I have a friend who does this. I've also noticed Tyler Butterfield running his bottles this way:



Seems like a good way to add another bottle without resorting to frame bottles or double BTS bottles.

My main concern would be how much it would affect the handling having that much weight right on the handlebars. But I guess if you balanced it out over the steerer tube correctly maybe it wouldn’t be an issue?

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Matt

I noticed that it was pretty squirrelly at first, but I pretended it was because 90% of my training is on the trainer.

I lost the reversed bottle at one point, but I'm going to use another cage I have that's a little firmer.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

IIRC, Tyler is also using bungees to secure the bottles in the cages. you might be better off doing that than trying to force a bottle into a tighter cage.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

[insert mindblown emoji]

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Second what Jason said. The cage that you'll find that holds a bottle that tight probably isn't worth the money it'll cost. On my BTS cages I put a full bottle in and then use electrical tape to run across the cage arms. After removing the bottle, I run another strip on the inside to cover up the sticky side. I haven't lost a bottle with this and it only cost me 4 inches of electrical tape. I'd do the same in your situation with the backwards-facing BTA.

I tried it & reverted to a single bta because of how it impacted the handling.

It was ride-able, but a little sketchy.

you are not using a cycling computer, are you? Cant see it and wouldn't know where you could place it either.

Using a watch. On the trainer I have a garmin mount I can attach to one of the bottles or one of the bars. (Not ideal)

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

I don't see why this would have much impact on handling unless you have moved the front bottle way forward from normal location but in those shots it doesn't look extreme.
The rear bottle is pretty much over the steering axis so adding very little moment of inertia to the steering.

I have to ask how much fluid you need for a 70.3? Unless this is a practice run for a hot IM where you need your own hydration.

It is worth considering how many bottle you really need and of what size. In the picture it appears you have 2 tall (750mL) bottles and one normal (500mL bottle). Just by changing to 2x500 mL up front will give you some extra room and make things less awkward.

There was thread on here last week about the ideal number of bottles for a 70.3 and the answer depends on how comfortable you are grabbing additional fluid from an aid station on course. Personally I would run either 3x500mL bottles or 2x750 bottles depending on how many bottles of pre-mixed drink I wanted to use. I think aerodynamically your set-up is fine but I would be worried about losing the reverse facing BTA.

Incidentally, I used a similar setup for an IM but with the rearward bottle acting as a storage container for gel sachets. I cut a flap in the top of the bottle for taking out the sachets. It worked very well. Far more space than most bento boxes. My gels would have been a little lighter than a full 500ml bottle but not much. No handling problems and didn't get in my way.

It’s a hot 70.3. All the bottles will have a scoop of scratch and I’ll be supplementing with shot blocks—1 sleeve (200 calories) per hour. Anticipating a 2:20 bike.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Notice that Tyler doesn't have a behind the seat bottle.

What happened to the profile water bottle with the straw between the front bars with the nylon sponge in it

It was alm the rage a few years ago. Worked very well for me doing halves.

Just grab drinks in the go and dump it in.

Probably save a few pounds and I thought it was more aero

Have things changed that much?

Why not just run an aero bottle on the frame as the third bottle? Personally I'd be doing that or getting the profile FC35 bottle if you are running the same in each bottle. I can understand why people may do it to separate their different nutrition but unsure why you need too? Also maybe fastest in aero but time lost each time you have to take a drink?

I don't think I lose much time when drinking... I don't come out of aero unless I'm swapping the bottle behind the saddle with a bottle upfront.

And there's *thinking* something is aero and there is something actually being more aero.

FWIW, I ran this setup for a race in May and loved it. I'll be doing it going forward.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

My wife still uses our old one. It's gold. No idea if it is in any way aero.

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Elite Crono is typically aero neutral on the Speed Concepts down tube.

All good if it works for you but I have learnt over the years to make choices based a lot more on function over what may net you such minimal gains. Having to mess around with that setup would do my head in with the possibility of dropping the rearward bottle when all I want is a drink personally and even if your not coming out of aero you're still having to flaff around with your bottle for a drink losing time.

http://www.ero-sports.com/index.php/aero101/85-setup-can-be-crucial

Not sure about where you guys race, but in Australia the aid stations which include bidon dump are about 100m, you don't have time to squeeze the entire contents of a bidon into a torpedo style bottle. If you chuck the bidon after the bidon dump it's a penalty possible dq for littering.

Re OPs setup - there has to be a better solution than that?? Almost 3 extra kg.. I haven't done an IM for a few years but am doing one this year, plan is to the same thing I do in 70.3s, carry only one bidon sitting horizontally in a bottle cage on the bars. And just get refills. Volunteers are generally on point and will run with you, so you barely have to slow down.

I agree.

Even for a hot 70.3 that seems like a shitload of fluid. Why are you reluctant to get bidons from the aid station?