I have long been a fan of 1L bike bottles, for long days and high intensity in the heat. I have an above average need for water, as someone who runs quite hot and sweats a lot during exercise. For a baseline, during high intensity on the summer I can go through 1 an hour pretty easily, and if I do trainer work with no fan I can go through more than 2 per hour. I’ve been using the zefal magnums for years, but they leak a bit, and when using drink mix my bike turns into a sticky mess, even if I don’t fill them completely. Has anybody had better luck with others? Do many people use or want 1L bottles, particularly for training? I’d love for a company that makes good bike bottles (specialized, can you hear me?) to take this up, because good bike bottles have been around a while, and this would be a pretty simple change to make.
I would really like to use some 1L bottles for gravel racing. I just picked up a couple. They are pretty soft and I am noticing that even though I have some strong King cages, a lot of the bottle weight sits outside of the actual cage. I am worried about these rattling out when going fast on rough roads. I would also love recommendations others might have. Thanks in advance.
I’d love for better 1L bottles! I also use the Zefal ones and am annoyed by the sticky leaky mess they make and would love a better option. Polar makes a 30oz option that I haven’t tried. Breakaway® 30oz Bike Bottle, Wave | Polar Bottle
@Andrewbn42 , @Cory.Rood , agree completely with the frustration of a sticky mess all over the bike and hands. I’m very interested in other bottles. I have found that leaving some air in the top of each bottle greatly reduces the amount that spills out, but kind of defeats the purpose on a 1 L bottle.
Agreed, the Zefals leave something to be desired. In addition to leaky top, they don’t fit well in cages: the indentation for the cage security tab is in the wrong place. Fine on road but they can rattle out more easily on gravel.
I’m making do with 26oz Purist bottles but would like something larger.
That Polar looks pretty good
I have a pair of the Polar 24 OZ insulated bottles. They are great. A little tall, but could make them work. The insulation was key.
Oddly, the 24 oz polars hold more than the 26 oz purist insulated bottles. I filled the purist to the top, then transferred to the polar and had room for a few more oz. Truth in advertising? Or potentially the older purist bottles became misshapenly concave from squeezing over time?
I have been using the Zefal bottles for a while also. Picked up this SIS 33oz and have been very happy with it. Less leaking, better “squeeze”. Only downside is that it has a pretty narrow opening (good for not leaking, bad for adding powders)
We’re all looking at you Camelbak!
I see Elite makes a Fly 950mL bottle too
I took an old car oil funnel (cleaned it thoroughly) and cut the narrowest part off to make a “wide mouth” funnel that fits within the opening of my bottles. You can find them in some superstores like Walmart but the opening was too big and didn’t fit inside the bottle mouth.
Take 2 normal bottles, cut the top 1/3 off of one and the bottom 1/3 off the other. Then combine them with FlexSeal/FlexTape and Voilà you have a big bottle!
Zefal club here.
Saw someone mention these Precision Hydration bottles somewhere, have not tried them myself though. A little to colorful for me. Looks like the same top as the SiS bottles…
https://www.precisionhydration.com/us/en/products/precision-hydration-ergonomic-water-bottles/
I guess it’s more that the indent isn’t the right shape/deep enough. The bottles are fine in my Rib Cages that you also have, because the cage is tight and holds it well even though the bottle isn’t quite as snugly “in there” as I’d like.
Specialized Zee Cages and Lezyne side loading cages don’t work as well since they rely on the shape of the bottle/cage interface more than on the cage’s holding power.
Nice! Possibly better than the SIS because its more opaque. The SIS is clear
The main issues I’ve found with 33oz bottles is they are both heavy, which is dicey when hands are wet, and the length can make it challenging to get them in and out through your legs at speed. They work pretty well on long endurance rides, so they definitely have a spot for me, but I can definitely see why they aren’t a thing everyone offers.
Elite make some good 1L bottles. I also had the Zefal but they were hopeless. Similar to you, I’d wear as much of the drink as would come out the nozzle.
The Elite ones I have have never leaked, and integrate really strongly with their own bottle cage (1kg can be a lot for some cages on a MTB lol). Only downside is they are a little lower on the flow side to some bottles.
Called MaxiCorsa
I started the I like big bottles and fuel science and stuff thread on ST. Might be useful.
I’ll be doing a youtube review of the existing bottles shortly.
Still waiting on a couple to be delivered.
Looking forward to this video!
Please post the link here when it’s finished!