Bill in VA

I have a Kleen Kanteen (sp?) stainless insulated bottle that I use in the car. In the winter i have had it freeze solid if it goes over a week below freezing. Al long as you leave an inch of air, it will not cause a problem. In the summer after a day in the sun, the water will be luke warm unless I put cubes in, but is very drinkable. It fits in my King Cage holder, but the insulated plastic bottles have better retension. I have also put a bottle in a sport sock that is wet and the evaporation slows the ice melt, but it is a PITA to drink from while riding.

livedarklions

While we're on the subject, I can't seem to get the AC on my bike to work.The guy who sold it to me told me the compressor was a bit wonky, but I haven't been able to find it and get it fixed. Any suggestions?

topflightpro

I often do frozen bottles when it's going to be very hot. Yeah, the ice melts and the water eventually gets hot, but I'd rather have it cold for as long as possible on super hot days.

I've also done ice sleeves for races.

Jumpski

I totally agree. I sometimes half fill my Camelbak podium and throw it in the freezer before bed- have fun.

_ForceD_

Personally, like a couple have mentioned above, I'm kind of use to drinking water at whatever ambient temperature. Then again...there are times that I'd prefer it cool at least. A trick that I use sometimes is to put the filled bottle in a thick sock, secure the sock around the neck of the bottle with a rubber band or tie it with string. Thoroughly saturate the sock with tap water and before you roll off. As you ride, the water slowly evaporates from the sock. The evaporation process cools the contents of the bottle. In other words...it cools the water bottle the same way your perspiration cools your body. It's not frigid, but it's not hot. It's cooler than ambient.

Dan

holytrousers

A body temperature increase of only 4°C can be fatal to our organism. When we consider the fact that by drinking ice water our internal organs are exposed to a difference of 36°C, we are talking about important thermal imbalances that our thermoregulatory systems will be dealing with.

spdntrxi

Elite nanogel... lasted longest for me.. Polar and the rest suck.

phughes

I don't know, my Podium Chill bottles are nine years old so far. They haven't spontaneously destructed yet.

cyccommute 

It doesn’t work that way. Yes, a 4°C increase in the systemic temperature can be fatal and a body temperature drop of 2°C is the temperature at which hypothermia sets on. Death occurs at 20°C. But drinking cold water isn’t going to result in a temperature drop of 36°C. A large gulp of 0°C water...about 200 mL...won’t have a significant effect on body temperature. Immersing a person in water at around 0°C takes about 15 minutes to result in exhaustion and unconsciousness. It’s survivable for about 45 minutes.

To put another way, if you were to mix 200 mL of 0°C water in 45 kg of water at 37°C would result in a temperature of 35.6°C. If the mass of water is 90 kg, the resulting temperature is 36.9°C. That’s just for water. A human body is has a bit higher heat capacity and has internal processes that add heat when needed.

To put it another way, to get a temperature drop to 25°C...well with in the bounds of dangerous hypothermia...the mass of water needed would be around 45 kg. If you drink that much water, you’ll have much more severe problems.

Do you never drink anything cold or anything with ice in it? Do you not drink hot drinks? Neither one is going to cause a “thermal imbalance”. We are finer tuned than just a mass of water.

SVTNate

I drank two 21 ounce Podium Chill bottles today on a roughly 15 mile ride. I planned a route that was 15-ish miles round trip, and had the option of being extended as I passed by my house.

I did not extend. Oh lord, no, I did not extend. I got about 7-8 miles down the road, found a shady underpass, and downed water while I pondered a cold shower and air conditioning back home.

I took a bath in 100SPF sunscreen before I left, the hot asphalt and the sun sandwiched me in what I imagine the center of a fireball is like, and I had to hang it up early today.

The water? Ice cold, baby.

indyfabz

Mine are not that old, but they have definitely held up, and I use them for touring, commuting and road riding. I also use one at night when I sleep.

holytrousers

I did not say that drinking ice water will result in a such a temperature drop. I've mentioned the 4 degrees to put the temperature of ice water in the perspective of our thermoregulatory system.
Thanks for the data you brought to the discussion, but the link you have provided doesn't work.



To put the 4 degrees in another perspective :

cyccommute 

The problem is that a 4°C increase in meaningless to the discussion. It takes a 17°C decrease to be fatal. You can’t even get close to that by simply drinking cold water.

We aren’t cold blooded. Our temperature isn’t regulated by the outside temperature. It may be impacted but it isn’t regulated by the climate. Drinking cold water is generally more refreshing than drinking hot water so people drink more water when the water is cold. Not drinking water can result in that temperature increase that you are concerned about so anything that gets people to drink sufficient water is beneficial.

Um...okay? Not much perspective there and it has to be about the laziest song ever. Just singing “It’s only four degrees” endlessly isn’t much of a perspective. There may be more to the song but I can’t get past the first 30 seconds.

pdlamb

Insulated bottles, crammed full of ice cubes, and filled with cold water. Either will keep the water cool for about two hours; if you take two bottles on a ride, you should drink both of them in that two hours; then it's time to stop for a refill.

I've got both Polar and Camelbak bottles. I've had slightly better luck with the Polar keeping water chilled, but either will work. When the Polar lids wear out, they'll send you more for the postage -- very nice!

BenBoozer

I like my water cold and have tried all types of water bottles. Since getting a Travel Kuppe insulated water bottle I have thrown all the others away. Going to be adding another one for longer rides.

Pros

• keeps beverages COLD or HOT for hours longer than you will ever want, no need to freeze overnight
• spout is much easier to clean than a podium water bottle, great for flavored beverages
• bottle doesn’t sweat no matter how hot outside
• comes in black color (goes with my bike)

Cons

• only 20oz capacity
• need to use either carbon fiber or plastic bottle holders to prevent scratches and rattling
• weighs a little more than a plastic bottle
• expensive

spdntrxi

while my podium bottles still look like bottles, I would not count on them past a couple hours.

holytrousers

You haven't been reading my replies attentively : i am not saying one will cause the other, i'm just bringing those 4°C up to show how delicate our bodies are when they have to deal with core temperature, and how much work our thermoregulatory system has to do to keep internal organs from getting affected by the huge differences of temperature when we digest ice cold water.
I am not saying that drinking cold water is bad, i'm only saying that ice cold water can be stressful to our bodies.
And you're right, not drinking at all is much worse than drinking cold water, but we have to stay within reasonable limits.

Flip Flop Rider

as other have said, gotta use insulated bottle. I tried the metal ones, but they rattle. Ordered a rubber sleeve for them, the fit was too tight

insulated bottle filled with ice cubes then water. guaranteed cold for at least 1.5 hours. Have never tried the fill half way then freeze, but sounds like a good plan

NoWhammies

As others have stated. Use an insulated bottle. Fill 1/4 with water. Throw / place in the freezer overnight. Fill the rest with water when you're ready to head out on your ride. You'll be golden. Cheers.

cyccommute 

I have read your replies attentively. You are wrong in your assumptions. Yes, we only need a 4°C increase to be harmful, but you need a 20°C change in the other direction. Drinking cold water isn’t bad for humans. It doesn’t stress our thermoregulatory systems. There simply isn’t a “huge difference in temperature” for our internal organs to deal with. Water at 0°C at in your mouth is already well on its way to being the same temperature as your body by the time it hits your throat. That’s how thermodynamics works. The cold body is warmed quickly by the warm body.

This study suggests that the temperature drop in the mouth is just 2.4°C. That’s a drop from 98.6 to 96.2...hardly life threatening and, again, the cold water picks up heat as it descends in the esophagus.

Do you have something to back up the claim that ice cold water is stressful to our bodies? Everything I’ve read says it isn’t. This site has some very good arguments for why drinking cold water is better. This site even gives a time frame...about 5 minutes...for how quickly water is warmed to body temperature, although I would disagree that it takes as long as 5 minutes. It would depend on the amount with smaller amounts taking much less time.

Sorg67

Interesting discussion about the pros and cons of drinking cold water. It seems unlikely to me that the stress of cold water on the thermoregulatory system would be material at my level of riding. The enjoyment of the day seems more meaningful.

And the thermoregulatory systems is both to raise and lower body temperature. Riding in hot weather in Florida in the summer time would seem to put more stress on the body's ability to cool than to warm. Therefore, it would seem in such conditions cold water would reduce stress on the thermoregulatory system not increase it.

JohnDThompson 

The preference for cold water may also be cultural. We have a large Hmong community (Laotian refugees) here. Laos is a hot and humid country. In caring for Hmong elders in the hospital, we learned not to offer them ice water, but rather room temperature or warmer water. The younger generation prefers the same ice water Americans in general prefer.

berner

On the bike, I use insulated water bottles partially frozen overnight. In mid summer they still only last a few hours with no ice remaining. It just happened I had on hand some wind block fleece from another project and made two bottle parkas for the water. It seems that while moving on the bike, a constant flow of warm air moving past will cause rapid melting. With the wind block barrier, the water will be cool for an all day ride, say, 6 hours.

livedarklions

So wait, are you saying "death by popsicle" isn't a thing?

Given that water really flows through the esophagus in relatively small amounts, I suspect any water is likely to be very close to body temperature by the time it reaches the stomach.

livedarklions

I have actually found water cold enough on a hot day that swallowing it too fast caused the dreaded ice cream headache. It was stressful for a few seconds. Cleared up in seconds, and I just drank the rest of the water more slowly.

Weird phenomenon, no one's sure what causes it.