Bottles Up! The Water Bottle as a Tool

We've talked about how to find the best drink mix for you. But there is one more consideration when dealing with your water, the bottle.
The water bottle is often the unsung hero, the 'domestique' of everyone's ride. A crucial piece of support that is consistently overlooked, the water bottle can be the key to getting more liquid into your body, faster and easier. In car terms, a good water bottle is like adding a cold air intake to your engine. The engine feels better so it works better.
So ditch those freebie bottles you're making due with and check out these options to really up your hydration game.

CamelBak Big Chill

Camelbak Big Chill has won over most of the store

The Big Chill is a really amazing bottle for long rides or anyone still honing their drink-while-biking technique. Large and easy to grab, the Big Chill is also insulated to keep the water cool for three hours (depending on conditions). As Neal said when he talked about hydration, cold water absorbs into your system faster.
It comes in two sizes, 21oz (Chill) or 25oz (Big Chill) for any type of hydration schedule.
The other nice thing about the Big Chill is it's squeeze valve system. Instead of having to open the bottle with your teeth, or leave it open on the bike and risk a soaked foot due to over splash, the Big Chill only releases water when squeezed. This means the drinking process is simplified to grab, squeeze and put back. Let time out of position, less time with one hand on the bars and less time having your vision obstructed by a bottle!

For more info on the Big Chill, click here

And for all the A/V learners:

The many faces of the Polar Bottle

Polar Bottle

The Polar Bottle, like the Big Chill, is an insulated bottle that comes in two different sizes (20oz and 24oz). Both bottles are very similar in insulation material, feel and length of effective chill time. It has a more traditional nozzle  but also adds an underestimated plastic loop coming off the top. This loop makes grabbing the bottle incredibly easy.
The Polar Bottle has been a standard in insulated hydration for years. If you heavily weigh a company's experience in the product then this may be the bottle for you.

For more info on the Polar Bottle, click here


Specialized Purist Hydroflo

The Purist Hydroflo is a completely unique bottle. The inside of the bottle is coated with a chemical found in both glass and some vegetables. It creates such a non-pores surface on the inside of the bottle that odor, mold, even lingering flavor has nowhere to hold and gets rinsed out.

Specialized Purist Hydroflo

Like the Big Chill, the Purist Hydroflo has a pressure sensitive valve so no water leaves the bottle until it is squeezed. Specialized streamlined the process and made their version much easier to clean.
The Hydroflo has also been engineered with a resin that allows it to hold shape, while being one of the most flexible bottles on the market. This means less work to squeeze water out as well as pull it from a bottle cage.
They have also made a video about the Hydroflo. While it is considerably less informative, it seems to have more CGI than The Matrix and Lord of the Rings combined:

For more information on the Specialized Purist bottles, click here




In a sport that is done almost exclusively outside and in the sun; not to mention the rider's body is continually giving effort and using fuel, how you hydrate should be at the top of any one's "How to Improve" list. Depending on what you're carrying your water in, it can be helpful or hurtful. Try out a nicer bottle. I bet you'll really like it.