Speedfil A2 - experience?

William Jenks

With more and more crappy water bottles on courses out there, I started thinking about buying a Speedfil A2.  I had bottles bounce out of of my torpedo multiple times at IM WI.

(For those that don't know, the A2 is a $60 widget that turns a regular bottle into a torpedo mount refillable straw-bottle. Seems over priced, but what isn't...) 

Does anyone have experience with it?  (I thought I heard Patrick say he used one at TX, but not sure.) What do you think of it?  The straw sure looks aerodynamically evil, but maybe not so bad in that location???

I'm willing to pop for one, but not if they are ghastly.  :-)  Any feedback helpful.  Thanks!

GMAN 19030

I have used it in a couple of races.  I wouldn't worry so much about the straw and aero penalty.  Cut it down some and always remember there's a rider sitting inches behind it which causes way more drag than the straw. 

It's a good product and has a lot of advantages.  I'm not totally in love with the product though.  Here are my issues with it:

1. You need to make sure the straw sits in the bottle the right way or it won't be getting at all of the liquid in there.  It's kind of annoying getting it right.
2. It requires too much sucking to draw enough water with the bite valve especially when breathing heavily.  It's easier to use without the bite valve.
3. The angle in which it rests in your torpedo mount could also affect how much water you can get at.  It works best when slightly angled up so more water sits in the back of the bottle.  Angled down and you'll be losing access to a lot of the water as the water level goes down.
4. While it's easy to refill on the fly, it can be frantic trying to fill the A2 before you hit the end of the aid station and have to dispose of the water bottle you just grabbed.

Nate Parady

@William, listening to the podcast of patrick's race report, I believe this is exactly what he was using...His only complaint was the fact that the perform discolored the bottle which made it hard to tell how much fluid he had inside.

$60 is expensive for basically a fancy water bottle, but i'm considering getting one as I have been looking for an "Up front" solution for a while...I'm also considering zipping cheap water bottle cage to my aero bars but I also don't want to have a cheap water bottle fall out...

William Jenks

Nate - thanks... I found a picture PM had posted that showed quite clearly he was using one...and I remembered the remark about the discoloration...just didn't remember if it was the A2 he was talking about.

I have used a garden variety black plastic cage that is zip-tied to my bars for most of the last two years. It's very easy and convenient. The one thing you have to recognize is that everyone has a little different width between the bars, distance between the bend of the bars and the stem, maybe a little rise in the stem, etc, so the exact setup varies from person to person as to whether just plain zip ties work great...or maybe leave it a little too loose...or not quite enough room, etc. But it's totally trivial to just play with it

This works really well for me and I wouldn't bother even thinking about any more sophisticated solution if the handoff bottles weren't so lousy. But so many of them just collapse when you squeeze them or are too small to begin with. They fly out of cages much more easily than they should...so it's really only for that kind of situation that I'm getting this for...racing. But I doubt I will use it much the rest of the time...will just stick to the normal bike bottle there!

@Bob.... thanks for the pointers. The whole refill thing is definitely an issue for ANY of these products including the aero-drink ones, etc etc. The pointer on getting the straw right sounds important!

coop6

William, I have an A2. X2 on the straw positioning issue. Also, I did launch it on one occasion. The Velcro strap saved it from completely clearing the bike, so I was able to grab it as it dangled off the aerobars. Make sure the strap is reasonably secure. I had the strap a little loose to make it easier to tuck the straw under it. I've kept it tighter since, and not launched it again.

Coach Patrick

I wanted to stay as aero as possible vs having to move to drink...especially when I need to drink 3 bottles an hour...that's a LOT of drag!!! It seemed the right solution given I didn't want a gallon of fluid on my front end and I didn't want to put an Ironman / Course cheap bottle up there that could launch out of my torpedo mount (thanks for the tip Rich!).

William Jenks

I popped for one and it arrived today (unfortunately after my RR...oh well). 

But I am really pleased with how it fits on my bike and how it hides well with the way I've mounted it. Fortunately, this was the only way it reasonably fit anyway!

If you're thinking about it, be aware that it turns a short  (20 oz?) water bottle into something a little longer than a normal long one.

tuckerm

I'm thinking a Torhans 20 would look a whole lot sweeter there.

coop6

What is that you have your Garmin mounted on? Whatever that gizmo is, I need one.

William Jenks

@ Sarah - it's a generic bike computer mount that I got at Bike World with the regular black Gamin mount zip tied to it. It looks like a gray cylinder with a strap coming off the side. The strap (which you can see) wraps around the bar and screws back into the cylinder. I can't remember the exact brand or anything, but it looks basically like this one http://www.amazon.com/Profile-Design-Universal-Computer-Mount/dp/B000NOTQJ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338127147&sr=8-1 (although it's a different brand).

Doug Johnson

@ Sarah - I think I have the same computer mount as William. If so, it's called "The New Nob XL". It's cheap, lightweight, and works really well.

coop6

Thanks Wiliam and Doug, I'll check that out. I have my A2 mounted in the opposite direction, with the straw angled back and tucked under the strap. The Garmin is on the bar above the bottle, and it's too close to my hand. I need to fiddle around with the set up, and definitely move the Garmin to the center.

William Jenks

I had to put it "backwards" in order to accommodate the centered bike computer. After I did, it had the added advantage of having a much shorter straw length. I'm going to go our and ride for real with it for the first time today, but on the trainer, with the setup that i have, I can choose just to rotate the straw to the side and tuck it between my arm and the bottle....no device necessary.

samritter

 Two more pains with the A2:

 - Cleaning and drying.  You cant just take the lid off the bottle and have the hose and lid dry easily.

 - The gasket on the lid is a realy pain to get seated right.  If it's not seated correctly, you get the contents of your bottle dripping all over your bike.  If more than water, can be a real pain to clean up.

I also agree that getting the hose in the bottle the right way is another pain.  To add to this, if you are one of those people that may want to switch bottles, extra hose is not good for short bottles.

So when doing an IM bike, just how much time is saved by using this? 

Seemed like a really good product in concept, but more of a pain for me than it's worth.  

GMAN 19030

I agree with you Sam. I thought it would be the perfect product but it's a lot of hassle. I gravitated back to just running a regular bottle between the bars.

William Jenks

OK...tested out the new setup. NOT entirely happy! That short straw was just too much. I had to tilt my head so I could't see the road much to suck out of it. I have turned this thing around, moved the Garmin out towards the end of the bars a bit, and put a longer, less perfect-looking straw on. Will report back.

(One advantage of the revised setup is the tit is back to having the regular bottle sit forward for training rides.)

Nate Parady

William, thanks for the pics and info...analysis paralysis for me....I'm doing IMFL, and to be honest having a reason to sit up to drink might be a good thing for me to ensure My back is good for the run.
I'll be the outlier and say that for IMLP last year I had no issues with the cheap water bottle coming out of my cages.

Dino Sarti

Haha. I have one of these and I love to hate it. When I run a regular bottle I miss it and when I use it the "little" issues frustrate me....