krazygl00

These are all over the place...online and in most LBSs I go to:



I don't see how having a cap at the bottom of a bottle makes it any easier to keep clean. Regular bottle, use it, when it gets grungy you put it in the dishwasher and then it's clean. What's hard about that? In fact, I find it is the caps and threads that are the dirtiest parts of a bottle...and the Clean Bottle has two.

jparillo

its so when it falls out of the cages it can burst open from both ends and you really don't have any water! but really this is probably geared towards people who mix supplements into their water drinks and it helps eliminate the settled powder dust buildup.

Silvercivic27

+1. It's called a bottle brush, people! You can find them at such fine retailers as target and bed bath and beyond.

PedalingFool

I'm sure they'll make their million$ from people falling for the marketing gimmick.

Carbon Unit

They look like the free bottles that bike shops give away except that they open at both ends.

I have become really partial to Camelbak bottles and am unlikely to use anything else.

Silvercivic27

I want to see somebody trip him at the TDF this year and knock the bottom cap off.

EventServices

For germophobes who think clean is never clean enough.

vandalarchitect

My Father-in-Law fell for the marketing gimmick during last year's TdF (buy 3 get the 4th free) and gave me two. I don't think they are any easier to keep clean ... like Silvercivic said, "it's called a bottle brush ..." But the biggest down-side IMHO, is that the plastic is thicker than your regular bottle. This makes them harder to squeeze and it deforms more of the bottle when you do so it leaks from around the threads.

Bottom line, if you don't know how to wash a bottle and like your drink everywhere but your mouth, buy it!

Psimet2001 

+1 - They sell. There is tons of interest in them.

Personally I never saw the point. I actually put my bottles in the dishwasher....after I use them....like the dishes and glasses I use to feed myself....

banerjek

What is this "washing" people speak of? If you just put water in your bottles, you don't need to do anything. After somewhere between a few weeks and a couple months, the water will start to taste funny. Throwing them in the dishwasher for a cycle will take care of that.

Even if you put crap other than water in them, just shaking them with hot water from the tap for about 10 seconds does most of the job. The bladders I used when skiing have never been washed.

Nachoman

Me too. Everything else seems inferior.

Right Said Fred

If these take off, just wait--the next thing will be regular drinking glasses with screw off bottoms. What somebody really needs to invent is a water bottle that won't crash you out when somebody tosses it into your spokes. I'll bet Cancellara would be willing to pitch in some seed money for that.

markjenn

I don't think they are probably worth the trouble/expense for most people, but just because you only use your bottles for pure water and regularly wash your bottles in a dishwasher, doesn't mean everyone is the same as you. You're so perfect you've never forgotten and left a bottle on the bike for a few days with some sticky energy drink in it and then find you it pretty grungy just before your next ride? Just because a feature isn't important to you doesn't mean it isn't important to anybody.

They ARE easier to clean and for any level of cleaning effort, you can get one of these cleaner than a regular bottle.

- Mark

Psimet2001 

I put my dirty ass mouth on the valves. Just like I do with my glasses at home. I wash those when I am done.

djb

boy Im glad you added "mouth"

as for the bottles, yup, people just love buying new crap that is supposed to be better than older crap they have....as I say to my wife everytime she buys new plastic crap "hey, we gotta keep all those Chinese plastic factories in business dont we"

zigmeister

I find the valve is the real issue to keep clean. I clean my bottles right after I ride always. OCD like that.

Also, Camelback has solved the valve issue of mold/junk getting built up because you can take the clear main piece that is over the valve off, and clean it thoroughly. I do that every few weeks.

Just some hot water/soap and a brush to quickly rinse/clean after a ride is good enough.

Maybe it is for the people who let their bottles sit in the garage for days after a ride, then decide later to clean them, only to find it a pain to get all the dried up junk off the bottom?

Not sure why all of the hate about these bottles though. This must be all part of the capitalist and entrepreneurs are all evil and don't pay enough taxes syndrome we are going through as of late. If you really believe it capitalism, the market will sort out whether people find this to be a worthwhile and useful idea and they will either thrive and make money, or fail and go out of business. That simple.

aztimm

Same here. Even in summer, what's in my bottle stays cold for most of a ride, so long as I freeze most of it overnight. Mind you, this is in 90-100F temps (I try to avoid riding too late in summer).

And washing, I agree with the others. I rinse them out after, shake some hot water, squirt it through the top, and my bottles are set.

Psimet2001 

FWIW - I switched our team bottles over to Specialized Purist style bottles last year. These are similar to the camelback podium but simpler/more refined. They have a removable valve, and a solid technology on the inside....those of you who love to let things sit would probably love them.

alexfboyle

Polar bottles also have the removable valve. Usually I take the valve off, put it on one of the tines on the top rack of the dishwasher. It cleans it quite nicely. Also, any common sense tells me to rinse the bottle when I put anything other than water in them. As banerjerk says, 10 seconds of hot water will take care of most gunk in a bottle. Also, it helps to not put them away wet.

fishymamba

+1

Camelbak bottles are the best, they are only $10 and my last one lasted me about 5000 miles.

banerjek

Valve schmalve. Those don't need any more washing than the bottles. I'm not sure when I washed mine but it hasn't been for at least a month.

RacerOne

I'm really partial to the Trek ones my team / shop over gives me for free. Once the Logo's wear off, in the trash bin they go.

and1homer

and1homer

I'll take 'Solutions Looking for a Problem' for 1000, please Alex!

I have used the same 2 bottles (mostly with Gatorade powder mix) for about 2.5 years now. I rinse them in running water after I ride, sometimes hot water. I might have put them in the dishwasher maybe 5 times total?

No mold, no gunk, no build-up, no grime, no smell, no taste. So, yeah, I don't see the point, and have wondered as OP has - am I missing something?

Bob Dopolina 

I've used some pretty intense goop for races, rinsed the bottle off and then spent the next day driving home.

Those bottles can get a bit nasty over time. If you don't have a completely clear bottle chances are you're missing small amounts of stuff living in the threads for the cap and around the valve. Even washing with a brush you can miss those.

When I was running a team this meant washing 20~30 bottles a day. This can get quite time consuming.

I would bleach bottles once or twice a season and then wash them to make sure no-one was going to suffer upper GI distress because of bacteria lurking in their bottles.

I still do this with my own bottles and things are usually fine.