Been going through so many set ups over time, from the old Bike Stream bladder in the early 90’s to the current set up I have. A downtube bottle & between the bars set up works well for both Ironman & Half. No need to change or add more bottles. I like the fact that not starting out with 3 or 4 bottles in an Ironman allows a few things…1) keeps me from puking up hot drinks that have been sitting in the cages for hours. 2) Keeps the weight of the overall bike heading out at the start down 3) It is more aero than have so many bottles attached to the bike 4) You can always restock at special needs or along the way if doing an Ironman with your own mix that is frozen pre-race night. What’s the reasoning & your favorite set up why it works for you?
I’m currently using the same setup for Half & Ironman (2 cages).
half: 1 bottle between the bars. day was relatively hot, couldn’t drink all 4 bottles. had I missed a bottle at an aid station, i would have been fine. had I missed 2 bottles, that might have been a problem =)
I try to go with either a single bottle on the seat tube or one bottle on the aerobars like a TorHans hydration system and a bottle on the seat tube. That’s it. No hoses, no stuff behind the saddle.
Often times people think you have to carry enough water and fluid for 56 or 112 miles. You only need to carry enough to get from one aid station to the next- usually 5 to 7 miles.
When a bike manufacturer makes extremely small changes to the shape of a frame downtube to extract a few grams less drag- and you pay extra for that- it doesn’t make sense to me to undo that by festooning the bike with hoses, bottles, cages, brackets and other accessories ad nauseum.
Another issue is weight, especially on a rolling course. People will do their due dilligence when buying a bike and shop for something light, but then hang so many accessories on it both the aerodynamics and the weight are significantly compromised. They go to the start line with a bike pushing *30 pounds *when loaded with four bottles, a bento box, two spares, tools, GPS, power meter, etc.
Macca has a pretty lean set up for his Ironman bike- this is what I would mimmick:
I race HIM with a bottle on the downtube + the profile design aero bottle + a bottle behind the seat.
Reasons why:
I am not experienced, and it provides me with a feeling of confidence when I have all the nutrition I want / need from the start with me.
Having all the nutrition gives me an opportunity to taper my drinks… I may choose to start of with a 350 kcal bottle on the bike and end with a 250kcal bottle.
I choose the brands I want. No ‘mixing’ of different products (starting with product X and switching to powerbar or gatorade further down the race)
But I would say, the confidence thing is probably the main reason. And I will admit I don’t know how the aid stations on the bike work? Throw out own bottle, grab new bottle - is that how it works?
But I would say, the confidence thing is probably the main reason. And I will admit I don’t know how the aid stations on the bike work? Throw out own bottle, grab new bottle - is that how it works?
Yes. And I understand why you like having margins for error. Errors can occur. Aid station bottles may not fit as tightly into your cage(s) as you would like. If you lose one you were counting on, then you either mess up your hydration or need to stop for it. Having a spare one can give you a bit of piece of mind, the trick is to not go overboard. I am generally happy with a aid station bottle between the bars and a back-up in a seat-tube cage.
For HIM if it’s well supported with aid stations (describes most) I’ve trimmed it right down to one bottle…an aero bottle (Arundel) on the seat tube. I’ll fill that with a sports drink of sorts (normal concentration) and sip it when I feel the need in the gaps between stations. Approaching a station I’ll take an on course bottle, gulp down as much as I can, spray some on my back and torso, then dump it immediately. I’ve never needed more than two bottles of fluids on a HIM, although while most of my 7 HIMs have been warm, none of them have been stinking hot. Fwiw last HIM split was 2:15 off a good swim, so up there in the FOP with cleaner traffic and less congestion etc…so this strategy won’t work for everyone. If it were a poorly supported (I’ve done 3 HIMs with only one aid station on course) I’d carry another small 500ml bottle of water in the horizontal position on the bars…it’s not my favourite place to store fluids as it feels heavy up there, but it works well enough.
My last IM was stinking hot so it was important to me to carry lots of fluids…not just for drinking, but also for spraying over my back and torso to keep wet and cool, so I ran with two standard round bottles (one seat tube, one aerobars). I must’ve gone through at least 10 bottles of fluids that day in total (drinking and cooling)…it didn’t help that they were tiny too. If I were to do an IM tomorrow I’d take the latter HIM setup, concentrate that aero seat tube bottle with enough calories (from fluids) for a 5 hour ride, and just keep swapping out the horizontal bottle at aid stations (maybe alternate between water and sports drink)…haven’t really given IM much thought of late though.
I’ve been thinking of trimming down what I carry too. For my last two halfs, I’ve carried 2 bottles behind my seat, a bottle on my down tube and one on my handlebars. Mainly so that I could have MY drink rather than what is on course. With that being said, I’d like to trim some weight. Assuming I don’t carrry anything behind my seat, where do I put my CO2, space tube etc.?
HIM - Water b/t aero bars. Bontrager aero bottle on seat tube with nutrition. Small saddle bag with 1 tube , 1 CO2, tire lever and zip tie.
IM - Same as half but I will stop at SN to get a second Bontrager aero bottle of nutrition. Replace water b/t bars as needed. Small saddle bag with 1 tube , 1 CO2, tire lever and zip tie… Second tube CO2 in rear pocket of shorts.
For IM, option #1 - single bottle cage between the extensions. Use on course nutrition.
option #2 - single bottle cage between the extensions & high concentrate aero bottle on down tube. Sip and wash down with water.
I prefer option #1 and will go that way for IMSA next month.
I will be using option #2. Perpetuem in an aero down tube bottle, another bottle frozen in special needs, and a bottle between the aero bars that can be replaced on course.
My HIM strategy is similar to Peter/Show Pony’s high-fuel case: two bottles, one between the bars with water, one on the seat tube with all my calories. I can’t stand gels and don’t trust on-course nutrition much. Ergo, carry everything with me.
My food situ on the run needs some help. Looking back, I’ve bonked a couple times pretty badly, so something has to change.
That makes sense. I was about to be pretty amazed at how few calories you could get away with.
I take it you have no problems with the arundel? I think that’ll be my next bike-thing purchase, but since I mostly race olympics and sprints, unnecessary for the while.
I went w/ one bottle of 3X concentrate (Infinit is my choice) on the downtube and a PD aerodrink up front w/ water only. Looked exactly like the set-up in the pic Tom D posted, simple and reliable. Just refilled plain water as needed at the aid stations (roughly every other), easy to squirt into the PD and slosh/overspray is no biggie unlike w/ sports drink. Had a 2nd bottle of concentrate at SN for IM, of course that would be eliminated for a Half. Wrapped it in a plastic shopping bag alongside a frozen cheapo/disposable bottled water inside the SN bag; worked like a charm, stayed nice & cool all morning even on a very hot day.
Kept flat kit & a couple minimalist tools in a small seat bag. I stewed about the set-up a lot beforehand but it worked out just like I’d hoped and plan to keep it that way. For shorter (1-bottle) races, though, I plan to give the horizontal between-the-aerobars set-up a try and that might carry over to longer races if I like it, but for now it ain’t broke so I’m not really looking to fix it.
HIM: On-course bottles + swaps in the AeroHammock between my bars, regular cage on the downtube for fuel bottle (Perpetuem).
IM: same plan, and I have a new fuel bottle waiting in special needs.
I prefer having a regular cage (vs aerobottle) for my fuel in case I lose that bottle somehow (it happens) - then I could still use an on-course bottle in there…
I also always have a gel flask (keep it in jersey pocket) - it’s my better-than-nothing backup in case primary fuel is lost.
No need to ever have more than 2 bottles on your bike.
I am racing this weekend, Long Course (2k, 83k, 20k). I was hoping to run a virtue bottle (I have a transition) and a horizontal bar upfront, but due to time constraints I am running an aerodrink up front and am now questioning whether or not to use the virtue bottle, it is forecast to be 29c degrees this weekend so may use normal bottle as there will only be two places on the bike course to refill drinks.
