I have a different method. In the summer in AZ, it works pretty good to have at least two bottles, one about 1/2 full of frozen water and the other essentially 100% frozen. The 100% frozen bottle seems to melt quick enough so that when I need it (after the first bottle), it is there, but keeps the water cool for a long time, since it's just a big block of ice when you start your ride.

Sometimes I also use gatorade or coke bottles for a few rides if I have them around. For the weight weenies out there, they are quite a bit lighter than regular water bottles and hold just as much... I bet the difference between a steel vs a titanium railed saddle can be made up using a coke bottle instead of a traditional water bottle.

kingsfan4life

I usually drink propel and that is one of the few drinks that I actually prefer room temperature