Cycling UK Forum

Bit of a stupid question, but what's a decent drinks bottle? My brother has asked for one for his birthday so rather than just give him my free Evans one I suppose I ought to get him something a bit nicer than that.

No point in getting him one with all the latest bells and whistles if the mouthpiece gets filthy and clogged instantly (especially as he'll use it for mountain biking as well as on the road).

He'll use his Camelbak backpack for longer journeys. What about the Camelbak bottles? He's mentioned the Better Bottle and perhaps the Podium Chilljacket (the one that you can chill beforehand).

What do you guys and gals use that's easy to drink from on the move?

Cheers!

Mark

I like the Specialized ones.
Just looked at the Specialized website, and the Big Mouth ones don't seem to be there.
Anyway, I like them.

Just Googled:
http://www.campingsurvival.com/spbigmobo.html
That's them!

when Im on the road bike I just use two 1000ml wiggle bottles. they are cheap too, but not really a birthday present though!

£4.99 one from halfords with the cover, protects the mouth piece from getting dirty.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165718

Cheap, cost effective.

The Camelbak bottles are very good indeed. The lid and mouthpiece are very well designed and it's by far the best bottle I've used. That would be my choice of a gift. I've seen the insulated version and it looks good, but I'd think it really comes into it's own in hot climates so I think it's a bit OTT for the UK, I presume that it doesn't hold as much liquid as a standard bottle either.

I once had the chance to ride in the Sonora Desert in Arizona for a few weeks. I'd fill and freeze bottles overnight and they'd be melted and very warm after just 20 minutes out in the heat. I could have used an insulated one there.

I use the FOSKA ones www.foska.com
I prefer these to other bottles as the pull out bit you drink from is rubber not hard plastic. This seems to stop them leaking if I have one in a back pack or one the bike being transported in the back of the car. The lid also screws on rather than a press fit giving a leak proof fit. I have 5 of em and they're all good.

iandriver wrote:....... the pull out bit you drink from is rubber not hard plastic. This seems to stop them leaking if I have one in a back pack or one the bike being transported in the back of the car. The lid also screws on rather than a press fit giving a leak proof fit......

Ditto the Specialized Big Mouth bottles!
FAR better system.

I got a Camelbak Podium Chilljacket bottle a couple of months ago. The mouthpiece is excellent and easy to drink from, you just squeeze the bottle, no need to pull a stopper up or anything. You get a good slug of drink with a squeeze, so quite easy to use up your drink quickly compared to the Sigg aluminium bottles I've been using for the past 15 years or so. The top is possibly vulnerable to mud and manure splatter from farm roads though, not sure if there is a protective cap available at the moment although I think I read about one somewhere. All of the above also refers to the regular Podium bottle.
The 'Chilljacket' aspect is ok but not as good an insulator as I had hoped, cold water with a few ice cubes added, is pretty much at ambient temperature within an hour and beyond that it gets slightly warmer than water in an aluminium Sigg, in hot sunlight probably even warmer. So as long as you are using the drink in the first hour it's quite good. I expect it probably would be much better than a regular Podium bottle though.
Overall, though I would say they are worth having.

Thanks all. I went with the Camelbak Podium in the end. Seemed fancy enough to justify one as a birthday present! I chose that rather than the Chilljacket since I reckoned that it''l be lighter and more volume. I look forward to seeing how much better it is than a normal drinks bottle.

Ive had a look at the bottles suggested. They look fab. Particularly like the Foska ones, but wouldnt purchase one myself.

I prefer water bottles with flip backlids that protect the mouth part from flying debris and roadgrime.

Especially if your friend is wanting to use one on a mtb. Personally without a flip on the top, I wouldnt use one of these unprotected bottles on a mtb. We cycle at home, off road along trails with grazing sheep alongside, and yes, sheep pooh and other filth does indeed get smeared onto your water bottle. (now use a camelbak and a crudcatcher to keep the nasties of me while I cycle).

So I use a camelbak on the mtb, and a flip topped water bottle on the roadie one.

One of my friends had a particularly chewy moment on her mtb bottle the other week....


GOod luck choosing.

Mary

Well, Wiggle (well, CTC shop) has just emailed to say that the bottle is on its way. I had thought about the flip-top lids but they seem relatively rare. The idea of road and off-road grime getting into the mouthpiece doesn't overly appeal to me either! Perhaps mountain bikers just stick with the rucksack versions of their Camelbaks. I know my brother already has one of those, so perhaps he'll stick with that for his off-road rides. He also has a rather spiffing road bike so hopefully the high-flow bottle will be perfect for that.

Zefal (different colours) do all anyone could ask and look good IMO for about £3 each