Hello, in prep for my first IM I am trying to find a way to carry some gels with me for some additional fueling. I have been training with SIS Beta Fuel gels and I saw the PD HSC 250 Top Tube Flask system. The youtube video of it has them using precision fuels flow gel. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with using the flask with SIS Beta Fuel? Is it easy to get the gel out when on the bike? I dont fancy spending £80 to find out that it doesnt really work that well with my gel of choice.
Thanks
Andy
Since that bottle has a normal cap, it’s usually fine. If not, replace one gel with water. I.e… put 4 gels in instead of 5 and add the rest in water. I’m using a Cervelo aero bottle in the top tube, which holds about 500ml and can fit 300 grams of carbs in easily. I premix the 300 grams of carbs in another bottle and then add it to the aero bottle. The concistency is quite similar ot a gel with that mixing ratio.
It doesnt look a particularly squeezy bottle though?
I also thought about the giant aero bottle and can put that on my seat post, again not sure how squeezy it is to get the gels out.
I dont use the the hsc, but do put straight beta fuel gels in a small bottle and they flow very easily through the cap without the need for squeezing
they do describe the HSC bottle as " Soft material that is easy to squeeze"
i’ve got for it and made the purchase. it wont come till after my bike has gone though but i’d have to take it off for bike transport anyway.
I tested with SIS Beta Fuel during development, it’s fine. And you can just tweak the dilution to find a viscosity that works for you.
The bottle is very hard to squeeze. About like a water bottle, maybe a bit worse. Should have been a lot thinner.
I like the firmness of it. It’s not a soft flask, but I’ve found it easy to use. I think if it were much thinner, I’d be concerned about it falling out. I used SIS gels last year and I think they’d flow through it just fine.
As the other poster mentioned - there is a balance between durability, being stiff enough to engage with the cage securely and being possible to squeeze.
In general I’d suggest that diluting your mix further is the best way to make it easier to get your nutrition out.
There is a larger option coming that will be easier to squeeze thanks to not having such short walls.
Yea, I wondered if it could be made thinner as it tapers back? Or does the durability take too much of a hit? The idea is awesome, just seems like it needs some tweaks, as the consistency needs to very close to water to be used. Mixing water in works for a 70.3, but for a full you need all the calories and then some. Maybe that’s where the bigger version will work.
Blow moulds are hard work - tapering to the back would risk the seams splitting. I’ve mostly used sugar mix, so it’s easy to have low viscosity. Anything dextrose based is going to be thicker.
The 450ml version is going to be better for a full distance race - will make it easier to carry a high proportion of your energy and have a viscosity that works.
There’s a 450ml version coming!? Damn, I should have waited.
In terms of viscosity, I’ve been making a DIY gel/syrup with 200g sugar, ~40g fruit jam/jelly (for flavoring), and water. I can distill that down to fit into the flask and it’s still flowable through the HSC250 valve.
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Doesnt fit on the P5D. Will require some Dremel work on the hard plastic.
Same cage so you’ll be able to have options for different durations. And it won’t be released in time for this season in the northern hemisphere, so waiting could be frustrating.
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Same here - jelly or adding a gel in the sugar mix for flavor. So far I love this concentrated flask solution. It’s easy to grab and snap back in place even while staying aero - the haptic feedback and retension/release force is excellent. That subtle detail is difficult to describe but essential to its function. There are no fiddly bits to open or discard, and it frees up my water bottle to be water (w/ or w/o Na+). I have small wimpy hands and the bottle squeeze tension feels just right for a runny fuel mix. Smart solution. I anticipate needing replacement bottles and lids for eventual gunk buildup, but 4 months in and so far, it’s staying clean. I only wish my bike bento spot had anticipated its arrival on the market. 
Agreed, it can be made to work if you cut off the front wings. That said, tried it with Maurten gel and it was a complete fail. There is no way to squeeze it hard enough to get Maurten out even with some water added. It’s only going to work with something that is basically water, where you don’t need to really squeeze it much for it to come out. Aka it runs out if you hold the bottle upside down with the valve open.
I mixed 240 grams of sugar and salt and water in it and it squirted fine. Definitely not the easiest to squeeze and the nozzle is rough but it worked. There is no need to use premade gels. Also cut off the front rings to fit my cervelo bike better. No idea why PD added them.
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A silicone bottle like the running bottles that are out would be interesting. I have an extremely sensitive stomach (Crohn’s) and have found that Maurten works for me, so I stick with it.
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Do you mean the wings on the cage? They’re there to go around the cables behind the stem. If you have a P-series - did you not remove the stem shroud?
Yes the cage wings. I removed the OEM rubber shroud but the cages wing prevented full radius of motion of my handle bars. My solution was to remove the cage wings and reinstall the OEM shroud.