I wanted to throw this out there to see if anyone else had been thinking about finding a way to design a larger volume "integrated" hydration solution for their bike. I got a new bike recently so it got me thinking about this again (previous bike I just used one frame and two x-lab rear cages). My new bike frame is smaller (not as tall of stack), and I've found it difficult to use the "taller" bike bottles in it (they fit but are difficult to get back in without some creative angling).
Specifically - my issue is the ability to have something on your bike that is easy to refill on the fly, easy to drink, etc. I know there are plenty of options out there and people seem to be doing just fine with them - but nothing that I've seen has the capacity for greater than 40 ounces. If you are like me and need 60 ounces or more per half ironman distance and carry your own nutrition versus race-provided, then if you have something that holds 40 ounces then you still need to have a second way to carry that last 20 ounces.
The current SpeedFil 40 ounce one seems like the best design, but then I would STILL need to attach another bottle. I also don't really want something installed on or under my aerobars. Tri bikes are already squirrely with handling because we put a lot of weight on the front.
My thoughts were that if the current triangular SpeedFil were taller - it might fit 60+ ounces (but could make difficult to refill similar to my issue with taller water bottles). I thought you might be able to get around that problem by having the system have a "refill" tube which is attached to an assembly that sits between the aerobars (this assembly would not be meant to hold fluid but just provide a means to refill the lower reservoir without needing the opening to fit within the frame triangle.) Then the "drink" tube would exit where it currently does.
Specifically - my issue is the ability to have something on your bike that is easy to refill on the fly, easy to drink, etc. I know there are plenty of options out there and people seem to be doing just fine with them - but nothing that I've seen has the capacity for greater than 40 ounces. If you are like me and need 60 ounces or more per half ironman distance and carry your own nutrition versus race-provided, then if you have something that holds 40 ounces then you still need to have a second way to carry that last 20 ounces.
The current SpeedFil 40 ounce one seems like the best design, but then I would STILL need to attach another bottle. I also don't really want something installed on or under my aerobars. Tri bikes are already squirrely with handling because we put a lot of weight on the front.
My thoughts were that if the current triangular SpeedFil were taller - it might fit 60+ ounces (but could make difficult to refill similar to my issue with taller water bottles). I thought you might be able to get around that problem by having the system have a "refill" tube which is attached to an assembly that sits between the aerobars (this assembly would not be meant to hold fluid but just provide a means to refill the lower reservoir without needing the opening to fit within the frame triangle.) Then the "drink" tube would exit where it currently does.