Do any of you use this system? What are your thoughts? Is it easy to refill on the fly? I currently use the XLAB rear mount and using velcro straps I can hold my CO2 pump, tubes etc. Is there a way to do this easily with the Neverreach system? Any reviews or thoughts would be great.
thanks
Hi
I have not used NeverReach myself. However, this month I read an article in 220 triathlon magazine which reviews Fuelling Systems. The author’s verdict is:
NeverReach is “Aero and good for refuelling but expensive”.
The tester found NeverReach easy to install, but he states that there is a heavy weight penalty (490g). Of course, it is debatable if 490g are indeed a penalty or not. The tseter was very satisfied with bite valve as it was easy to operate, position and locate.
Paula
I’ve been using the Neverreach for about 4 months now, and love it. It’s very easy to refill on the fly. Setup and teardown takes a little bit of time before and after a ride, but when riding it’s the most convenient system I’ve used so far. Customer service is tremendous! I sent a feedback card in a few weeks ago indicating I had a small problem, and I received a replacement (redesigned) part in the mail 3 days later, and an e-mail asking me for more specifics about my feedback.
Currently you can’t mount tubes/CO2 to the bracket as it’s designed (I’m sure you could just strap them to it, though) but this was one of the questions on the feedback card for future improvements, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see this feature added to the product at some point.
My girlfriend and I both like our NeverReach systems, and currently both plan to use them during IM Lake Placid figuring hydration is more important than the weight penalty.
Mine weighs 16oz empty according to the kitchen scale. That is the biggest downside. On the other hand, my old Camelback H.A.W.G. also weighs about 16oz empty according to the same scale.
The second downside is that I have not figured out any way to tell how full it is while riding (until it is empty). If I jump off the bike I can instantly see the water level. However, while I am actually moving, I can not see the water level. With a Camelbak I could reach an arm behind and press against the pack to get a rough idea. I have not figured out a similar trick for the NeverReach.
The third downside is that it changes your dismount a bit. You either have to really lift that leg, or mount/dismount tandem style.
The fourth downside is that you can not simply lay your bike gently on the ground when you stop, the water would pour out of your NeverReach. You have to lean your bike against something.
Refill is simple, just pop the top and stick a bottle in, the bottle drains into the reservoir. You don’t need to fully remove the bottle cover, anything that will let the bottle drain when upside down should be sufficient.
Emptying after a ride is a bit trickier. I usually just invert the entire bike! I definitely do NOT remove the thing from the bike very often. Because of that I only run water through it.
I found a little saddle bag that worked with it and my saddle setup, your results may vary. However, check out the 50 cu. in. Trek “Pro Pack.” You want the one that uses only velcro to attach to the saddle, not the one with the quick release cleat.
If you like to drink in the aero position, you’ll love it. If you like to drink from the hoods, you’ll want to leave a lot of extra blue tube above the black tube cover, and the tube will flop around a little. However, it is still tolerable. The black tube cover contains a wire allowing aero position drinkers to locate the mouth piece wherever they want. However, I run my tube so long the wire is not strong enough.
Service has been excellent. I pre-ordered ours as an X-mas gift. They sent out the system when it became available. Later with no prompting from me they sent out a “solid cover” alternative to the splash guard cover. Later they sent out a hose clamp to address a slight drip problem, again with no prompting from me. Recently they sent out decals, apparently now they have time for more marketing. 
We generally ride with the “splash” cover and a bottle in place, but put the “solid” cover on for storage and travel. I have not noticed any problems with water splashing out during a ride, unlike my brief experience with a Profile Aero Bottle.
My girlfriend actually plans to fill hers before the start and avoid the IM water stops. I’m leaning more towards slowing for water stops and running my NeverReach close to empty to save weight.
– Bill – Lake Placid IronVirgin – Starting to get pre-race jitters
My girlfriend actually plans to fill hers before the start and avoid the IM water stops. I’m leaning more towards slowing for water stops and running my NeverReach close to empty to save weight.
The Neverreach is big, but I don’t know if it’s THAT big. It holds 64 oz, which is roughly 3 small bike bottles. I don’t think that’s anywhere near enough for an IM. I did Wildflower 1/2 IM without refilling, but I was almost out at the end of the bike. My guess is that your girlfriend should put the black (refillable) cap on and plan on having to refill, even if she fills up completely beforehand. I agree with you that the better strategy is to run just enough fluid to get to the next aid station in a race to save some weight.
I think it holds about enough for 1/2 IM but I disagree that the best strategy is to keep it as light as possible. I think more time would be saved if one could ride through all the aid stations (or at least all but one at the midway point where it gets completely refilled again) instead of slowing at each one. However, if one is going to slow anyhow to take on other things then going light may be the best strategy.
I think weight makes little (read none) difference in reality although it is what most fuss over.
NeverReach review on Triathlete.com…
http://www.triathlete.com/reviews.asp?man=75&model=101
Hope this helps.
-gc
I agree that the weight issue is of little significance in mostly flat tri’s (as discussed at length elsewhere :-).
One other reason that I just thought of, however, to run it less full is the temperature of the drink if it’s a hot day. Last Saturday I did a long ride in the lovely 110 degree heat (and 20-30 mph wind) of the CA central valley. I started the ride with the Neverreach full, and within a 1/2 hour the contents were at ambient temp (110 degrees). Nothing like a mouthfull of hot Gatorade to quench the thirst! Whenever I would stop and buy some more Garorade at a convenience store along the way, I’d pour it into the NR, which was still about 1/2 full, and within minutes the contents would be hot again. (yes, I could have stopped less frequently, but it was a somewhat unknown rural route, so I had to take advantage of stores as they came).Now, I’m not saying that drinks will get hotter faster in the Neverreach but, because of it’s large capacity, if you’re not almost completely draining it between refills you will be drinking hot stuff all day long.
So, I guess it’s a matter of personal preference whether you want to save a little time and skip a few bottle grabs, or whether you want to run it a little less full and have cooler drink on board.
Just some random thoughts…
Never used it BUT
I did IMCDA 3weeks ago and the guy in fron of me had a NeverReach on his bike. When he put the bottle in to refill and biked over a small hole in the rode the refill-bottle took the cap right off the system and the fluid content was spilling out slowly, no way to refill.
I wondered why the guy didn’t stop and pick it up. I mean this was in the first of 2 loops on the bike and it would have lost him a minute or so…
Anyway I use a jetstream on my aerobars since many years and never had a problem. Earlier I used bottle mounts on the back of my seat too but bottles tend to fall out, now I use a bottle on my downtube to hold my refill bottle.
The more complicated a system the more things can go wrong, just my point of view.
PS: and John Cobb just measured, that a downtube bottle and a jetstream is faster than the bottles in the back of your seat, seems weird but hey, is Mr Aerodynamics that says so!
I pack mine with ice, depending upon the time I’m going to be out there. If you are really Obsessive-compulsive, you can freeze your drink du jour in ice trays, put that in, wrap the whole thing with aluminum foil. (Maybe you’ll even pick up some radio transmissions from your teeth fillings if you do this…probably not as likely if you are on a carbon-fiber bike, though ;)). On longer rides, as long as you are stopping at convenience stores…buy ice there, even if it is just filling up a couple of their largest cups with ice.
A single larger volume of cold fluid (NeverReach) will keep it’s cooler temperature longer, compared to dividing the total up into smaller volumes (having 3-4 big water bottles on your bike), because there is less surface area per ounce of liquid.
What are you people doing out riding in such hot weather for, anyway? You should be inside, on the couch, in air conditioning, eating ice cream, and watching soap operas! Crazy triathletes…Oh, be sure and wave if we see one another out on the course!
I pack mine with ice…
An excellent idea. I think I will try to fill mine with ice in transition before the race.
Does anyone know, when they give out beverages at Lake Placid will the beverages be chilled, or ambient temperature?
–Bill – Nervous Iron Virgin
P.S. My girlfriend plans to run water in the NeverReach supplemented with Gatorade in a bottle. She expects to replace the Gatorade bottle, but based on our July 6th practice ride of the course, one NeverReach should last her the whole bike ride.
I’m always amazed at how little she drinks, but it seems to work for her. I know my stops to relieve bladder pressure will totally swamp the slight delay I incur slowing down to get the full bottles! Perhaps I should have listed in the NeverReach downsides that because of its mount position, the NeverReach has discouraged me from learning in motion techniques for relieving bladder pressure.
For the input. The responses have been 50/50 so until something changes with Neverreach I plan to stick with my XLAB.
THanks Again
Mount a fuel gauge next to your bike computer:-) I’ll have a gerat time watching you all in Lake P.Good luck Dirtball.
I’m always amazed at how little she drinks, but it seems to work for her. I know my stops to relieve bladder pressure will totally swamp the slight delay I incur slowing down to get the full bottles!
Dude! You mean **you’re not peeing on the bike? **You can’t be a real Ironman until you do all your bladder relief rolling along at >35 km./hr.
I am just enjoying a good jab, but it does save time if you can convince yourself to do it and rinse off with water afterwards.
-David in Taipei
Dude! You mean **you’re not peeing on the bike? **You can’t be a real Ironman until you do all your bladder relief rolling along at >35 km./hr.
I am just enjoying a good jab, but it does save time if you can convince yourself to do it and rinse off with water afterwards.
-David in Taipei
I, for one, haven’t been able to execute this trick yet. It’s not for lack of trying or squeemishness- I just can’t do it! At Wildflower this year I attempted several times to relieve myself on the fly, with no luck. I tried sitting up, standing up, slowing down, coasting… nothing. I finally figured I was wasting more time trying to pee on the bike than if I just hopped off and took care of business. I guess I have a shy bladder. Is there a trick that I’m not aware of? Maybe I need to visualize a waterfall or something.
I’ve used mine now for about 6 months. I used the XLab system before that. My overall thoughts - its not quite as easy to fill on the fly as you do need to wait for the H2O bottle to empty and by that time you are past the water stations (the only legal spot to drop empty bottles). Second, it limits you to one type of drink (in XLab, I had 1 bottle H2O and 1 bottle eleoctrolyte replacement).
My solution to both: I fill the neverreach with enough electrolyte replacement to basically last me a race (I have used it for both an 1/2 IM and an IM). I have a cage on my down tube and use that for plain water. that way I get plain H20 each water station. I also put ice in my neverreach at T1 race morning.
For storage - that’s the easiest. I put my co2, valve chuck and co2 inflater in a plastic baggie, in another plastic baggie and put it right into the Neverreach itself (if I used clinchers, my tubes would also go there). Out of site, out of mind, out of the wind. I use tubulars and one tubular folded and taped at both ends fits right on top of the system with the neverreach opening sticking through the middle (you could also tape/velcro a tubular someone else on the bike).
Customer service is excellent. Linda, the owner, will respond personally to any question/request that you have.
You’re thinking about peeing on the bike with a NeverReach? Seriously???
Am I the only one who sees the problem here?
Didn’t Ghandi drink his own urine? What’s the problem?
SFTriGuy,
Got any pics of your NeverReach set up?
They is actually one on the NeverReach website. I think in a Ironman photo section.
Aside from that, if they are still hosting race photos on-line, you can check the official race photos from Ironman USA and Ironman Austria (IMUSA race #677, IMA #1752).
Alan