Worked from styro experiment to carbon.
Unit bolts to the regular bottle mount on the down tube.
Lid is opened with three allen screws, bladder was from a Camelback waist pack.
Got the Camelback bottle director so tube stays up between aerobars.
Cover of bladder opens wide with a retention strap so refills are easy.
Have to consider how to paint it to match the frames paint scheme.
Will it make me faster…I doubt very much.
I just like the challenge.
Will test tomorrow.
very nice work! would the bulging out increase drag coefficient? How do yo like the breaking power of the kcnc brakes?
This is one of the best things I’ve seen on ST. You probably need the sponge cap thingie for longer races.
Isn’t that just a fairing and going to be illegal to race with? Similar to the P4 but that was part of the design, this is totally custom. Interesting idea though…
Nice work…that is a pretty cool setup. I am assuming that you are going to bring the hose in closer to the frame maybe with some small zipp ties (many readers may cringe at this; but I am a big fan zip ties). That is a nice bike!
Thanks.
Yes I will bring the tube close. In fact I will reorient the tube hole on the lid to angle up so there is no bend on the hose.
The KCNC brakes are okay, not great but okay.
Even with the small no spring brake leveres of the 3T, the return action of the KCNC are good.
Without the bladder, its a good place to keep spares and maybe the Shimano battery for i2.
But I have to think of an easier way to open the lid and not use allen screws.
can’t you just copy off what speedfil did? That is a bite valve, right?
very impressive, i think it is far more elegant than the bottle on the p4. a serious thought for you: make the bottle case in simple tough white plastic, narrow the bottle case very slightly, get some bladders from camelback, manufacture the thing, and you’re absolutely going to have a great side business from all the p3 owners clamoring at your door to buy one. then make a version for the p2 and you’ll make even more money. cervelo will be kicking themselves that they didn’t do it first.
one thing, there is a better way to route the drinking tube. in any case, a few suggestions about that: if you remove the neoprene foam around the tube, it will drop the tube’s effective diameter significantly and you really don’t need that foam anyway. you could also try to find some narrower food grade tubing, you’ll still get plenty of fluid. i put some narrower tubing on my handlebar mounted bottle and it still works great. or if you want another idea about how to solve the tubing issue and totally integrate it with the frame, just send me a pm.
i think you got yourself a very viable product. you should go with it. you can send me a couple of bucks for prodding you on … :^)
Very nice. You should really think about manufacturing it for the masses (discounted price for Slowtwichers of course).
i will be shocked if that doesn’t make your bike significantly slower. Can you make it narrower?
Very cool. Slower or faster, I respect and appreciate your skills and drive.
That said - selling it might be tough unless you have wind tunnel data out to the 5th decimal point for the folks around here. You need proof that it will save at least 90 seconds over 40k or it will be a tough sell. That or get a pro to ride with it and then you are all set.
Good luck with it!
Obscuring the main Cervelo logo!!?? That’s sacrilege. How will anyone know what brand of bike you’re riding? (said with excessive sarcasm)
Truthfully, the execution (thus far) is top notch. I could be the scientific d*ck and point out the aerodynamic and inertial flaws of the design, but my guess is that if you’re willing to add the bulk of a camelback (+ shroud + hoses + hardware) then you probably don’t care much about the drag implications or position of the c.g. I will say, it is sexy.
That is f*&kin awesome!
Cheers Rick
i am curious, what are the negative implications regarding the cg position?
Looks great! I played with a cardboard model on my dual last fall. What is the aero difference between duct taping the tube on the trailing edge, and having it in the middle of the triangle?
Thanks again to everyone.
Yes I can narrow it. What dictated the width was the bottle cap. I could not find a bladder that had a smaller cap
An interesting thing I discovered was the distance from the two water bottle cage bolts to the curve above the bb is the same in all P3c’s.
Hence one mold will fit all. So my mold for my size 51 P3c will fit all P3 sizes.
If I am wrong, several holes on the bottle can be made to fit all P3 sizes.
I wish there was a way to direct the hose internal into the down tube & exiting into the headtube somewhere.
Maybe this is where future internal drink systems will be designed.
This is how it looks like inside the carbon case…
That is an impressive concept and rather good execution.
I will share with you two principles we learned at the Low speed Wind Tunnel in San Diego and in other wind tunnel such as the Ford Motor Company Wind Tunnel here in Allen Park, Michigan.
- It must be narrow. Part of the reason why Cervelos are so truly aerodynamic is they are narrow, and remain narrow over much of their length.
- Drink systems with hoses or straws create a disproportionately high amount of drag. I don’t know why, but the straw on a handlebar mounted drink system or the tube on tube-fed type systems sends drag coefficients through the roof. The straw or hose is very bad unless concealed inside the frame and not presenting itself at any angle to the boundary layer.
Now, you’ve done an impressive job here. I think as well as you’ve done you’ve just learned the enormous challenges that bike designers face in improving aerodynamics. What “looks” or seems logically aerodynamic sometimes is not. What seems like it may be of little consequence is often a significant factor.
Excellent effort on your part though and your photos and ideas are one of the things that gets us discussing and thinking- it is what drives this forum. Thank you very much.
that is really well done
now please make a slightly smaller, snap in/out version for the P3 aluminum, thanks! 
i am curious, what are the negative implications regarding the cg position?
Like nearly all things in the TT/tri bike world, the differences of cg position are subtle, and probably only come into play on a highly competetive level or over the course of a long ride. Moving the cg position obviously affects lateral movement of the bike in the roll plane. In this case (where the bulk of the material resides near the bb), the cg of the bike probably doesn’t move a whole heck of a lot, so I’ll concede that point. In fact, using a cockpit mounted system or a saddle hydration system is probably worse because they have a greater contribution to angular momentum. Now that I think about it, I’m a little green with envy … crap
Something a bike manufacturer could do that would give them a unique market offering, would be a setup much like this, with the drinking hose run internally up to the top tube.