Send me one and I'll post a review on here for you guys. I can test it on a cervelo P3 and a felt AR. 😁

HI ,

We are going to be doing a few competitions for free product soon so keep your eyes open on our social media pages below. We are this week sending out out the 'FoodCell' for review to a few magazines and those who gave us some early coverage.

• http://aerogeeks.com/2017/05/10/foodcell-first-look/
• http://www.titaniumgeek.com/cycling/foodcell-aerodynamic-cycling-nutrition-carrier/
• http://www.triathlonbusiness.com/2017/industry-news/tucking-into-new-foodcell-aerodynamic-food-carrier-on-kickstarter/
• http://www.triradar.com/gear/foodcell-nexgen-aerodynamic-food-carrier-for-triathletes-cyclists/

We reached out to the guys at SlowTwitch but not had a response yet.



Or social media pages are:

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/FlowCellEurope/ OR @FLOWCELLEUROPE
INSTAGRAM:FlowCellEurope
TWITTER: @FlowCellEurope
YOUTUBE:

ALL THE BEST FOR THE SEASON!

Kind regards

I really like the sliding closure.

Seems to be quite tall?? Maybe partly because of the base you use? It integrates well with the bike you picture on your kickstarter page because of the big stack of stem spacers...
Looks like your campaign has 29 days left to raise close to one hundred thousand pounds. Seems ambitious, but cool product, best of luck!

I was thinking the same thing. Looks too tall for my application.

Thanks for the response - really appreciate it!

We are working on some other versions for the short course triathletes and TT riders but already the drag of the FoodCell is very low and in-line with most other carriers on the market (we have been doing a lot of work on this some CFD images attached). We have found the biggest issue for athletes is trying to get product (Gels/Bars etc) out of current designs whilst staying aero and being able to hold enough food for the longer course athletes).

If you have to sit-up on your tri/TT bike to get them out or cannot get in enough gels to get the energy you need to get you though your event, all the aero in the world won't help. We hope we have deliverered that happy medium between a really aero design and being functional.

Of course those looking for no addition drag such as a 10mile or 25 mile TT rider would likely have maybe 1 gel or no gels - then we 100% agree don't put on the bike. But Ironman triathletes already hide much of any drag by placing on hydration units such as these great products:

https://tinyurl.com/kv3vspl
https://tinyurl.com/lysoqut

In the same way most aero road bikes still have a head tube that masks any food carrier. So in reality that will be almost no difference in drag for 99% of users unless they have a head tube that is level with the top tube on the bike. In addition we are talking about a road bike as on a TT or trip bike the arms will be infant of the FoodCell again masking a significant amount of any air flow. The same is true for other carriers.

https://tinyurl.com/n34gkef

Im attaching some images taken today to help out with what the FoodCell look like in real life and other similar products on the market.

So aerodynamics can be important but I think we always need to apply them in a real life practical situation. That was the whole issue for me developing this. I love Ironman triathlon but I need x number of gels and want to be able to stay in aero position.

Best of luck with your training and this season.

Regards Mark
FlowCell ltd

Hi BMANX

Thanks I think I responded to you on AeroGeeks review. Would be great to know what is your 'application' are you triathlon, road or TT rider? Whats your current set up?

All views are great for us as we develop our product line.

Cheers...

Thanks we love the slider and forms part of the Patent submission - so maybe someone might try to steal that Idea and then the suit to follow would pay for the start-up ha.

Yes the total pledge requested on Kickstarter is high but we also have to build in all potential costs of delivery into that total. That is what makes Kickstarter very difficult, imaging the difference is postage between sending to UK (our home market) to sending to USA or Asia. So we have to build in some tolerance for what % of sales may go out to the US or other markets.

We have really tried to keep costs to an absolute minimum as the RRP is £49.99. Also our product is not designed like others on the market and that's why its more expensive to make. The materials are different but the real costs comes in tooling. We need 4 tools to make our product (a tool is what the plastics are injected into be for the unit is put together). Most on the market use 2 tools.

The product will get to market and we have already had some offers for licensing the design to big players in the market so now is a great time for people to get the product at a significantly discounted rate.

Regards Mark
Founder FlowCell Ltd

UK potential customer here :-)

What does the base of the unit look like ? Could I 3M tape it to a flat topped top tube ?

WD :-)

You seem to be ignoring the point that a couple others are making which is that the aerodynamics of your solution depend on other individual elements of setup. Your CFD model (in the pic) is of one perfectly mated stem with your bento. One SKU doesn't do it here unless your setup happens to map to your solution. It might work with my standard stem on my Felt, but it would protrude significantly higher than the stem on my Diamondback Andean -- as an example. But I think you know this.

Maybe you said it but what are the exact dimensions?

Hi If you look at the video or go to our instagram page (flowcelleurope) you can see the product mounted by velcro attachment and in the video on my bike bolt.

So no need to tape it to anything.

Mark

Thanks for the questions.

Of course 100% we thought of these issue and unless you have an integrated frame design then there will always be some gap between head tube and Food Carrier.

http://www.xlab-usa.com/...t-500c_img2_2478.jpg
http://prv.co.nz/.../2016/08/Torhans.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/...41b4397d61773337.jpg
http://www.profile-design.com/...ure-Storage-ATTK.jpg

In relation to your Diamondback Andean - our product would not work if you already have system like this and again you maybe worried about a half a cm of similar elevation above the headset but like the Andean pictures below most ride with a nice bike hydration unit on the front which is where most of the drag comes from.

http://www.slowtwitch.com/..._andean_fave_900.jpg
http://www.tririg.com/...ndback_Andean_17.jpg

Interestingly even the Andeans own integrated system shows it above the headset as every rider will have a different requirement in terms of total stack height and what spacers are needed to fix this. http://www.bicycling.com/...andean_project_2.jpg

No product offers everything we just think as above we offer a great trade off in terms of practical design to allow greater storage without it resulting in significant more drag than those other products on the market.

There will be a great review on the aerodynamic side of things from the titanium geek so I wont steal his thunder here.

Best of luck on the Andean (Im not jealous, honest ha, its a stunning bike) and good luck for the rest of the season. Ill be over racing Ironman Frankfurt in July, so if your there you can see the product in the flesh.

Mark

In another Forum some of the guys where asking about storage and ease of getting gels out so here is a rough cut video to show it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENN1H2ZJehk

Regards Mark

Again, I really like sliding opening design. Just taller than I would personally want on my bike. Not even much to do with aerodynamics. Just looks out of place to me. Just my personal opinion / preference.

That said, I don't tend to cram a bunch of gels into a bento anyway. For me, I'd prefer a smaller version that can maybe hold one gel -flask-, and a few salt tabs thrown in.

Cheers

No worries we cannot argue with personal taste.

All the best for the rest of the season!

Mark
Founder FlowCell Ltd

There are a lot of bikes it will work for. If you've optimized your stem then not so much.

That said, for all the drag it might cause, if it stops a person sitting up or faffing about out of aero for any period of time, then it's paid for itself aerodynamically. And the larger volume means that it's a better option for some nutrition strategies, which is worth a lot more than a few seconds.

---

'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

For me personally, the video underscores why propels should use liquid nutrtition and not gels. But, I realize I'm in the minority and most people love to shove food in these things. I use my bento for storing other things (tube, air chuck, tire lever etc.) that's where the Aero penalty of a taller one may come into play.

Reagradless, You want want to consider another video or list of items it can hold besides gels (something other manufacturers don't do)

Good luck!

Thanks for the comments agree and I responded in another thread regarding issues of drag so will paste below.

========

Hi,

Lets put some real world perspective on this. Lets use say cycling art 40kph, if you stick a standard water bottle between your trip bars you get around 25g of drag which circa 3watts or 10-15seconds over 40k or less than a minute over an Ironman.

If we look at food carriers they are half the thickness and not as tall as a standard drinks bottle (so even less drag), they also in general sit behind a head tube (either directly of just a few inches). So your looking at less than a minute over a full Ironman. In our view that loss when you consider how that would be very different in real world with people moving on bike sitting up or not, not to mention most people out on the course are not moving at 40kph (so even less drag effect) the real concern must be about access to nutrition (enough of it), but also being able to maintain aero position if you need to.

We did quite a bit of work on the FoodCell using the product by itself and on a visual bike in CFD testing during design and the K-Tail alone shaved the drag by 41% compared to a rounded tail design, similarly the way we shaped the front end also impacts the way the air drag moves around the product when you have a gap between the headset and product.

These are some great reviews over these issues regarding the practicality of drag. I hope you find them of interest.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/...bottle-computer.html
http://flocycling.blogspot.co.uk/...el-aerodynamics.html
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/...lt-aero-testing.html

Keep in touch.

Mark

Dear ALL,

We have relaunched FOODCELL with a massively reduced total pledge target of only £20k thanks to new investor.

Hope you guys look to help us with this last bit of funding and grab a bargain thats £10.99/$14 less than the RRP.

https://www.kickstarter.com/...-nutrition-carrier-0

We have sent out a number of prototypes and expect reviews to come back soon. We have also provided additional information on Aerodynamics and the process of development.

Best regards Mark

Mark
Founder and CEO
FlowCell Ltd

twitter: @flowcelleurope
instagram: flowcelleurope
facebook: @FlowCellEurope

FOODCELL WEBSITE AND PRODUCTS AVAILABLE


Dear SlowTwitch'ers,

We have finally launched and shipped globally...

Its been a great journey and we think the FoodCell is a great storage solution offering both bolt and velcro attachments and with the ability to clip the main unit of for cleaning and with a unique opening system allowing to retain an aero position and no struggling to get gels out of the product.

You can check out the product at: www.foodcell.co.uk

A few pics here: https://www.instagram.com/flowcelleurope/?hl=en

OR check out a few of our videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_uz_kVyATo

And other posts on the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FlowCellEurope/

Any questions or comments send them over.

We are working on 2 other new products for release late 2018.

Regards Mark

MD FlowCell Limited
http://www.flowcell.co.uk

I have this 'thing' about carrying gel sachets generally. I have a small flask that I use to carry my gels, removing the need to handle used stick gel wrappers. Never mind dropping the tear-off tab to open the sachet. Give me something that will fit my gel flask and I might be interested.

---

Trust me I’m a doctor!
Well, I have a PhD :-)

Hi Philip,

Sure every one has their own preference for on course nutrition if you can tell how much gel your taking out of your flask per squeeze so you don't get gut issues rather than using pre-measured gels that great. I use the FoodCell both on my TT and road bike to carry gels and / or flapjacks or other foods I want on my ride.

Best of luck for the season and thanks for the comment.

Mark

Hi Mark,
My apologies if you have already answered this question: Are you able to tell us how many gels (not the "Iso Gels") would fit? Such as Gu, Honey Stinger, etc.? They seem a little wider than the gels pictured in your video.
Thank you so much,
Nicole

Hi Nicole,

The gels we put in from High 5 are 66g gels the biggest on the market. We know many companies say you can fit 4-5 gels into their storage systems but don't say what size gels.

In relation to wider Gels I think the following from someone who is doing the brutal Norseman triathlon (https://nxtri.com) is using a more square gel and from the looks of it its a new record for how many gels you can fit into a FoodCell ;-)

Here is a video from his Instagram (@intotheepic) feed:

https://www.instagram.com/...igshid=17h4fwrt581kb

Enjoy.


Mark

That's super helpful, thanks Mark!