Hydrapak or bottle

[Super Otaku]

Hi everyone.
I don't know which one should I get, a hydration pak or a water
bottle?
So I need help with you guys. Give some advantages and
disadvantages of the products. And vote the pole to tell me what
you have.

 

[Ghr7891]

I ride with a Camelback Mule I got 3 years ago and it is by far the best pack. I would recommend you get one of these. The advantages are 100oz. of water, extra storage space, wonderful fit, you can take bottle bosses of the frame to make it lighter. Disadvantages; there are none I can think of.

 

[terrya]

I'll throw a spanner in the works and say both . Depending on where I ride and how long I anticipate the ride to be, I'll use either, or even both in some circumstances.

For my regular, shorter route (about 14 km) I take a bottle only and make sure I hydrate beforehand. For longer rides that'll last a couple hours I'll take my hydration pack.

I don't enjoy riding with anything on my back, so while it's V useful I don't particularly enjoy it sloshing around there

 

[MidBunchLurker]

Pros: more water, much safer and quicker to drink from (useful if riding lots of technical stuff), place to store your stuff, something soft to fall on when you crash

Cons: weight is carried higher up which raises centre of gravity and theoretically hinders handling, on hot days you get a really sweaty back

Personally I always ride with my camelbak (rogue). I've gotten used to the weight on my back and it is nice to fall on something soft. On particularly hot and long rides I might use a water bottle as well.

 

[ibike73]

Road bike: bottles

Mtn bike Races: bottles

Mtn bike Fun rides: CamelBak

 

[Duckwah]

I use a pack because the mounting points on my AC2 don't take full size bottles and they are in stupid places.

the exception is when freeriding when i stick one little bottle on the bike and ditch the pack.

When you are going out in the wilderness for a few hours there is too much gear to stuff in jersey pockets and saddlebags so the pack is the best option.

Deuter make some great packs at a good price and they don't give you a sweaty back

 

[bigchina]

i ride with a camelbak style Nalgene pack. its awesome. much more convenient than bottles. plus bikes look cooler without the bottle bosses on em

 

[Mr.- B6300]

I ride w/ a camelback "cloudwalker" comes w/ 2 litre bladder will also hold 3 litre bladder if you want more water nice size pack just a little smaller then mule

 

[bigchina]

but when it comes down to which one you should get.. your LBS will surely give you a free water bottle, while packs range from 20-100 dollas

 

[Cowboyathlete]

Originally posted by Super Otaku
Hi everyone.
I don't know which one should I get, a hydration pak or a water
bottle?
So I need help with you guys. Give some advantages and
disadvantages of the products. And vote the pole to tell me what
you have.

I say get both, depending on how long and what sort of riding you do. I swear by my HydraPak for most rides. However, for shorter rides (like after work on a weekday evening), it is sometimes easier to just use a large size water bottle.

 

[jmitting]

I dont like carrying the weight on my back either so its bottles for me.

 

[jessevan]

I prefer the hydrapak, but most of the time I have a camera bag on my back, so I use a bottle.

 

[moparchris]

well i WOULD use a pack (probly get a camelback) but theyre pretty expensive so ill just stay with the bottle for now

i say if your willing to dish out the cash to get a pack, GET ONE its not like ya NEED it though

 

[MisterXTR]

I switched back to bottles because I am not fastidious enough to take care of the bladders. Always got moldy. Bottles are simple enough for guys like me to understand.

 

[origanic]

Id say that buying a Camelbak was the best purchase I have ever made. Not only do I use it for biking, but to be honest, I carry is all over with me! Around when I go hiking, walking, biking, etc etc. Great invention and it keeps water really cold!

I have a Camelbak Lobo.

 

[hdtvkss]

I have a pack and after a few user based issues i find it quite good. the weight can be a tad of an issue but so far so good, besides it lightens off as you go. at the end of my last ride i was suprised to find that id only drunk about half of the bladder. but i guess 3 liters is alot of water in 3 hours.....

 

[MrXC]

Another vote for both. Bottles only on shorter rides/races. Camelback for epics, both for really long epics

 

[cuervo]

I use both too, bottles for my road bike and camelback for the mountain bike.

When I started riding the MTB I used bottles too, at the first race that I participate at I got dehydrated because first I didn’t find any level ground where I can calmly reach for the bottle, and then, the bottle came alive and jump of from my bike, and I didn’t had the time to stop and go back to pick it up. Since then, I always use the Camelback, but a small one of only 50 oz. (it’s the HydroBak model that do not have any pockets or anything bulky that can interfere with your movements)

In road, I always use bottles while racing or training, you even can switch bottles from front bottle cage to rear to jersey pockets at the middle of a race with out problems.

Regards

 

[zapper]

I have a camelback but I use it off the bike I find that over long periods of time it bothers my back..not too mention I hate the sloshing sound....

 

[D43V1L0N3]

shorter rides and road rides, water bottles
longer offroad rides (2hr +) - 2L bladder in bag + watter bottles.

i found that you can keep liquid in the bladder icy cold for about 2hr if you fill it with ice cubes then top up with water. stays cold for long time after that as well. the other reason for bladder is for food. the bag i got has pockets in the waist strap, really good for holding food. the other thing i do sometimes is use a converted water bottle to hold food (cut out section near top, half fill with something then food goes in really well.)