Profile Design Aqualite. Finally a bottle worth using

Triathlon Forum
1

Pictures and a bit of a review here:

http://operationcsquared.com/chris/
.

2

The Carbon Aerobottle/nosecone review that came next is more interesting.

3

I agree, I can’t wait to go pick up one (I’m just stalling). I was packing for Augusta this morning and was about to put the AquaCell in my pack, and I thought, “what the fuck did I by this thing for?” It must add about three lbs.(filled) to my front end.

4

Already a thread on that.

Chris

5

I saw one in the bike shop the other day. Will it fit in the normal Profile Design aero bracket?

6

That is the word, though I don’t own one myself. Side effect of buying matching sets of Syntace CX base bars for all three of my aero rigs is that the aerobars are narrow on all of them.

Chris

7

As best as I can tell you have it on Vision bars and no bracket required, can you confirm that and what aerobar width is required to be able to do that. The only reason I did not get it yet is I was not sure if it requires bracket. I refuse to use the bracket so I stuck with the old PD bottle that I can’t stand.

8

The Aquacell is a fair idea, although I think that Podium Quest has already solved the problem that Profile was working on. The issues I have with the Aquacell are:

  1. It only fits on bars where the distance between the top of the aerobars and the bottom of the base bar/stem is VERY small. I suspect they designed it around a standard 26.0mm system because it doesn’t work on my Vision bars with a Ritchey -17 stem. It’s about 7mm too short in the spacing between the top section and bottom section to work.

  2. The secondary cavity is awfully big without much reason. I actually cut mine down to about 5cm tall and use it as a trash container for long rides when I will be consuming a lot of gels. Might be useful for InfiniT people, but I am a Gatorade Endurance man myself.

Chris

9

It’s the same width as the original bottle, so if you are looking for a replacement, look no further.

The bars are Vision indeed, and as narrow as they can be squished into with a standard 31.8mm stem. (Ritchey)

Chris

10

How do you have it attached?
Typically it’s easy to see either the bracket or rubber bands looping around the bottle & under the bars.

But I see neither on your setup. Looks like you have something towards the lower part of the bottle though…?

I love the idea of the aerodrink, but the reality is a disaster. This is better…?

Thanks

11

There actually isn’t anything holding it in the pictures. I am going to construct some custom carbon fiber “clips” for it to fit over my Vision bars snuggly.

Chris

12

got it. otherwise it’s designed to go on with the bands like the other?
so then it’s the same thing, but a bit smaller. i still foresee bouncy, noisy, splashy riding like the last one then.

let me know how those clips go, maybe some of use would be in the market … :slight_smile:

13

I saw one in the bike shop the other day. Will it fit in the normal Profile Design aero bracket?
yes, fits perfectly. I replaced the Aerodrink bottle with Aqualite, no changes needed.
With Syntace bars they could be set close enough to not need a bracket. With Hed bars I had to buy a bracket.

I didn’t have any problems with the Aerodrink but this one is a bit smaller lighter and aero-looking.

14

You can fix the splashing by forgetting about the yellow net and replacing the foam on the top with a piece that isn’t sliced up a bunch, is a bit thicker, and doesn’t let water through. You could also just super glue a piece of plastic to the top. It’s not a big deal to flip the lid off to refill.

Chris

15

I’m one of those people who has no problem with the original aerodrink. I stuff the yellow thingy in sideways so it doesn’t fly out. I don’t fill it completely to the brim, so I don’t get a ton of splashing.

I don’t really see how this new one’s a great leap forward (aside from having the new lid).

16

How do you have it attached?

Sorry for the crappy photo. It’s blow up of an old race pic, and I no longer use this system. But, this is still a clean way to mount a front bottle:

  1. Make bars narrow enough to hold bottle without any brackets. You can make the bottle a bit wider to fit by wrapping some bar tape around it. (You can see some bar tape on the bottle in the photo.)

  2. Run a loop of elastic cord over the stem, under the bottom of the bottle, and out to the leading edge of the bottle. This cord holds the bottle against the stem. You can see it in the photo (light colored) just below the base bar.

This system is clean, shake free, pretty aero, and easy to remove the bottle. It should work with Profile’s new bottle, too. :slight_smile:

http://i38.tinypic.com/a9s3uo.jpg

PS – Yes, that position sucks. Like I said, it’s an old photo. :wink:

17

Jetstream made that bottle years ago.
http://www.trisports.com/jetstreamnxt.html

It has narrower profile and uses a foam pad which is great for splash proofing

18

Can you post a pic of the whole bike? Looks interesting!

Thanks

19

I have 3 Jetstreams - they are great bottles, with only one major flaw: the far corner is too small to wash. All you have to do is leave a little drink in there over night and suddenly you have mold that doesn’t come out. I’ve boiled, built special brushes, etc, and it never comes out.

Chris

20

I’m one of those people who has no problem with the original aerodrink. I stuff the yellow thingy in sideways so it doesn’t fly out. I don’t fill it completely to the brim, so I don’t get a ton of splashing.

I don’t really see how this new one’s a great leap forward (aside from having the new lid).

same here. I just have the bars set so that the bottle squeezes in tight. I have a couple of velcro patches stuck to the slots on the sides of the bottle (fuzzy side only, just for a little extra ‘grab’) and a couple sections of old innertube ‘sleeves’ rolled down onto the base of the aero bars to take up a little more slack, and the bottle simply wedges in there with no additional straps and doesn’t jostle around at all. Simple and secure.

it’ll splash a little if I overfill it, but I only use water up front so no big deal. nothing compared to the concentrated goo dribbling out of the frame bottle all over the BB area, or sweat dripping all over the top tube, or peeing on the fly during a race, etc… if anything, a little water sloshing out front is probably good for a slight rinse :slight_smile: