Keep water bottle from freezing?
#1
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From: SW Ohio
Bikes: 2025 Surly Orge, 2026 Trek Verve 3
Keep water bottle from freezing?
It was only around 28degF the other day, & the nozzle started to get slushy. I use colade/kristal lite or equivalent. Do sports drinks freeze?
#2
The more sugars, salts and mineral content, the lower the freezing.
Also consider the double-wall "polar" bottles.
I have also come to like some of the stainless drinking bottles. My favorites are various Contigo bottles which fit in the cage generally well, are easy to use, and have different types of spouts.
Also consider the double-wall "polar" bottles.
I have also come to like some of the stainless drinking bottles. My favorites are various Contigo bottles which fit in the cage generally well, are easy to use, and have different types of spouts.
#3
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From: Mississauga/Toronto, Ontario canada
Bikes: I have 3 singlespeed/fixed gear bikes
I don't like drinking any cold liquids when it's already freezing cold outside...I use insulated stainless steel bottle with something warm to drink.... When it's really cold I also bring along a vacuum bottle with hot tea or hot chocolate. Both of these are just perfect diameter to fit into a water bottle cages on my bikes.
#4
For MTB, Snowshoe, etc. in cold I use Camelback in insulated pouch, with insulated hose cover, insulated mouth piece cover.
If it's really cold I'll fill it with warm water.
If it's really, really cold, add a chemical hand warmer pouch to the insulated pouch.
Most important, after you drink, blow the hose empty back to the bag. That mouth piece is most vulnerable, and once if freezes it's very hard to correct in the field.
If it's really cold I'll fill it with warm water.
If it's really, really cold, add a chemical hand warmer pouch to the insulated pouch.
Most important, after you drink, blow the hose empty back to the bag. That mouth piece is most vulnerable, and once if freezes it's very hard to correct in the field.
#5
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From: Denver, CO
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Add 3% NaCl...about the concentration of seawater and 17g or 3 tsps in a water bottle...and the temperature goes down a whopping 1.8°C (28°F). Unfortunately it’s dangerous to drink because you dehydrate while trying to drink it. You could use sugar but to get the same decrease you’d need 10% (60g or 12 tsp in a water bottle). A soda is about 12% sugar. If you go to 25% sugar, you can depress the temperature by 3°C (26°F).
Alcohol won’t work either...for obvious reasons.
I’ve used a Camelbak for most of 30 years like MaxKatt. It works very well below freezing and, with an insulated tube, it can even work well to below 20°F or lower. Blowing the water back works to get the temperature down some.
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Stuart Black
Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
#6
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From: 25 miles northwest of Boston
Bikes: Bottecchia Sprint, GT Timberline 29r, Marin Muirwoods 29er, Trek FX Alpha 7.0
I don't like drinking any cold liquids when it's already freezing cold outside...I use insulated stainless steel bottle with something warm to drink.... When it's really cold I also bring along a vacuum bottle with hot tea or hot chocolate. Both of these are just perfect diameter to fit into a water bottle cages on my bikes.
#9
I like these ones as well, and I've been using them on our rides lately. I'll fill it up with a hot green tea. It's nice to have something hot to warm you up when it's freezing cold. It's still warm after a two-hour ride in -5*C. Try that with you typical plastic bottle.
#10
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From: Canada
Bikes: 2009 Trek 520
I often keep my bottle, or a second bottle in my trunk bag and it stays warm for hours (I have Camelbak bottles with a lock so they won't leak in the bag). Particularly in cold weather I have a habit of not drinking for over an hour by which time the water is very cold. I was out for 2.25 hours this evening and didn't even touch my bottle.
#11
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From: 25 miles northwest of Boston
Bikes: Bottecchia Sprint, GT Timberline 29r, Marin Muirwoods 29er, Trek FX Alpha 7.0
I can relate, but I remind myself to sip every 15 minutes, for my throat. haven't had any frozen nozzles yet this year & haven't carried hot liquids yet either. been eyeballing my thermos as I fill my water bottle tho, so I'm sure I will. been using a bike I took out of retirement so it only has one cage, need to mount another so I can have both bottles. one I can sip while riding, but not the other
#12
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From: St Cloud Fl.
Bikes: Only my riders left...
Dr. Pepper beanie...

I put very hot water in the bottle before I leave and the Dr. Pepper beanie provides just enough insulation to keep it from freezing on a sub 32*, 25+- ride...

Not babied(baby’d)...
#13
Keep water bottle from freezing?
I too don’t drink on my 14 mile one-way winter commute. In fact,
I often keep my bottle, or a second bottle in my trunk bag and it stays warm for hours (I have Camelbak bottles with a lock so they won't leak in the bag).
Particularly in cold weather I have a habit of not drinking for over an hour by which time the water is very cold. I was out for 2.25 hours this evening and didn't even touch my bottle.
Particularly in cold weather I have a habit of not drinking for over an hour by which time the water is very cold. I was out for 2.25 hours this evening and didn't even touch my bottle.
…The water bottle is a liter of a flavored carbonated water by Polar. I prefer that because it’s more refreshing than tap water, even when it gets flat. It’s hard to unscrew while riding, but I usually drink while stopped anyways.
Obviously the cap has to be screwed on to contain the carbonation. If the bottle is partially filled in winter, the air inside contracts and the bottle becomes loose in the cage.
Speaking of winter I have on a few posts repeated the suggestion of the definition of a cold ride as one where the water bottle freezes solid, as a function of temperature and time. For my 14 mile commute of slightly over an hour that occurs at about 15º F

Obviously the cap has to be screwed on to contain the carbonation. If the bottle is partially filled in winter, the air inside contracts and the bottle becomes loose in the cage.
Speaking of winter I have on a few posts repeated the suggestion of the definition of a cold ride as one where the water bottle freezes solid, as a function of temperature and time. For my 14 mile commute of slightly over an hour that occurs at about 15º F








