Camelbak

I've bought various water bottles--plain and tepidly insulated--the latter lasting about twice as long as the plain one. Where I live we have microclimates, when I leave the house it can be 63' and eight miles inland 85'. This mean my ice filled insulated bottle water starting is fully melted at the 1/2 way point and will become rather yucky on the way back (and I still have another 500 feet of elevation to climb coming back. The Camelbak Podium is an excellent way to quench ones thirst on a hot day on my return leg, as it maintains the ice cold temps for two hours easily when kept full and makes the return so much more pleasant. It's a little heavier and rattles in my plastic water bottle cage, but a thin strip of Velcro dampens out the sound.

Expensive. It keeps my electrolyte liquid cold for over 4 hours while riding in 85+ degree (F) weather. Works 2 hours longer if you put about a 3/8" water on the bottom and freeze it overnight before use. The bottle is noisy if you put ice cubes in it, if your water bottle cage is a little loose, or on very bumpy roads. The bottle keeps cold at least twice as long as a Camelbak's plastic thermal bottle with about 25% frozen liquid in the bottom.

It's pricey but I live in the southeast and the summers are hot. On one hot summer day I left this bottle along with the gf's Yeti Rambler water bottle in the truck in direct sunlight. When I came back to the truck, this Camelbak bottle was colder. Both had a small amount of ice in each when I left but only this one had any left when I returned. Even road rides, this bottle has maintained cold, icy water for hours in 100'+ weather. It's a bit different to not be able to squeeze it but nothing you won't get used to in a couple rides.

This is a very well designed water bottle for cyclists that like their water ice cold. As an endurance type rider (long days in the saddle), I need a water bottle that keeps the contents ice cold all day, and this bottle does just that. On a recent ride the temp reached 102F/39C. After 6 hours, the water/ice mixture was still perfect. After the ride, the bottles stayed in the back of my truck where it was scorching hot. The next morning, there was still ice left in both bottles. Now that is impressive insulation.

The bottles fit bottle cages as they should. There are very well retained.

Drinking from the bottle is effortless.

The ability to close the valve makes the bottles easy to transport.

The only downside of this product is the paint is easily scratched when inserting and removing the bottle from the bike.

This bottle is worth every penny I paid.