Some fluid as a result of bumps or filling, which is generally expected, is not the same as a lot of fluid, because the moment you turn the bottle upside down with the valve open, the liquid starts flowing freely. Which is a result of flawed design and a lack of a self-sealing valve.

Your issue is not the opposite, it is unfortunately just an additional issue, which proves that this bottle was designed as an afterthought.

Just ordered my first tri bike.... a Trek Speed Concept. Went for a fitting and should have my bike in hand in a couple weeks.

Im still relatively new to tri/cycling and so the question is basically, I don't know what I don't know! It seems like the majority of users have put on a number of aftermarket items aero bars, hydration, saddles etc. I understand to some extent its probably personal preference but are there any suggestions beyond that? highly suggested changes? It seems like aero bars are the biggest difference I notice that almost invariably are not stock, are the OEM bars just not that great?

Any words of wisdom / suggestions are much appreciated

contact points are very personal. And over time (20 years now for me) then you find what works, and then kinda get resistant to change.

So on mine, I didn't get on with the stock saddle, and was keen to replicate my old saddle. The bars, personally based on a fair bit of trainer and 3 outdoor rides (sadly a medical event has curtailed my outdoor riding for a the year) then the stock bars I'm finding very comfortable. Now this was compared to a 2008 era set of straight ski poles on my Argon, and doesn't speak to the potential additional aero benfits. I did swap the pads for the cushy pads, again as I did that on the argon and it made a huge positive difference to control and comfort.

I guess you can think of this as the same as aftermarket wheels/tyres and spoilers on sporty cars. The stock cars are good, but in some cases people like to change things to have a unique version of the car, some to adapt to their specific use case.

As this is your first tri bike, there's a good chance that you will want to adapt your position a few times, so the stock bars are pretty good for this. The saddle, that's a case of only change if it doesn't work for you. You can quickly spend a lot of money in pursuit of a saddle that works for you in new saddles and adjusting the fit around that.

Saddle and cups/pads are the biggest things. You will figure out over time what saddle will work for you.

I would tell anyone to change the stock cups/pads to something with more surface area and better padding (eg; 51 speedshop). I don't know how anyone rides the stock cup/pads unless you enjoy being uncomfortable.

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