Hands free drink system
Today's race rehearsal was failure and part of the reason was nutrition execution. Given temps and humidity planned on 2 bottles of perform per hour plus gel or PB every thirty minutes. Actual 1 water bottle per hour and total of 2 gels and 1 PB. Had enough to be able to execute plan. ran out of gas at end. Need recommendations for systems that essentially allow for hands free drinking. Was having difficulty focusing on drinking due to constant shifting and traffic volume. Thoughts?
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I have a torhans 20. Works well, but you are then playing the game of filling it up during the race...
http://www.amazon.com/Speedfil-Standard-Aero-Bottle-40oz/dp/B004LY6AWS/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1365881878&sr=1-1&keywords=speedfil+hydration+system
There is also a speedfil A2 that goes on the aerobar, is also handsfree, but I have not used that.
The Speedfil is just an absurd product on so many levels for racing. It's an aero hog and it weighs close to 6 pounds when full (liquid plus the bottle). Yes, I said 6 pounds.
The Speedfil A2 is a way better option and the aerodynamics should be on par with the Xlab Torpedo Mount in the graph above.
For training... do whatever you need to do. For racing there are countless better options than the original Speedfil.
Your hands free options are pretty much the two Torhans Aero products, Speedfil A2 and the Profile Design products (which suck, IMO.)
I used the A2 a couple of times. Didn't like it. Getting the straw to sit properly in the bottom of the bottle to make sure you can get at all the liquid is quite the process.
I have been using the Torhans Aero 20 for the last year. Three HIM's and 1 IM so far. Works fine. There's not enough time to refill while rolling through an aid station so I just grab a bottle, place it in a frame cage and wait for a good moment to squirt it into the Torhans. Place the empty bottle back in the cage and do it all again at the next aid station.
At over 4x the drag of the Torhans products. The aero weenie in me cringes.
What I dont like about behind the seat bottles is they are hard to grab, put back, and have a tendency to fall out .
My Felt came with a Torhans bottle in the frame , with claims of it being more aero than nothing at all , the bottle itself was useless trying to drink out of it , so I cut it open and used it for a flat kit, then I had the opportunity to hit a wind tunnel and tested it, I got better numbers with it removed and a bottle on the seat down tube.
I like to keep it simple with 2 bottles, 1 between the aero bars, 1 on the frame, I like to sit up for a few seconds every 15minutes to drink then get back to business. I only drink perform and its easy to keep track of how much is consumed.
IMHO...The torpedo mounted Speedfil A2 is by far the best product for handsfree...convenient hydration on the bike.....the drag coefficients in a windtunnel are one consideration..... from a weight perspective....well they are all PET bottles of roughtly the same dimension ...and weigh about the same....especially when full....the most important factor to consider is What system provides adequate hydration logistic (A2 has an easy foolproof refill system)...while allowing you to stay comfortobly AERO throughout....for me that has been the torpedo mounted A2 ( I do agree/believe that the larger original downtube mounted Speedfil is a big hairy knuckle dragging beast)
Unluckily the guys from wiggle.com sent me the bottle without the valve so I couldn't use it yesterday but I tried it at home shortly and it's really perfect design!
... especially if you know what can happen to you and your bike with those Profile Design Bottles once u lost that yellow mash!
In an IM aid station, I can completely fill my bottle and still have enough time to grab another bottle to squirt off with. If you time it right, you actually have time to grab 3 bottles...
Kit: http://store.invisciddesign.com/a2stemmountkit.html
Barfly: http://www.tatelabs.com/barflytt/
Here it is on my P3:
I have my A2 mounted farther back so the straw is in the correct place for me when I want to drink. This leaves room in front for the Garmin. In this picture, you can also see my "extra" quick release Garmin mount on my right aero bar extension. This is where I keep my 910XT head unit during the race as my backup bike computer in case my 500 craps out (until a few miles before the end of the bike when I snap it onto my wrist for the run).
Also notice the spacer I made under the back that rest on the top of my steerer tube (I made this out of an old piece of plastic conduit and zip tied the bottle cage through it. This angles it back so the last few drops collect at the bottom near the end of my angle cut straw. Also notice how short my straw is and no bite valve...
And here it is on my P5:
I had to mount the Gorilla cage backwards (on the pre-placed bosses on the P5) to get the straw in the right spot for me. This means the bottle is essentially "upside-down" in the cage. It's a bit of a puzzle getting the bottle in, but once it is, it snaps correctly into place and is a very nice and tight fit (but I still use the Velcro strap for added safety (you can see it going around my bottle and around the cage as well). I also made a small spacer (out of the cut-off carbon fiber piece from shortening my aero bar extensions) for under the front screw to angle the bottle back just a bit.
Front View of the Garmin mount I made for my P5 (out of an old aluminum broom handle, not joking). You can see just behind and above the Garmin is the "bottom" of the Gorilla Cage near the "front" of the A2: