Hydration systems compared
Advice on best ways to carry and consume drink when cycling
Guidelines on the pros and cons of different methods of carrying and consuming drinks for road cycling and mountain biking.
Proper hydration when cycling means carrying enough fluid, and ensuring that it actually gets consumed. Different ways to do this all have their pros and cons, but these vary for different types of rider.
‘Hydration system’ may sound (a) technical and (b) expensive, but all it really means is a way of carrying drink on a bike and, just as important, delivering it to the rider. A can of Coke in your back pocket is a hydration system, though it might not be ideal - on several levels!
Apart from the simple solution of stopping at a shop or cafe, which may not be available on every ride, there are three main approaches:
1: Frame-mounted bottle
This is the most traditional system for cycling and still the norm for road cycling, especially racing. Bottles are normally carried in a cage on the frame (down-tube and sometimes seat-tube), though decades ago these were often on the handlebars. Many frames already have mounts for a bottle cage.
Advantages: minimal extra weight, low centre of gravity, rider unencumbered, low initial expense.
Disadvantages; reaching for the bottle, and drinking, disturbs normal riding position and can impair balance and control. Bottles may get splashed with road- or trail-muck (especially for mountain-biking).
2: Hip-mounted sacks (‘fanny-packs’) with bottle mounts.
These are greatly favoured by trail runners, much less so by cyclists.
Advantages: keep bottles away from dirt; don’t lead to sweaty back.
Disadvantages: reaching for the bottle, and drinking, can impair balance and control. Weight concentrated around hips is uncomfortable when pedalling.
3: Back-pack or rucksack systems.
Fluid is carried in a reservoir (or ‘bladder’) in a back-pack and delivered through a tube. Now almost universal among mountain bikers and well worth considering for other riders, especially if you’ll be carrying a back-pack anyway.
Advantages: keeps drink clear of dirt; very easy to drink on the move, with minimal disruption to riding position; possible to carry larger volumes more readily than other systems.
Disadvantages: high centre of gravity, possible sweaty back, relatively high initial expense.
For long rides (and hikes and other trips, too) the advantages of back-pack systems are compelling. Riders in pro races may only need to carry a small bottle because they can get replacements from the team car at frequent intervals. For the rest of us, the ease of carrying and the ease of drinking score highly. Experience shows that users of these systems drink significantly more - see a blog entry on personal experience that underscores this.
Back-pack systems now come in all shapes and sizes; there are fully integrated systems as well as separate reservoirs that fit into an ordinary back-pack. Read on here for advice on choosing the system that suits you.
