Home› General Training Discussions

bottle on down tube?

jimmy augustinejimmy augustine
in General Training Discussions

Ok, it is 13 days from my race. I am tapering and getting a little crazy. Today, my obsession is over the short bottle that I have on the down tube of my wilier tri chrono. When training, I use it to carry a spare tube, tire levers and a multi tool.

Should I ditch it for my race?

Comments

  • jetskrjetskr
    Where would you put the spare tube, tire levers and multi tool?
  • John WithrowJohn Withrow
    First of all, sweet bike! Which race are you doing in 13 days?

    Being aero is important, but convenience and having the right stuff with you on race day is also important. Most bikes are designed to have a bottle in that spot and it doesn't really kill your aerodynamics to have it there. My vote is to keep it if that is a normal setup for you. Unless you have a super secret spot to put that stuff where it will still be out of the wind but still relatively easy to get to on race day.

    FWIW, I cram a spare tube up into the underside of my seat and use a few pieces of electric tape to keep it there, and I don't carry a multi-tool or tire levers, but that is just me. I keep my CO2 and a 2nd spare tube off the back of my seat. But I keep my nutrition (Infinit) in the bottle on my down tube.

  • jimmy augustinejimmy augustine
    Austin 70.3.
    I won't need the multi tool during the race. The lever and tube I could tape up under the seat.
    I have a 150 min ride Saturday. I am going to try the underseat setup. And grabbing bottles on the fly.
    I have one cage on the bars and 2 behind the seat. It has worked fine for training and gets me through 180min Saturday rides.
    But for the race I was thinking of lightening up and taking all but my first bottle off of the course.
    Sounds like famous last words...
  • MattAaronsonMattAaronson
    I would ditch the bottle, but more as a general point. "Nothing new on race day" is tough to argue with.
  • John WithrowJohn Withrow
    That should be fine Jimmy... One tube and a tire lever up under the seat. Can prolly attach the CO2 to your rear bottle cage holder. You'll be all set with no bottle on the downtube.

    Good luck in Austin!
  • William JenksWilliam Jenks
    I've had a lot of luck taping CO2 and tubes to the underside of my saddle. Obviously, that depends entirely on the saddle design, but you can really minimize the things you need to store elsewhere if you do that. I have an ISM saddle, and I can get two tubes and 2-3 CO2s under there.
  • Dave TalloDave Tallo
    Agreed. The saddled should be good for an invisible pair of (lightweight) tubes and co2 canisters. Velcro compression straps keep the package nice and secure.
  • Coach PatrickCoach Patrick
    I ditched my downtube bottle after todd from ttbikefit (EN friend) told me it was simply too costly...
  • robin sarnerrobin sarner

     And kept the seat tube bottle?

     

  • William JenksWilliam Jenks
    Posted By Patrick McCrann on 16 Oct 2012 08:42 PM

    I ditched my downtube bottle after todd from ttbikefit (EN friend) told me it was simply too costly...



    You're only carrying one bottle?  That seems quite risky--and like not enough fluid for you on hot races (like Kona..)  Aren't you drinking more than 20 oz per half hour on a hot day?  I know you've got the one torpedo mount...are you carrying another anywhere?

  • Dino SartiDino Sarti
    Posted By William Jenks on 16 Oct 2012 03:05 PM

    I've had a lot of luck taping CO2 and tubes to the underside of my saddle. Obviously, that depends entirely on the saddle design, but you can really minimize the things you need to store elsewhere if you do that. I have an ISM saddle, and I can get two tubes and 2-3 CO2s under there.



    Two tubes and 2-3 Co2?!?  Wow.  I gotta see a picture of that...  

  • harrastharrast
    IMHO the accumulation of evidence shows that bottles (regular, round ones) on the frame tubes have a significant aerodynamic penalty. Still, looking at Tririg.com, the majority of the pros were using one or two bottles on the frame plus a bottle on the aerobars and often something under the seat. And then they talk about replacing the front brake to save a few seconds? What about loosing the round bottle? It just seems to me that with what we know about aerodynamics, frame bottles should be obsolete, but obvious they aren't.
  • jimmy augustinejimmy augustine
    Here is where I am ending up for Austin 70.3 on Oct 28:
    Bottle between the bars
    2 bottle set up behind seat holding: a small bottle with tube, levers, co2 and an extra perform bottle.
    I need 3.5 bottles of perform minimum over the bike leg. I plan to start with one between he bars and hit the first 3 of 4 aid stations on the course. If I get ahead and have an extra bottle to carry I will have an open spot behiind the seat.
    I took the down tube cage off for the race. I thought about moving the flat tire items under the seat but I just trust having it in a bottle more for some reason.
    Gonna spend a little time practicing bottle hand ups over the next few days.
Sign In or Register to comment.