Ok so I wasn't going to indulge in getting an aero friendly water bottle thinking my half iron distance in May would be my last long race for a while. I plan on concentrating on sprints until my son gets older and I have more time. But thanks to being part of my ambassador team for
Team LC I get to experiment a little. Besides every once in a while I will still have time for a long ride. I'll be the first to tell you staying hydrated is the hardest part of training for me to remember especially in the hotter months. So I ordered the Xlab Torpedo from
TriSports which by the way they have very speedy delivery.
First impression, it was very easy to install and I didn't have to read a manual or anything for it. It has 4 Velcro tabs that lets you secure it around your aero bars. It sits sideways hence the torpedo name which allows for use with the narrower aero bars that can't fit the older version of the bottle that sits in between.
So within 5 minutes of opening the package I was ready to roll! The bottle can come out of the cage without having to take the 4 velcro straps off in between rides. The straw is very long and you have the choice of two holes to use it with depending on how close you need it to your mouth. Since this was just a test ride with it I had the pleasure of being slapped around by the straw on my ride. But I will be cutting it down so that it is the right length for me. There is a stopper for the extra hole and a plug for where you pour the water in. Neither of these leaked for me on the entire ride which is nicer than the other version because even with the sponge that one use to splash on me quite a bit.
The issues I had with the bottle seem to be due to the aero bars that I have on my bike. They are kind of short so with the water bottle on there I can't wrap my hands completely around the aero bars which lead to my shoulder hurting. So for my next ride I'm going to see if there's any way to push the cage back. Also as I was going down a hill I'm not sure if it was a combination of the speed (45mph) and hitting a bump at that speed but the water bottle flew right out of the cage into the middle of the road! So I'm not calling that a malfunction yet and will give it another try. I was only going that fast because of silly pride. A guy got pissed that he got chicked and decided to pass me and you should have seen the ridiculous aero position he was trying to hold in order to stay ahead of me. So silly me wanted to show him I had no problem keeping up. It's like dude it's just my bike it's meant to go fast down the hill chill out! :-) For half a second I thought about not stopping to pick up my water bottle but in the end I did because at a $50 price point for this cage and bottle it's not something to bat my eyes at that easily.
Photos from my ride, not relevant to the review but hey a day outdoors is a good day!
