Hydration Systems Comparison/Reviews
I'm putting together a list and reviews of hydration systems. Which is your favorite and least favorite and why? Once it is done, I'll see about getting it posted as a wiki.
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I'm putting together a list and reviews of hydration systems. Which is your favorite and least favorite and why? Once it is done, I'll see about getting it posted as a wiki.
Comments
Favorite is just the classic cage on the down and/or seat tube or the torpedo style between the aerobars.
IM: Speedfill on downtube with all of my nutrition for the day. Horizontal bottle on aerobars for water.
HIM: Aerobottle (PR, Bontreger, Specialized, etc) on downtube with all of my nutrition for the day. Horizontal bottle on aerobars for water.
Shorter: Horizontal bottle on aerobars for water. Maybe a gel in a pocket.
Training: all normal cages and bottles on aerobars and downtube. Extra bottle in Jersey pockets.
I personally hate bottles mounted on things behind the saddle. I tried a few different products and cages and they all suck. It was ok having just one cage zipp tied under the seat like Lieto does, but I still didn't like it and only use it if I need more than 4 bottles with me.
Heading down to SoCal last week (6.5 hour drive) I listened to podcasts including the TriTalk episode on hydration systems. They did wind tunnel testing on 10 systems and this was their first round of tests. Preliminary and very interesting, especially the water bottle laying down on the aerobars that Cervelo touts so much. All the data in on the tri-talk.com web site Blog. But I am getting an error when trying and access it right now.
Here is the podcast: http://bit.ly/i9Wavg
Also an awesome interview with Macca in the same podcast.
Interesting thing to me was the actual time lost at IM distance when sitting up to drink. Not as much as I have read in the past.
John
P.S. For me it is standard cages on seat and down tube and full X-Lab Carbon Wing on the back. Never have had a problem with the rear mounted stuff. Get bottles out and back in with no problem.
http://www.neverreach.com/NeverReachPro.html
Least favorite is the PD Aerodrink. Bounces, splashes, ruins aero head tube, etc..
I've used the Xlab Carbon Wing on the rear. It's OK. With the right cages, it serves a purpose.
But the favorite setup, by far, is aero bottle on downtube & horizontal normal bottle b/t bars.
Come on people...how many gallons of fluid do you really need on the bike?
I start a 70.3 with a dbl strenth EFS in the aero bottle, grab the first water I see on the course, put it up front, replace as needed, and you're good for the day.
My vote for best hydration system is the simplest one. No Aerodrink, no Speedfil, no NeverReach. 1 aero bottle + 1 handup = good to go.
FYI - With my Gorilla Cages on my X-Lab Carbon Wing I don't think I have never launched a bottle. Had the set-up for 2 years now. I do have friends who put a rubber band around their bottles to keep them in place.
John
Oly: same, with a little stronger infinit.
HIM: two bottles on frame, each with infinit. Profile aero bottle with water that is topped off at each aid station.
IM: Speedfill on the frame, with infinit. Profile aero bottle with water that is topped off at each aid station.
Ed,
I'm 100% with you. People put WAY TOO much crap on their bike. For training it's one thing as you have to be self-sufficient since you don't have aid stations every 10 miles. I get that.
It's another thing in a race. I go as minimalist as I can. I have a little bitty saddle bag that is only capable of holding 1 tube, 2 tire levers and 2 CO2's and it requires some strategic packing to even get that stuff in there. I put another tube under my seat. I put a bottle on the seat tube (Felts do not have down tube mounts) with three hours worth of Infinit and water in the torpedo setup between the bars. Swap out the water at every aid station. Put a second bottle of Infinit in my SN bag if it's an IM.
Water gets piss warm soon enough and I certainly don't want 40 or 64 ounces sitting around. Not when I can get fresh (and possibly cold) water every 10 miles or so. Not that I'm picking on anyone but having several pounds of unnecessary crap cluttering your bike is kind of absurd to me. I just don't see how anyone can rationalize it.
Totally agree. For longer training rides, I sometimes use a rear-launcher if I don't know where my water will be coming from. But for racing, you pay for what's on the course, so use it. If you can't stomach the sports drink, bring your own.
Sprint - Nada. If you have time to be thirsty, you aren't pedaling fast enough.
Oly - One bottle b/t aerobars with water, unless really hot, then EFS.
1/2 - Aero bottle with EFS double mixed, hand up water b/t aerobars.
Full - Haven't done one yet, but I'd imagine a 2nd aero bottle in special needs.
Many people do what you are suggesting but I wont.
I don't want to stop to pick up a bottle or trust them to hand it to me while I'm moving. 100% of the nutrition I need goes in the speedfil. There is no dropping anything or missing bottles. If the liquid comes out of the speedfil I was in a crash that was so bad my race is out the window anyway.
That said, I totally agree with you and others for the minimalist approach for racing and I do almost exactly what you do for half, oly, sprint.
...and what your sweat rate is...and therefore how much one needs to drink to stay hydrated
...for me on a hot day...takes about 80oz per hour on the bike...
80oz??? Damn! You may be that rare exception that actually needs all that extra crap.
- so yeah, the NeverReach r us...not particularly sexy, takes extra time to clean, but I can drink all day long in the aero position, doesn't spill a drop, doesn't 'spit' in my face, can be loaded on the fly, and carries 0-64oz of Gatorade or race preference
- and not to scare you, but on long training rides I also go out the door with 2x32oz frozen Gatorade bottles, taped with duct tape into my Profile Design (yes the bottles launch otherwise), which I re-engineered to fit with the NeverReach...4 pounds lighter without them on race day
- I also carry a water bottle on the downtube to go with gels
- at least gets me through 2-3 hours of riding without having to pull over
http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/Cracking-the-Code-on-Sweat-Rates.htm
For racing, I haven't really settled on whether I like the PD or a horizontal bar better. The big advantage of the PD is that it's so easy to drink from. The big disadvantage is being a bit of a pain to fill during a race (plus the splash issues). I almost always use a horizontal one for training so as to avoid the splash.
I have an X-lab that I use for training only. I used to launch bottles ALL the time until I switched to a pair of old no-name very cheap metal cages that I can bend to be pretty darn tight. I never drink from the rear - it's just storage for bottles 3 and 4. I swap out a full bottle for an empty. Now launches are pretty rare. The rubber band trick never worked for me. It may have stopped some of my launches, but not all of them, unfortunately.
For HIM racing, I'm looking at 450 calories or less, so that's easy to put in one bottle of concentrate. Last time, I didn't even do that...I just realized that was 3 bottles of Gatorade. Started with one on the bike (and one water) and just took two more on the course.
For IM this year, I'm thinking about how to do a no-special-needs strategy. Let's say around 1250 calories. Pretty easy to get 900-1000 calories of Perpetuem in a single bottle, but I'm switching away from that. (Trying Infinit). Assuming the same thing, that's still only the one bottle plus a couple of Gatorade/Powerbar/whatever-it-is bottles. The concentrate, as with everyone else, would be on a downtube bottle (cervelo), whether a plain one or a special aero one. Water up front.
@ William - I go with no special needs bag on the bike. I always put back up nutrition and gear in the bag, but never needed it. It just takes some planning and a few extra gels or a bar in your jersey. I also use sutained energy by hammer - a sister to perpetuem...let me know how the infinte works out. I have had buddies use it but I have been afraid to race with it because of the sugar content. Sugar makes my belly shut down in the heat and so I have to stay away from it. Practice with it before a race.
I use the PD on the front with the holder and have had no splash issues. The PD is filled with water, and use the XLab with two gorilla cages on the back with Infinit. I used to launch bottles all the time even after I got the Gorilla cages until I realized it must be the Camelback bottles I was using. I went back to using my insulated Polar bottles and have not lost a bottle in six months. I have a Speed fill that I use ocasionally, but I ride a Cannondale Slice and it takes an adapter to attach to the bike. It is a real pain and very hard to get the screw closed. I've actully looked down just in time to see it hanging off the bike and ready to fall off if not for the hose holding it to the bike. The bottle is also very hard to get out of the holder. So I only use it if I am going for a very long ride with no convenience stores along the way. Last summer I tried a front mount from Bontrager similar to the PD, except this thing is a piece of crap. There is no way they took this thing out and tested it. The straw goes down the outside of the bottle and connects at the bottom, so when you hit a bump the water in the bottle will naturally go up and then come down, the force of the water coming down pushes the water through the hose and out into your face or all over the place. Plus the rubber used for the hose section is a lot softer than that of the PD so it flops all over the place spraying everything. At first I tried to make it work and when it was 110 degrees out it didn't really bother me that much. The first cool morning ride though was a different story. I almost yanked it off the bike and through it away, instead I drank 80% of the water in it right away and when I got home put it away in a corner and hope I never see it again. I paid like 45.00 for this thing, save your money.