At one quite windy tri I had a front mounted bottle and a Hed Jet 60. Felt the wind, but nothing that couldn't be controlled. Otherwise, never had a problem.

I find it really depends on what I put in my aero drinking system. The straight vodka really introduces handling issues.... ;)

More seriously, it does have an impact, but its pretty small in my experience.

Andrew

Well it makes the bike alittle top heavy, but then again so does putting a 150 lbs rider on top. The 2lbs worth of bottle + water is basically irrelevant when compared to you on the bike.

Plus being always inspired to drink is far more valuable than the minute loss of handling

I use the syntace jetstream. I don't notice any difference at all in the handling. The syntace comes with a strap which holds it tighter while the profile comes with rubber bands. The profile rattles and drives me crazy. If you get that one, get the special mounts they have for it.

jaretj

I made some comments about not liking the Jetstream or Profile drinking system becasue they affected my bike handling and got made fun of.

Oh well.

When the thing is full it does make the bike feel weird. At full weight, when completely filled, that thing accounts for about 5-7% of your bike's weight. So re-distributing that amount of weight up to the highest, farthest forward point on your bike is definately going to exert an effect on handling. It is the opposite effect of bags of salt in the back of a pick-up truck during winter to make it handle better.

Especially on climbs I noticed the effects. For a flat race, I think they are an excellent choice. But anything technical or hilly I'm not too into them. I do sell ootles of them.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Humm. I bought mine from you. :)

jaretj

I can't tell the difference when I ride with it empty or full or not there at all. I do almost every ride with it on though so I guess I'm so used to it that it doesn't ever cross my mind.

Sweeeeet!