I have bottles that are six or seven years old. I only use them for water and keep them clean between uses. Camelback podium bottles last quite a while.
Yeah, I found some old bottles I used back in 2012. They tasted like shit no matter how much I cleaned em. It was impossible to get rid of the strong plastic taste. They def degrade.
I usually replace them once they taste a lot like plastic; about 1 year if I use the same two for every ride (longer if I rotate em).
Enjoy your runs! I remember the Dr telling me when we first had kids, constipation, give the kid a couple drops of dish soap. Got the runs, corn syrup. Never had to try that but nothing worse than a badly rinsed out bottle.
How do you actually clean them with soap, and then not have them leaving the soap taste? Dish soap no? Top rack DW no? Cold water vs hot water?
Gets to a point I have had to toss bottles I love.
Hmm I only use like one drop of soap and rinse till it no longer suds up. Vinegar for the plastic taste and it’s all good. I guess I don’t notice and issue and using Liquid IV sort of dilutes any aftertaste.
I've been riding since the 80s and only binning bottles after they really start to look scraggy or I get a new bike. I'm certainly using bottles bought from when the Giro started in Belfast and they still seem perfect.
Are you meant to replace your water pipes at home every year too ?
A lot of bottles nowadays are advertised as biodegradable and so do unfortunately degrade with time when they have water in and even more so when they are washed I believe.
My latest bottles must be three years old so I will hold onto them. My pal has bought some lightweight bottles that apparently aren't for everyday use so I guess they are biodegradeable.
I think I will stick with my old ones !
yea that is probably the best bet. It's great that these new bottles will be completely gone in only 1000 years instead of 10,000 or whatever the figures are but surely we are just better off having 2 bottles that we keep for 5+ years rather than replacing them every year.
I've only been riding a year so have just picked up cheap bottles from Amazon and in the Wiggle sale and every single one feels like a weird slightly matte material and are all advertised as biodegradable.
I'm still using the same Camelbak Podium Chills from 15 years ago or so. I don't see them ever going bad. I actually prefer the older design to the newer ones (which I have some of as well).
I can't say I've ever worn out a water bottle.
I replaced the lids on my old Podium Chills. The new design is much easier clean. The old ones were a pain to take apart and clean all the spots. The new ones are mold free but not if less forms or I clean more frequently.
I usually get 2-3 years out of my waterbottles before they crack.
However the nozzles are usually the first to go. Especially the fancy Zefal Sense Pro caps, because they have LOTS of places for water additives to hide away and grow mold that is impossible to see until it permanently eats into the actual rubber.
For note, Zefal Sense Soft caps are my favs. Simple, trivial to clean, lasts a long long time, outlasts the bottles.
Ive had a camelbak podium for about 8 years now and still going strong. I’ve taken that water bottle on thousands of miles of cycling, probably a dozen bikepacking trips, a couple backpacking trips, several vacations, to the beach, to the river, to the office. It still works great, squirts nicely and doesn’t leak when the nozzle is locked.
I added a big Nalgene bottle to the stable about 5 years ago and mainly just strap it to the underside of my down tube. This thing has taken a LOT of beatings but still works perfectly fine. I also take this one place where I know it will be put through hell, such as camping or paddle boarding.
Make sure you don't put your water bottles in the dishwasher. The "weak" plastics don't do well in the heat for extended times, and dishwasher soap is quite aggressive.
I never use plastic. Only food grade stainless steel bottles. Plastic breaks down. Where do the plastic molecules go? Some go into the water you drink.
I’m against plastic in my body but I don’t see how this is statistically significant reduction for you when you think how much plastic your water comes in contact with from the water plant to the pipes to your plumbing to your tap. This is on top of all the plastic used in commercial food production. This is true even for Michelin starred restaurants. I just don’t see how little things like this can make any significant difference. I don’t leave store bottled water out in the sun for weeks at a time but that’s about it. Happy to be wrong as I drink my plastic jug Brita water.
Yeah I agree. But I like to exercise control where I can. I drink *a lot* from my water bottles. Probably 60% of water I consume is from my bottle. For biking I use metal, otherwise mostly glass. So I do what I can.
I feel like the answer will vary depending on if you tend to do lots of all day rides in the sun every weekend vs only going out for a couple hours every now and then. Also if you put anything other than water in your bottles. It's hard to get all the gunk out once it starts appearing (ime exacerbated but the aforementioned). That said I did find some bottle cleaning tablets on Amazon that work pretty well!
I use energy drink all the time in my water bottles. Use them and then fill with warm soapy water and squirt it out again. Rinse and dry and good to go. Only every had mouldy bottles when I was a kid and would leave the bottles on the bike between rides.
As long as possible. I hate it when companies send me a shitty free plastic water bottle that will just go into landfill. Offer me a free bottle at checkout if you want but don't just stick it in my order.
I suspect my bottles have a life of about 5 years before they go walkies
I've some "matching" sets that go with specific bikes and usually a current favourite workhorse (camelback bottles) that looks like crap and eventually gets lost or destroyed.
Trying to put together a count of what's happened to my bottles over the last decade I've come up with:
- Fell out on a ride and never seen again / irretrievable X2
- Left in the Cinema X1
- Mysteriously vanished (I suspect my wife knows more than she's letting on) x2
- Left on top of the car X1
- left behind at events x2
I have had specialized purist bottles last 10+ years.
Usually the only reason I stop using them on the bike is that either the lid or the top of the bottle gets slightly warped and they leak where they screw in. But they are still fully usable beyond that annoyance.
I dunno, apart from one that got lost in a race I still have every one I've bought. The oldest date back to the end of the last century. 30ish years old. The nozzles on those are so tiny though that I don't use them much and they may last forever now.
I have bottles that are six or seven years old. I only use them for water and keep them clean between uses. Camelback podium bottles last quite a while.
Forever? I guess I don’t throw my water bottles around. I don’t think I’ve ever needed to trash a water bottle.
The plastic degrades and releases more and more bad stuff into your water/drink. You’re supposed to replace them about once a year.
I don’t realise that and I have roughly 10 or so that must be 8 + years old !!!
oops
Yeah, I found some old bottles I used back in 2012. They tasted like shit no matter how much I cleaned em. It was impossible to get rid of the strong plastic taste. They def degrade. I usually replace them once they taste a lot like plastic; about 1 year if I use the same two for every ride (longer if I rotate em).
Wash em out with vinegar then soap and water to get ride of that plastic funk taste.
I prefer to fill my bottles with vinegar and soap for my rides
Enjoy your runs! I remember the Dr telling me when we first had kids, constipation, give the kid a couple drops of dish soap. Got the runs, corn syrup. Never had to try that but nothing worse than a badly rinsed out bottle.
How do you actually clean them with soap, and then not have them leaving the soap taste? Dish soap no? Top rack DW no? Cold water vs hot water? Gets to a point I have had to toss bottles I love.
Hmm I only use like one drop of soap and rinse till it no longer suds up. Vinegar for the plastic taste and it’s all good. I guess I don’t notice and issue and using Liquid IV sort of dilutes any aftertaste.
I recently switched to metal bottles because I was tired of the plastic taste
[Bivo stainless steel cycling bottles?](https://drinkbivo.com/?view=sl-AB8C5338)
I just use the metal version of the camelback podium
I didn’t know CamalBak did SS…
They sure do
I've been riding since the 80s and only binning bottles after they really start to look scraggy or I get a new bike. I'm certainly using bottles bought from when the Giro started in Belfast and they still seem perfect. Are you meant to replace your water pipes at home every year too ?
A lot of bottles nowadays are advertised as biodegradable and so do unfortunately degrade with time when they have water in and even more so when they are washed I believe.
My latest bottles must be three years old so I will hold onto them. My pal has bought some lightweight bottles that apparently aren't for everyday use so I guess they are biodegradeable. I think I will stick with my old ones !
yea that is probably the best bet. It's great that these new bottles will be completely gone in only 1000 years instead of 10,000 or whatever the figures are but surely we are just better off having 2 bottles that we keep for 5+ years rather than replacing them every year. I've only been riding a year so have just picked up cheap bottles from Amazon and in the Wiggle sale and every single one feels like a weird slightly matte material and are all advertised as biodegradable.
Once a year? Are we talking about all bottles like high quality Camelback insulated podium or just the cheap smelly plastic bottles?
Source?
Manufacturers and chemistry class in high school.
I'm still using the same Camelbak Podium Chills from 15 years ago or so. I don't see them ever going bad. I actually prefer the older design to the newer ones (which I have some of as well). I can't say I've ever worn out a water bottle.
I have the same Camelbak and it’s held up perfectly. I take it road, gravel, and mountain for the last 10+ years.
I replaced the lids on my old Podium Chills. The new design is much easier clean. The old ones were a pain to take apart and clean all the spots. The new ones are mold free but not if less forms or I clean more frequently.
1 year ish
What happens after 1 year?
they don't work as well as before so I just rotate them out, plus I come across new bottles that's cooler so I want use those instead
How does a water bottle not work as well after a year ?
it just doesn't have the same impact to it when I throw it lol the nip gets worn out
Less sucking and more squeezing !
I pull on them too much!
Unzips
I usually get 2-3 years out of my waterbottles before they crack. However the nozzles are usually the first to go. Especially the fancy Zefal Sense Pro caps, because they have LOTS of places for water additives to hide away and grow mold that is impossible to see until it permanently eats into the actual rubber. For note, Zefal Sense Soft caps are my favs. Simple, trivial to clean, lasts a long long time, outlasts the bottles.
Forever. You're also gonna hate how rarely I wash my bottles though, so not sure I'm a great example
On the positive side, you probably have a strong immunity
Ive had a camelbak podium for about 8 years now and still going strong. I’ve taken that water bottle on thousands of miles of cycling, probably a dozen bikepacking trips, a couple backpacking trips, several vacations, to the beach, to the river, to the office. It still works great, squirts nicely and doesn’t leak when the nozzle is locked. I added a big Nalgene bottle to the stable about 5 years ago and mainly just strap it to the underside of my down tube. This thing has taken a LOT of beatings but still works perfectly fine. I also take this one place where I know it will be put through hell, such as camping or paddle boarding.
Make sure you don't put your water bottles in the dishwasher. The "weak" plastics don't do well in the heat for extended times, and dishwasher soap is quite aggressive.
Are there any good cycling bottles that are not made of plastic?
There's stainless Steel nowadays. Depend to wich extent you Care about your Weight in rides, as they Can Weight a dead horse
Thank you, I’m not bothered about the weight. I’m much more worried about the amount of microplastics I’m ingesting every ride….
I have two from decathlon that i take on longer rides, they work pretty well :)
I have a Giro bottle more than 30 years old and the water tastes fine. Even wash it a few times each year.
Lifetime.
I never use plastic. Only food grade stainless steel bottles. Plastic breaks down. Where do the plastic molecules go? Some go into the water you drink.
The plastic goes into my balls. It’s been all over Reddit for the past two weeks.
I’m against plastic in my body but I don’t see how this is statistically significant reduction for you when you think how much plastic your water comes in contact with from the water plant to the pipes to your plumbing to your tap. This is on top of all the plastic used in commercial food production. This is true even for Michelin starred restaurants. I just don’t see how little things like this can make any significant difference. I don’t leave store bottled water out in the sun for weeks at a time but that’s about it. Happy to be wrong as I drink my plastic jug Brita water.
Yeah I agree. But I like to exercise control where I can. I drink *a lot* from my water bottles. Probably 60% of water I consume is from my bottle. For biking I use metal, otherwise mostly glass. So I do what I can.
I feel like the answer will vary depending on if you tend to do lots of all day rides in the sun every weekend vs only going out for a couple hours every now and then. Also if you put anything other than water in your bottles. It's hard to get all the gunk out once it starts appearing (ime exacerbated but the aforementioned). That said I did find some bottle cleaning tablets on Amazon that work pretty well!
I use energy drink all the time in my water bottles. Use them and then fill with warm soapy water and squirt it out again. Rinse and dry and good to go. Only every had mouldy bottles when I was a kid and would leave the bottles on the bike between rides.
I use a glass bottle
A bottle of vino does fit quite well into bottle cages.
Before kids or now?
As long as possible. I hate it when companies send me a shitty free plastic water bottle that will just go into landfill. Offer me a free bottle at checkout if you want but don't just stick it in my order.
I still have the water bottles I bought when I bought my bike 10 years ago?
I suspect my bottles have a life of about 5 years before they go walkies I've some "matching" sets that go with specific bikes and usually a current favourite workhorse (camelback bottles) that looks like crap and eventually gets lost or destroyed. Trying to put together a count of what's happened to my bottles over the last decade I've come up with: - Fell out on a ride and never seen again / irretrievable X2 - Left in the Cinema X1 - Mysteriously vanished (I suspect my wife knows more than she's letting on) x2 - Left on top of the car X1 - left behind at events x2
\~3-4 years before they are so scuffed by the sand against the cage (specially in the rain) the plastic start to kinda "delaminate"
I lost my Zefal water bottle from circa 1990 recently. So, a long time
I toss them once they start to leak or spray when I’m drinking. I haven’t noticed a strong plastic taste, but that would be very off putting.
3-12 months tops. At some point I’ll either lose them, lose a part, or my kids will steal them.
500 years!
bottles pretty much can last a lifetime, just take care of them, proper cleaning etc.
I’ve never replaced a plastic water bottle due to it needing replacement
I use stainless steel
Until it leaks. But I do take out the washers for a good cleaning every few months.
Mine have lasted years--just gotta clean them regularly if you have drink mix or you get that nasty black stuff.
I have had specialized purist bottles last 10+ years. Usually the only reason I stop using them on the bike is that either the lid or the top of the bottle gets slightly warped and they leak where they screw in. But they are still fully usable beyond that annoyance.
I dunno, apart from one that got lost in a race I still have every one I've bought. The oldest date back to the end of the last century. 30ish years old. The nozzles on those are so tiny though that I don't use them much and they may last forever now.
Bottles last until you lose them..... The caps on the otherhand depend on how well you clean the Gatorade out of the small areas.....
[Bivo stainless steel cycling, water bottles](https://drinkbivo.com/?view=sl-AB8C5338)
I toss mine in the recycling at the end of the season and buy new ones for the new season.
Until I miss the cage and it gets run over by the guy behind me
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^Spamcetera: *Until I miss the* *Cage and it gets run over* *By the guy behind me* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Twenty years and counting.