The XLAB Torpedo with the Zipp Vuka BTA Mount and Trisports bracket is one awesome setup

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I have the Torpedo and the Aero Z. Both are very similar as far as functionality and ease of use. Refilling is very similar in both. With the Torpedo I found that I would have to 'fiddle' or 'finagle' with the straw to suck up the last few ounces. The straw would curve away from the very bottom where the last few ounces would sit and I would have to move the straw around to get that last bit. The Aero Z toook care of this problem with straw placement. Since the straw starts under the bottle...then the last bit of fluid will find its way to the bottom. The magnet on the Aero Z does not seem to work as good as I would like. In windy conditions the straw(from the upright and ready to drink position) would catch the wind and often fall off the magnet which sits on the rear of the bottle. The Aero Z seems a bit cleaner(aerowise and aesthetically) on my bike but the Torpedo seems just a little easier to take off and clean at will. Since the Torpedo just fits in the cage like most other bottles however, the Aero Z has a little strap to hold it in that fits in a very tight little space and was hard to reach with my setup. I like them both and you really cant go wrong with either.

Ultimately, I have stuck with the Torpedo because I recently went to 'Mantis' arm position. This position lends itself away from the AeroZ because it changes where the fluid rests. Or, IOW, there is a new bottom to the bottle in this 'Mantis' position and that is not where the straw opening is. So only 2/3rds of the fluid is attainable. So I have now gone to the Torpedo. I have only used the Aero Z a handful of times and will be selling it. If you are interested then you can PM me.

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"WHEW...I really regret that workout!"..............Noone

Olympic all I need (gauging this on me) is one 26oz bottle in a ziptied cage between the bars. You'll be on the bike 1hr-1:10 so that should be all you need.

70.3, same ziptied cage/ bottle at the bars and one on downtube and/ or behind the seat. Then grab water/ gatorade as needed. I just grab water; drink, squeeze on the arm coolers, maybe over helmet, another squeeze in the mouth then toss at last bottle drop.

I have the Aero 30 and everything about it is pretty good. I like that it's apparently fast (more consistantly than horizontal setups), is easy to drink out of, and has a tray for my garmin. I really don't enjoy the fact that it leaks like an SOB. I have tried everything imagionable to prevent it from leaking, but always seem to end up with a sticky mess to clean up. I only use sugary products for races, and because it's infrequent, I can live with the cleanup. If they could actually figure out a way to stop it from leaking it would be perfect for me.

I'm in the aero 30 boat too, I like the fluid sitting lower than right between the arms. I splashes way more than the profile HC setup for sure. I use the slotted inside, slotted outside cap and cover this with duct tape, still some water comin out, therefore I only use water ther and still have the option to refill on the fly. Got the nutrition behind the seat a little thicker, so water up front.

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-shoki

I have the Aero 30, and like others have the splashing issue. One thing I didn't see mentioned regarding the Aero 30 that I have a problem with is rattling... It drives me nuts. I did just change my positioning a bit and now have to mount the bottle on the upper slot. This seems to have helped some, but I only have 1 short ride with it so far so not sure if that was a fluke/all in my head.

Torpedo.

You can use the refillable bottle, or use the cage to take handups at aid stations.

Personally I'll use the torpedo for Oly and shorter (using the solid cap, so no sloshing), but swap bottles for longer events.

The torpedo is also super-easy to remove/empty post race (just slide it out of the cage).

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
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on the aero Z magnet - if you haven't already done this, remove the little rubber sleeve from the magnet so it's just exposed metal. it sticks in place a lot better. got that tip from another STer when i mentioned that i was having problems with the magnet holding.

my biggest complaint about it is that at least with my position, the straw is pretty hard to reach. i usually end up using one hand to bring the valve to my mouth. aside from that, i like it well enough.

i haven't used the torpedo, but i have just done the zip-tied bottle cage thing. that worked pretty well, except that the zip ties kept snapping where they rubbed the cage. takeaway there is probably to use a cage with rounded frame, i guess; i was using an elite custom race, which has squared-off edges that were apparently sawing into the zip ties. overall, that setup was a little more hassle-free than the aero Z, but i've been sticking with the torhans recently mostly just because i have it and feel like i might as well.

solid advice all around. thank you.

I just wants to forget it, thanks for reminding.....it rattles like a motherfu....

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-shoki

I've used the AeroZ this season and I like it quite a bit. I solved the magnet issue by removing the silicone sleeve and by adding a wheel weight magnet. Now you have to deliberately remove the straw from the bottle. I can snap a pic if you want an example. My only complaint about the AeroZ is the capacity...at 20oz I drink that down in about 45 mins on a warm day.

As much as I like the AeroZ I have thought about going the Zipp/Trisports mount way and just running a normal 24oz bottle between the arms.

Any idea when the Zipp/Trisports mount comes back in stock?

http://www.trisports.com/...o-bta-mount-100.html

The website says September 5

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I had the same decision a few months ago, and went with the Torepdo.. My decision was based on the fact that the Torhan mount sits too far front because it has to sit in front of the stem. The torpedo sits on your aerobars so its more flexible in terms of positioning.

I got a tip from a pro awhile back on fixing that aero 30 from rattling - if you put long piece of the fuzzy side of Velcro on the mount so that it sits between the mount and the bottle it should solve most problems. It fixed almost all my rattling and splashing "almost"

I recently got an aero 20 which has the same mount as the aero 30

I used two bigger zipp ties on each side of the brackte/mount to hold it to my aero bars and it doesn't move at all.

There was absolutely no rattling from the bracket to the bars or from the bottle to bracket.

It did splash a little when completely full but any bottle will do that. I used the sprint cover and just pulled it off to refill.

jaretj

I've used both the Torpedo and Aero Z. I like the aeroness of both. Torpedo has more capacity and you can see the liquid inside which helps when filling up. The Aero Z straw is nice once you get the magnet figured out (suggestions above). Hard to fill without spilling because the bottle is black and the rubber cover doesn't allow you to see in.

Unfortunately they both leaked like freaking crazy. Drove me nuts, so now I'm using the Speedfil A2 in the Torpedo bottle cage mount. The A2 may not be as aero, but its easy to fill, straw works great with Speedfil's straw clip, and doesn't leak much at all. Very happy with this current setup.

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
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just to complicate things..anyone try the Nathan Performance option...?

I have the aero 30 and was only using the uncut cover...and it leaked. I then added the thin, slitted cover, with the cap on top, and leaking is minimal to nonexistant, unless i'm on a bumpy/rough road. It does rattle a bit, though, and I'm thinking of adding some type of tape to absorb the rattling. I like it, qute a bit, although i am thinking of removing the aero straw and just buying a long straw/tube so that I can bend it and get it out of the wind.

The Xlab Torpedo on its own is pretty bad. The Trisports version is the only one to think about if you go that route.

The list of mods to my Xlab Torpedo to get it to work is as follows:

1) Replaced the breaking velcro straps with the Profile Design HC Mount cross bars and 4 zip ties. I added another zip tie on each side connected to my aero bad pad mount to keep the unit from sliding off the back since there was nothing to keep it from moving fore/aft.

2) The road vibration was too much for the computer mount with those stiff new crossbars. Replaced the narrow gen 1 computer mount with the current gen 2 computer mount. It still was throwing my Garmin off to the side. Why on Earth the original mount was too narrow for a Garmin mount boggle my mind. Why the updated mount doesn't have side ridges to keep the Garmin mount from falling off the side further boggles my mind. I'm using the smallest Garmin mount rubber bands I found (in the Xlab recommended pattern). A zip tie to further tighten the bands and hot glue have gotten it mostly functional. Oh yeah, why is it made to rotate?? Who wouldn't line it up straight? Even though the bolt is tightened silly with the ridged washers in the right place, it still rotates itself. Add in 3 more small zip ties to keep it from rotating.

3) If you bought the 100 version like I did, you soon find out the cage quickly deformed/stretched out and becomes too loose to hold stuff well. Multiple rubber bands hold the bottle against the ridge to keep it from moving forward and knocking your computer off on every bump. I keep a water bottle with tools/flat kit rubber banded there for training rides.

4) The dolphin tail straw holder isn't that great. Small magnet, washer and electrical tape will make you much happier.

5) Sometimes I press the lid all the way into the bottle after a refill on the move. That sucks.

Drinking from a normal bottle in the aerobars isn't any more difficult that reaching for a straw. It's much quicker to swap in a bottle than refill a bta unit too. If I were to do it all over again, I would just buy the Profile Design cross braces, use a water bottle holder I trusted and then snag a Bar Fly or K-edge mount to hold the computer. Or possibly the Trisports Torpedo package.

If you can get the Torhans Aero 30 pretty close to your headtube, I think that would be a great option.

what is unique about the trisports version?

It looks like this




The benefits are a stronger mount because it bolts to the aerobars, no straps, and a Garmin perfectly centered between the aerobars

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I use the Speedfill and it's ok. I have a P5, so it just uses a regular bottle cage and I don't need some of the fancy mounts.

BryanD nailed it.

I would knock off that dolphin tail thing and spend $3 on a small magnet, a couple washers and tape/glue to attach them.

It's still too expensive for what it is, but it's a better option.

I like the classic version. Basic bottle cage (right now I'm using Profile) and zip-ties. Simple, cheap and I can use any bottle.

I brought an aero z , but found the magnets for the straw weren't strong enough for the rough roads a lot of our TTs. Spent most of the last 50 miler fishing the straw up and re-attaching.

I keep reading reviews on these things and in this particular thread, and I just can't understand why it seems to be so difficult for a company to come up with something that is actually good and doesn't have issues.

First off, I would think a well designed bracket is the FIRST thing that these companies need to come up with. I tried using zip ties with a standard cage on my aero bars and the first time I went out for a ride with a full bottle of water I hit a big pot hole and one of the zip ties broke, and the bottle went flying. That was all I needed to see to convince me that the zip tie setup sucks.

Second, you need to be able to fill the thing on the fly and have it actually stay in the bottle without splashing out all over the place as you ride. Again, this should not be THAT difficult a thing to design. Yet, half of these things either push in and fail all together or splash all over the place (at least from the reviews I've read).

Third, you need something that will actually allow you to suck out the water without having to 'search' for it with the straw. Again, not particularly difficult a task to take care of. I also want an aero straw that I don't need to search for with my mouth.

Fourth, I want something that I can clean easily. I don't know about anyone else, but my standard water bottles seem to like to grow black mold in the bottom even though I make sure they are completely dry when I store them.

Lastly, it would be nice to be able to take the aero bottle off and use the cage for a standard water bottle if I want to for whatever reason.

So basically, from what I've seen if you mashed together the Xlab Torpedo and the Torhans aeroZ you would be getting pretty close to something that satisfies all of these criteria, but by themselves, they seem to have issues that everyone complains about. Makes it difficult for me to want to go out and spend the $$$ on one of these two setups.

I can tell you that the XLAB TriSports Zipp combination will give you everything you want on your list. The bottle will not move, it doesn't splash, the straw makes drinking really easy, it's very sturdy, and it's easy to clean. You can also use a regular bottle with the XLAB Torpedo cage. When approaching a bottle handoff, I can refill my torpedo and spray water all over myself to cool down before I even hit the trash can to throw it away. This setup just works perfectly

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$180 for a hydration system. Jeesh!! Besides the price, my biggest complaint (knit picking) is that the computer mount is not removable. I no longer use a computer setup on the bike since I now own a Garmin 920. It would be nice to be able to remove that and just run the bottle setup without having an empty computer mount sticking out in the front.

If you have a 920, why aren't you using the quick release?

Why bother for one. Just another time-suck in transition. Plus, I am not a huge fan of huge watches. I never owned the 910 because it was just too big. The 920 was at least acceptable. But when you add the quick-release to the back of the 920 it stands out off the wrist more than I think I would find acceptable.

+1 on zip ties...

That's what I'm using BTA. It's simple, cheap, light weight, aero, easily replaceable, fits any size bars etc...

If you want to spend money on a system so you can have a straw with quick fill that makes sense but if you're just going to put a normal bottle there then you might as well go zip ties!!![/url][/img]

Anyone have a suggestion on how I can just mount a bottle cage between your aero bars?

zip ties is the easiest way.most systems only use Velcro and end up being less secure

I am running Profile Design HC with a 2 bar setup. It is pretty good, and spills very little because the bars don't flex very much. The whole setup was - $42 for the bottle+cage from some no name Korean website (BicycleHero), and $11 for the HC bars from Amazon (comes with another cage btw). In theory you can get away with just the bars and any bottle. but i like the ability to drink and fill up without taking the bottle out. The only downside is that the front facing portion of the bottle is made of black plastic which gets pretty warm after 3-4 hours in the sun. Not an issue obviously if you're racing since you can just grab a cold bottle from an aid station.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

I have been debating this same thing for a few days now... I am getting the trisports zipp bta combo. Also have a xlabs gorilla xt xage to use. Now I need to decide between the xlabs torpedo or the PD HC aero bottle. They both seem pretty similar.

I used to have a torpedo and it spilled all the time. My shoes and bike was covered in Gatorade and it was awful. This is keeping me from trying it again but I may just had a bad bottle. Also xlabs is developing a new bottle that is supposed to reduce spillage that I may want to try. Xlabs is supposed to be more "aero" between the 2 bottles but haven't seen any comparison data.

The PD bottle looks easy to clean and has a sealable cap that will reduce spilling. I also like the vertical straw.

Decisions. Decisions. May have to get both to try them out for a few rides and return the one that doesn't work as well.

Chirag

Hi Chirag - can I help with your old Torpedo spilling? Perhaps I can shed some light on why it was spilling if you let me know where the liquid was escaping.

We are coming out with a new bottle - should start shipping in a few weeks! It will first be available as the Refill Upgrade Kit and spare bottle versions - which works in your favor if you are getting the Trisports BTA system.

The Torpedo does include 2 different lids, one that is open, one that is solid. I would say the usage of the caps is about 50/50. It really comes down to personal preference. I can say the solid cap though is very easy to open/close after refilling - I use this one.

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Candice Turner
CEO
XLAB - Aerodynamic Triathlon Accessories
Dawn to Dusk - Off-road Specific Storage Accessories
http://www.XLAB-USA.com http://www.dawntodusk.bike

Candice,
The liquid was always coming out of the opening that you use to fill the bottle. It would make a mess of my bike and I would have sticky gatorade everything. I always used the solid cap. Was very frustrating. I sold it a while ago for the Torhans setup but now that I modified my bike, I am thinking about giving the XLabs bottle a try again. I ordered the Tri Sports BTA system and have a Gorilla XT cage that I am going to use. TriSports had the new bottle for pre-order but it said that it wasnt going to be available till end of December this year.

Chirag

Perhaps it was coming out of the small hole that is in the cap. The good news is the new bottle that has the breather valve, will have a completely solid lid - no hole needed in the cap anymore.

I will check with Seton on the dates, but we should be able to to get some out to them by end of this month, so expect that date to move up.

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Candice Turner
CEO
XLAB - Aerodynamic Triathlon Accessories
Dawn to Dusk - Off-road Specific Storage Accessories
http://www.XLAB-USA.com http://www.dawntodusk.bike

I have the TriSports and Xlab BTA system. I would have waited for the Xlab Versa system to come out. As much as I love the Zipp Vuka BTA with the TriSports bracket, being able to move your computer when the sun hits it is worth the money to upgrade.

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