I believe I remember reading that the best place(s) to put bottles on the bike is between your arms and behind your rear, so I would say yeah - nothing on the down tube, nothing on the seat tube, the 3 bottles you have completely sheltered, logically it would seem the fastest setup, it's how I roll on my bike.

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Regards,
J. Smith

How does this work out for you? Given the configuration of aid stations at an IM branded race, I can't imagine needing more than 2 bottles ever. Every 10 miles at IMLP coming up in a few weeks. That's a ton of hydration.

Yes, but I like to stay on Perpetuem for as long as I can. No so crazy about Gatorade.

Yeah but Gatorade is so hard on the stomach. I tried to train myself to use it but failed miserably.

Water only in Torhans, fill at every aid station
1 3 hour bottle behind the seat
1 3 hour bottle in Special Needs bag

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All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

I have heard this, too. But how does an aero bottle on the frame (downtube probably) compare to a round bottle BTS? A round bottle on the frame will be slower but if it’s aero, how does that change things?

An aero bottle won’t help for exchanging bottles, but if you have two BTS and one is for changing bottles, you can now go to a single bottle BTS.

I would imagine an aero bottle on the frame isn’t bad. But does anyone have data? Idk.

This, exactly. At some point, it also comes down to more than just aero...i.e., there is a reason why people upgrade to lighter components...every 20 oz of fluids on your bike ads up in more weight to pedal around (maybe a bigger deal for a 120 lb athlete like myself...)! I did an IM this year, two bottles: X-lab BTA with starting mixture, one X-lab saddle cage with concentrated mix...I added a bit of the concentrated mix to my BTA before every other aid station and then diluted with water from the aid station (also drank some water straight). This worked out *very* well for me, I felt awesome. Typically IMs have aid stations every 15 miles which is plenty if the temps don't creep above 90* while you're riding.

For training I use a BTS cage, but I find it hard to access in a race if I want to remain aero. I'm trying to figure out what to use for IMLP. In the past my setup has been water in a BTA and concentrated Infinit in an X-Lab aero bottle on the frame. I'll swap out the aero bottle at special needs in an IM.

However, I'm contemplating going with water in a BTA, swapped at each aid station, and having my Infinit in my BTS cage. I usually take a swig of the Infinit every 10-15 minutes. In an IM this would mean getting out of aero to access my rear bottle 20-30 times. I'm still leaning towards the X-Lab bottle, as it's so much easier to get to and remain in a decent position.

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I’m always wary of putting my main nutrition (also Infinit) in bts as opposed to bta. Rarely if ever launch bottles in training but at coz a couple years ago hit a nice bumpy section and launched. (Littering rules aside) No choice but to stop and get it as it was my second Infinit. Water bts I can replace at the next aid station.

I mix cold water to my concentrated solution of Perpetuem, in my Torpedo BTA bottle. I never stop to special needs. My concentrated bottle has enough stuff in it to cover a 5h bike course. At the bike start, I have a regular concentration Perpetuem bottle in my torpedo, so good for 1+ hour. Never lost a BTS bottle. I have Specialized rib cages and they're really good (and cheap !!)

[quote]Question: Is this the fastest/lightest configuration ? [/quote]

We answer this question all the time at AeroCamp. Usually we answer it first without testing by mentioning that it's better to have a small aero penalty and lose 3 min on the bike vs losing 15 min on the run bc you didn't have enough calories/fluid

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Brian Stover USAT LII
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