Slow_Fred

Is it safe to drink all the road debris on your water bottle spout or what?

I use those camelbak bottles and I like them a lot but I don't think I'd like to use a bottle with a lid on them.

Do your bottles get dirty and how do you wash the black gunk off them?

Slow Fred

10 Wheels

Been safe for me.
Wash them with soap and water.

Velo Gator

Black gunk?

ls0725

Camelback bottles with jet valve. yes i'ts hard to clean the 'valve' itself because it's a hard to reach. buy a small brush with a narrow end that you can insert thru to reach the valve.

big chainring 

Love the road salt in winter, Yum.

But I always inquire in regards to percentage of backwash when taking a swig from another riders bottle. And in turn will state backwash content to someone requesting a swig from my bottle.

urbanknight

God made dirt and dirt don't hurt.

collegeskier

Interesting fact about dirt near roads, apparently the dirt under guardrails has a very high lead content from the days when gas was leaded.

I have one Nalgene mountain biking bottle with a flip cap over the spout, but it is an extra step to open and close when riding. If I am stopped and notice dirt and grime I will clean it, wipe it off, but I try not to worry. I worry more in the rain though.

Flak

bf question o the day.

Snoots

Backwash content? You keep track of this? I'm picturing you at your kitchen counter with a half used water bottle and various beakers and test tubes.

wens

I think it'd be pretty minimal. I tend to squirt my bottles down into my mouth. There's gravity and pressure working against backwashed fluids in a water bottle.

urbanknight

Blah! Perhaps I should start wiping before every drink on the road and stop wiping on the mountain bike trails.

DScott

Just lick it off. Everyone's always yammering about needing electrolytes, right?

LesterOfPuppets

I'm more wary of road grime than trail grime, unless the trail has some equestrian use.

Schmadley

A little road grime doesn't hurt. What does p**s me off though is when you ride through water running across the road from a burst pipe only to discover that it is sewerage (happened twice now). That's when I pull into the nearest service station and rinse my bottle and dump the water. I'll buy water from them if I need to, but definitely won't touch my bottle until I get home and disinfect it.

tortugaflats

[QUOTE=collegeskier;11619536]Interesting fact about dirt near roads, apparently the dirt under guardrails has a very high lead content from the days when gas was leaded.

no lead in automobile fuel since 1995. find it hard to believe that there could be a very high lead content still present. i would worry more about the water that you put in it.

Creatre

I've used leaded race gas in my car. It smells soooo good.

NathanC

Too much babying in BF these days.

AEO

I think the toxins consumed from eating the road grime kicked up onto the bottle spouts are minimal, but I would avoid it if possible.
Especially the dirt near construction sites, since they're likely to contain copious amounts of concrete, tar, oil and other toxins.

wrr1020

Just get a camelbak bottle with the jet valve, spout never has to go into your mouth and just squeeze the bottle for a drink. I'll get dirt on the outside of the valve and the bottle itself but it never touches the water i drink so all is well. Wash the bottles with soap and water when i get home and repeat.

GP

Sounds like a close knit club. A little too close.

scattered73

I did a century in a nasty rainstorm felt great the day of the ride, it was a hot day and the rain felt great. The next day I was sick as a dog ralphing all day. I had no fenders so I was sprayed in the face all day with road water. I really couldn't tell you if it was the flu or road spray or what that made me sick but I wonder.

JimmyJars

The 1999 Vintage tastes wonderful. I highly recommend if you have the means.

coasting 

I rode through the freshly pounded body of a rabbit. it still had much of the guts and other organs spewing out and was still fresh and juicy so i'm sure some nastiness was splashed up from the front wheel.

cmolway

The rubber tops on the camelbak podium bottles can be removed for better cleaning.

ETA: Camelbak does not recommend removing the jet valve (just checked). I only do this when there crud that does not come out with normal washing. I usually put hot, soapy water in the bottle, put on the lid and sqeeze it out into the sink. This usually does the trick getting the crud out. There had been times though that this, or popping it in the dishwasher doesn't do the trick. This is when I resort to removing the jet valve.

YMMV

LowCel 

My bike came with a downtube to protect my bottles from most of the road grime.