I use Camelback water bottles. They’re great except for the fact they grow black mold inside the nipple - even with regular washing. Any cleaning solutions or techniques that work to remedy/prevent this? Or, is there a better bottle now?
Thanks
Specialized Purist. They don’t give a plastic taste to your water, easy to drink out of, relatively cheap, multiple sizes.
Best cleaning solution IMO is to wash/rinse as soon as you are done riding, especially if you use anything beside plain water. Dry well before putting away.
I’d use the same approach that I use for cleaning hydration packs and their mouthpieces. Bleach + vigorous agitation + maybe small bottle brush. Rinse OCD-level thoroughly. Repeat as needed. YMMV
Specialized Purist. They don’t give a plastic taste to your water, easy to drink out of, relatively cheap, multiple sizes.
Best cleaning solution IMO is to wash/rinse as soon as you are done riding, especially if you use anything beside plain water. Dry well before putting away.
Only water bottle worth buying is a Specialized Purist in the color that tickles your inards. Even Rapha bottles are Specialized Purists, it is the only specialized product I will pay money for.
These may not be the best, but they’re pretty entertaining
Check YouTube for how to clean the caps. You can take them apart and get the mold out. It might be on the Camelback page???
Thanks. I currently take them apart when the mold gets visible. I’m OCD about cleaning as well. I’ll try bleach, etc.
All made on the specialized purist bottles, that site is gunna cost me money.
That’s what I thought right after I posted that - they just order a bunch of colored bottles & caps from Big S then custom screen them
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I have all Podiums from the Gaimon cookie store when he dumps his inventory each Black Friday or Christmas time to a silly cheap price for them.
I toss the caps in top rack of the dishwasher and have never had an issue with mold of any kind. And I’ve left bottles with drink mix left in it on the trainer for a week or so even, no issues.
I like the Elite Fly bottles. When I was reading the reviews some people complained how thin and flimsy the bottle walls were (they are very light weight), but I gave them a go anyway and love 'em. As much as it is possible to love a plastic water bottle.
The thin walls make it easy to give it a squeeze, they are easy to grab, don’t leak IME, flow “just right”, and I just chuck em in the dishwasher.
Cheers, Rich.
Agreed on the Purist, we have a bunch of the insulated and regular. I also rinse as soon as I’m done.
Periodically I throw the tops in the ultrasonic cleaner for a deeper clean.
Now that’s a great idea! The ultrasonic cleaner. Thanks
Elite Deboyo Race. Stainless steel so no mold. Amazingly thermal. Ice water will really stay icy for 24 hours in the summer. Downsides: very expensive, very prone to scuffing (if that matters to you).
Insulated Specialized Purist bottle with a jet valve. That’s the way to go, Jet valve is so easy to drink and clean.
I empty, rinse, leave to dry as much as possible, then throw it in the bottom of the freezer till I need it again. Too cold for the mold to grow and no need for OCD levels of cleaning. So far so good.
The top of the list:
Camelback Podium and Podium Chill:
https://www.camelbak.com/recreation/shop/bottles/sports/#
Specialized Purist:
https://www.specializedwaterbottles.com/water-bottles/the-purist
Elite Fly Elite
https://www.elite-it.com/en/products/water-bottles/sport/fly-elite
Tacx
https://bicyclewaterbottle.com/
Places to buy fun designs:
Ham Cycles in Texas: Fun Purist Designs: Topo Chico, Whataburger, Lean…etc.
https://hamcycles.com/collections/water-bottles-cages
Watrbodl: Fun Purist Designs:
https://watrbodl.com/collections/frontpage
Twin Six: Fun Purist Designs:
https://www.twinsix.com/collections/bottles
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Little known fact: Here in Europe nearly all bottles are from one of two manufacturers Elite or Tacx. They also split the pro Peloton in half. Both also make bottlecages and the bottles are optimized for their specific cage. Holding power of the cage thus improves quite a bit when fit with the bottle of the same manufacturer.
True on the matched fit.
Elite fly bottles with their matched cages have been great. Easily one of the lightest cage/bottle combos, won’t launch, great flow rate/valve, and no leaks. Haven’t bothered trying anything else since trying them. Agreed the Purist is good too, but its only advantage vs Elite is that it doesn’t scratch as easily, but I don’t care about that.
Washing is easy. Screw off the cap, pull off the mouth piece, and throw it all in the washer. A few corners do need a little extra scrub with a sponge to keep the black stuff away.