murrellington

Few questions as I was looking at picking up some Klean Kanteens.

1) Should I get regular or insulated? I live in San Diego and it can get quite hot in summer. Will the water become warm/ hot real quick in the summer? I've never used metal bottles before.
2) Does the paint chip off of the colored ones easily if you have a stainless steel cage as well?

TenSpeedV2

I would imagine that the metal will make the water much warmer than you will want. I would avoid these if possible, also avoid dark color water bottles. Is there a reason as to why you are looking at metal bottles?

locolobo13 

On a hot day, unless your canteen is insulated, the water gets hot no matter what. At least that's my experience here in Phx. That said I use cheap plastic bottles.

But most of my riding is in the city. I'm never more than 3-4 mi from a store with refrigerated drinks. Usually less than 1 mi.

Craptacular8

I don't notice a big difference between un-insulated plastic and un-insulated stainless steel with regard to keeping the water cooler during a ride. If you have metal bottle holders like I do on one of my bikes, no matter how careful I am, the stainless steel ends up gets scratched and scuffed putting the bottle in/removing it. I just have plain stainless, and the scuffing looks a little tough, and it roughens the surface to boot. I'd have to guess stainless with color would even be even more obvious. I have one bottle that is dual layers of plastic with some kind of bubble foil liner in it that seems to keep liquids cooler a little bit better than plain plastic or stainless.

Leebo

Fill the ss bottle almost all the way full. Freeze, take out and put in bottle cage. Enjoy cold water for commute. Or use a thermos bottle.

asmac

Does it get hot quick? That depends.

Arcanum

Like others have said, uninsulated anything will warm up no matter what. If you want your water or other beverage to stay cold, use insulated bottles. Ideally, use vacuum-insulated bottles, as they will keep things cold for a very long time. HydroFlask makes vacuum-insulated stainless sports bottles in a variety of sizes and colors and has several different kinds of lids.

rm -rf

I've filled a vacuum insulated stainless steel bottle with ice cubes, then topped it up with water. After 3 or 4 hours sitting in a hot car, it still had some ice in it.

I wonder how well stainless steel bottles work on a bike. Do they rattle? You can't squeeze them, so are they harder to drink from while riding?

A regular insulated bike water bottle frozen half full, then topped off with water, lasts maybe an hour on a hot day.

aERonAUtical96

I have a thermos brand SS bottle that I can fill up with ice and water and still have ice hours later... I usually use them at the theme parks here in central FL. I see that thermos has SS with a sports top. I might have to try that for long rides.

no motor?

If your water bottle cage has the plastic buttons on it your bottles won't rattle much and will be more secure.

fietsbob

Not if its Not Hot and sunny.. like San Diego in the Summer. Leave space in the Bottle , for expansion, and put it in the freezer .

Stainless steel does Not Need Painting, But Companies have this thing about putting their Brand name all Over things ..

Insulated bottle, tend to Hold Less , to have the space for the insulation..

Old Way was a Cotton Cover , You Got Wet, and as it evaporated made the contents cooler..

Way-Back water was in A Canvas Bag you hung on the front of your Car .. Or Wagon,
it was not water tight , some seeped thru to always Be wet.

Marcus_Ti

Are those Hydroflask bottles a standard cycling bidon diameter sizing? Looking at listings quickly didn't tell me much.

Arcanum

I think so, but I'm not positive. I don't personally have one. I've seen them at Dick's Sporting Goods, though, so you could conceivably check before buying.

79pmooney

One drawback to insulated bottles and most important in really hot weather: insulated bottles hold less water. (Insulation takes space.) For most of us, body temperature control through sweat is the number one cooling mechanism and water in real quantities is the most important need. Also cold water is not absorbed as quickly as warm water is and has more quenching effect. Now, thirst quenching might sound like a plus, but in hot weather, we never do drink enough (and often cannot simple because we sweat more than we can drink) so drinking a beverage that feels so good we stop drinking is exactly what we should not be doing. That 90F water we have to drink half a bottle of to get any relief is doing us far more good.

Ben

theghostrider

Freezing is not recommended and voids Klean Kanteen'so warranty.

RubeRad

I live in San Diego as well. I would think a regular steel bottle would absorb heat like crazy, but maybe a double-walled/vacuum type one would do better.

No matter what though, sunlight warms up water faster than you think. I got myself a Topeak Modula XL cage that can hold standard 1.5liter plastic bottles (buy a 1.5L bottle of soda for a dollar, and drink it or dump it if you're anti-soda). I will fill that thing mostly up and freeze it SOLID, and bring it as my second water bottle on a long summertime ride, hoping to have cold water for a long time. Every time, by the time my first water bottle is empty, the 1.5L ice cube is almost all melted. By the end of the ride it's totally warm.

There are plenty of water bottles with insulated liners, I've had mixed success with those. I don't find they keep stuff all that cold all that long, and one got an internal leak that trapped some dish soap, so every fill-up with water tasted like soap. I threw that one away.

Joe Minton

It basically comes down to the thickness of the wall of the container:
A thin stainless bottle will tranfer heat only a little more quickly than one made of plastic.

Insulation and ice is the best way to reduce the rate of temperature rise.

I use ice in a plastic bottle to keep temps low long enough for what I do.
A vacuum bottle can keep coffee hot enough for many hours.

Joe

blackieoneshot 

I am a huge fan of Klean Kanteen bottles and tumblers, but find the plastic double-walled bottles easier to deal with while riding.

Rollfast

Hot water in a plastic bottle tastes terrible. Keep some ice in the bottle on a regular basis. When you are riding water is better than anything else and most places I know let you fill and ice it for free as long as the container is your own.

Antelope

I've been using a S'well 17oz bottle in the plain silver color for a few months now...

Keeps the coffee very hot on the morning commute to work...

Keeps the water very cold on the weekend rides...

And it looks kind of cool too...

S?wellŪ Official - S?well Bottle - Shop

AusTexMurf

I live in austin, tx. Hot most of the time, here. I only use stainless water bottles on the bike or off. Two Klean Kanteens and 3 off brand stainless, none insulated. I don't notice my water getting hotter than in plastic. In fact, probably less so and tastes far better to boot.

Recommendations:
1. Use plastic cages. We have many different ones. I much prefer the Klean Kanteen and Specialized plastic water bottle cages. Cuts down on vibrations and scratches on bottles.
2. Cover your stainless bottles with your favorite vinyl stickers from your preferred local businesses, music festivals, local beers, bike themes, etc.. Quiets the bottles down, insulates a little bit perhaps, and makes your bottle your own on or off your bike. Keep patching with new stickers to build up and cover scratches. Works like a charm for me.
3. Fill with ice if you want and the bottle will sweat and keep cool for quite some time. I personally don't like cold water when exercising in the heat. Drink more and faster when the H2O is closer to air temperature.