Bicycle Water Bottles

Whether going for a leisurely afternoon ride, or training for a long-distance race or decathlon, the most important part of bicycling is staying hydrated. Long distance rides can take a toll on the body, and the best way to keep alert and going is by making sure to stay well-hydrated. But for awhile, purist bicyclist were fretting about the alleged lag time that having bicycle water bottles on a bike frame could cause.

Then, a few enterprising bicyclists decided to see if it was true, and found out much to everyone's surprise that having a water bottle and a bottle cage might actually decrease resistance! So there's absolutely no excuse in this day and age to not make sure at least two water bottles are on every bicyclist for staying hydrated, even more if going for long-distance rides.

Water bottles might be a more replaceable part of one's gear, but that's no reason to think that there aren't good and bad choices to be made. First and foremost, the traditional bicycle water bottles are leaps and bounds better than any newfangled system that involves tubing and a large plastic sack strapped to a back or in a mini-backpack. There's no need to rely on something that's so much easier to tear or rip, and the main complaint with those hydration devices are that once it breaks, there's really no repairing it. Plus, wearing water on one's back leaves it in an ideal place for the sun to heat it up, making hydrating less tasty.

The best bicycle water bottles are those that are made of a thicker plastic. The thicker plastic serves two purposes: it makes it more difficult to break the water bottle in case if falls out of its cage, and it allows for a thicker layer between the water and the sunlight, hopefully keeping the water more cooled. There are even more high-tech models that claim to offer cooling properties, much like a thermos.

After checking the thickness of the plastic, the second most important component bicycling water bottles is the mouthpiece. If a single bottle is used over and over, this tends to get a little worn out and nasty. The best bet is having more than one water bottle that's used, so that there is equal wear-and-tear, combined with purchasing a water bottle that can be cleaned in the dishwasher. The ability to thoroughly sanitize the tops of bicycle water bottles makes re-using them healthier, and actually gives them more of a shelf life, too.

Another part of choosing ideal bicycle water bottles is looking at the different choices for tops. A top can either be snap-on or screw-on, which might not be that much of a difference to a casual user. However, those water bottle enthusiasts have spirited debates about this frequently, with the consensus being that a snap-on lid is more likely to come off when a cyclist is grabbing their bottle with gusto, while a screw-on lid is more secure. Those who like to put ice into their water bottles are also partial to a wide-mouth bottle, while those obsessing over shaving seconds off of times still cling to the thought that a wider water bottle means a slower time.