I recently started to try and use the fuelselage hydration system that goes with the specialized shiv as my normal torhans aero bottle broke. Are there are tricks to actually filling this thing up? I couldn’t get more than 5-6oz in it while the bike was stationary so I cannot imagine trying to fill this thing up during a race? Also has anyone come up with any solutions for the magnet (doesn’t hold very well with any bumps in the road or strong wind) and the actual valve on the straw (tough to get any water out)? Before I go and buy another Torhans or similar aero bottle I figured I would try and give this thing a shot. Any help would be appreciated as I have a half in 3 weeks.
This has been covered rather heavily over on the official shiv thread (probably closer to the front). But the short answer is…yes! After you get it figured out and modified, it’s kick-ass. 20oz, on the fly refills take about 5 seconds.
use baby powder on the plastic
blow in the valve to fully inflate the bladder after install (angle is down and back, towards bb)
swap stock valve out with a camelbak or osprey (better magnets too)
ice chunks help
I completely tossed the stock hose and put on a camelbak insulated tube, or you’r first 4oz on sunny days comes out two-hundred-degrees!
CC
I recently started to try and use the fuelselage hydration system that goes with the specialized shiv as my normal torhans aero bottle broke. Are there are tricks to actually filling this thing up? I couldn’t get more than 5-6oz in it while the bike was stationary so I cannot imagine trying to fill this thing up during a race? Also has anyone come up with any solutions for the magnet (doesn’t hold very well with any bumps in the road or strong wind) and the actual valve on the straw (tough to get any water out)? Before I go and buy another Torhans or similar aero bottle I figured I would try and give this thing a shot. Any help would be appreciated as I have a half in 3 weeks.
Lots of info on this on the official Shiv thread.
I’ve recently gone through all of this…the fuelselage will hold between 20-22oz of fluid. So, if you’re only getting 5-6oz, it means the bladder is getting bunched up. This is really just practicing in getting it in properly. I’ve used different things to gently slide into the reservoir to make sure it’s open. (Spatula, dowl rod, etc). Just be careful that you don’t force anything. You don’t want to damage the bladder. The bottom line is that if you’re not getting almost an entire water bottle in, it’s not installed properly. Lots of people have had troubles before they get the hang of it.
Regarding the magnet: I bought some rare earth magnets (cheap) and put it on my aero bars. I then covered with electrical tape and cut the drink tube to the perfect length so the valve lies flat alongside the bar and sits perfect. I actually have two magnets so I can re-position it if I want to. These magnets are very strong and will hang onto the valve. I did NOLA 70.3 two weeks ago and it didn’t bounce off once. Here’s a (not great) pic that I cropped out of an old picture. You can’t see that I have two little magnets…the other one is on the other side and a little lower just in case I want to re-adjust it. Hopefully you get the idea.
http://i59.tinypic.com/9awxmh.jpg
A last trick that I learn: I bought a $3 piece of PEX pipe from Home Depot. I used the old rubber band/magnet (the one you are removing from the aerobars) and put it on the Pex pipe. After I use the Fuelselage, I’ll hang the bladder upside down in my shower with the pipe sliding up through the bladder, attaching the hose further down the pipe on the magnet so that it tries out completely and it totall drained of any water. I was paranoid about cleaning the thing and it getting nasty.
I hope you stick with it and get the hang of it. This is an awesome feature on the shiv and it would be a shame if you didn’t use it. At NOLA, I timed my drinking so that the bladder was empty when I approached an aid station. I opened the fill lid and dropped a couple of Nunn tabs in. I received a new water bottle at the aid station and I was able to dump it all into the Fuelselage immediately and toss the empty bottle right away. Within a few seconds I was drinking. It worked out perfectly and I was so glad I had it. I could do this without ever coming out of the aerobars.
Hope this helps.
As previously said it definitely takes a few attempts to get this working - but once you do it is very easy and repeatable. I only put water in the fuelselage and after each ride empty out the water and then place in freezer - this stops any “funky” smells or taste. Take out before a ride and it is still pliable to slide right in the frame. Up to Olympic distance that should be all you need - keeps your bike nice and clean.
I tried to do some reading on the shiv thread but found it to be tough to weed through the other comments so thank you for your responses and advice. I will be trying all of these tricks to get this fuelselage to work. Thanks again
I am just trying to get mine setup after reading various posts here. I have one more issue that I didn’t see addressed anywhere else. Trying to open the rubber cap single-handed is impossible. Instead of opening up properly, the whole assembly pulls out of the frame. Which is kind of obvious, since there is no screw holding it in like there is for the plastic cap that you use when the fuelselage is not in.
The easiest way of fixing this would be to tape the black part to the frame… not elegant, but should do. Anybody else having this issue? If so, how to fix it?
Just an update and a thank you:
using a wire hanger keeping the sharp edges away, baby powder and blowing into the valve I was able to get the fuelselage in perfectly and it fills up nice. Also cut the straw to the perfect length for my position. Now I just need the stronger magnet mentioned and potentially a straw swap but I will stay with the original one for now. Thanks for not just telling me to use the search button and instead offering some quality advice
What does baby powder do and how do you use it when installing?
For the magnet I used an aquarium hose director.
Easily available, suction cap on one end that sits well on the aerobar wrapped under the tape.
The “C” clamp rotates so I can dictate the tubes hold.
As much as I want to sift through a boatload of posts, I’d like to briefly hijack this thread as the original question has been answered. Anyone actually have a link to buy a replacement bladder? I spent 30 minutes searching not the web and can’t find one. They can’t possibly only be available through a specialized retailer?