Does anyone have any suggestions of easily getting water to my mouth level without carrying a camelbak or similar on my back?

I find it pretty difficult (and therefore dangerous) to reach down to get my water bottle from the cage, so end up only drinking when I stop at traffic lights. I have another post on here about dehydration and I suspect this was my problem back then as well.

Anyway, what I've thought about is:
1) Getting a long pipe that runs down to my water bottle in its usual spot with a Camelbak style valve and I'd get a clip or something to keep the pipe at handlebar level.
2) Getting a Camelbak Crux 1.5L Reservoir and attaching that to my extremely long handlebar stem.

My questions:
Will the valve be good enough to keep the water from flowing down into the bottle so that I don't have to suck it up all the way through the pipe each time I want a sip?
Will the reservoir be strong enough by itself or will I need to get a bag for it as well?
Any other cheaper, brand-less suggestions of how to do this?

Some triathletes use a drink bottle up by their bars with a long straw so you don't have to take your hands off to drink.
Otherwise practice more with your balance and you will find it easier to get your bottle out of the cage while riding.

Why the resistance to a backpack? Sweat? They do waist versions now (bum bags), I'm not sure how they actually route the hose.
I've seen some pretty trick setups on tri bikes.

Stop every half an hour for a drink? Drink before you ride? Failing that, practice getting your bottle from the cage (and other maneuvers) in a quiet place.

I’d advocate for improving your technique with getting the bottle in and out before looking too far into complex systems with hoses etc. t really does become second nature after a while.

What about a bottle cafe mounted behind the seat like some triathletes use? You might feel more comfortable or stable reaching one of those?

To answer your question about the bite valve though - yes it will seal well enough that you don’t need to the prime the line every time.

I’d be reluctant to put any weight on the handlebars - it will affect the steering.

Google tells me there are quite a lot of different types of stem-mounted water-bottle holders out there. Not sure I'd trust one on a downhill mountainbike, but they look perfect for everything else:

https://problemsolversbike.com/products ... ttle_mount [kinda dumb idea with steering, it would be like carrying a shopping bag of things on one side of your bars]

http://bikepacker.com/top-cap-cage-moun ... king-cage/

Good luck FA

Thanks everyone,

I got the "waist version" CamelBak as mudguard suggested with the idea that if it didn't work on my stem, then I could carry it on my waist. In retrospect though, with my large waist crunched up on a bike, I wasn't going to be comfortable with something around there either.

Nonetheless, it ties nicely onto my very long stem.



My only complaint is that it's a bit of a struggle sucking enough water out through that tube/valve!! For now there are enough traffic light stops on my route to bend down and grab a bigger mouthful from my bottle while stopped once in a while, but probably the better (and cheaper) option would have been a stem mounted bottle cage.

Yeah the problem with not actually wearing the pack, is that I suspect that it's the pressure on the bladder (whether on your back or waist) that helps with the water flow. My current Camelbak doesn't flow as easily as my older one, and I think it's because the bladder is lower and slung out sideways across my lower back, rather than my older one which was narrow and ran up my spine. Not to mention the other stuff I keep in the pack, and then snugging all the straps tight to stop it moving it around, all helps to squeeze the bladder.
Honestly give it another crack around your waist, even if it's just standing up, to see if it helps with the flow.

You’d have to have some serious pressure on the bladder for that to have any real effect.
I think it’s more likely just the difference in height that you’re sucking from.

Remember with any bladder the effective height that you’re sucking up from is the top of the liquid level in the bladder (static head in the bladder equalises to the same height in the hose), so in theory a tall skinny bladder takes less suck than a low wide one.

Just another reason why your enduro swag fanny pack is fundamentally flawed

Doesn't look too safe have the bag wrapped around the stem. May effect your steering. I think it would be better just to use a normal bottle cage and stop when you are thirsty.
What is wrong with using a back pack?

Maybe I overstated the problem with getting enough water out... It's certainly a massive improvement over reaching for the bottle down below. I was just saying in a perfect world I'd want a little bit more water per sip. On a 9km ride (which means 32 minutes at my speed) I felt the need for a bigger sip once towards the end of the ride.

I know some of you won't understand the aversion to wearing a backpack and nothing I say will change your mind, but I can't handle the idea of the sweaty, hot bag on my back all the time. I have Asperger's Syndrome and here's a little extract from the NIH website - "People with autism and Asperger syndrome are anecdotally said to be hypersensitive to touch."

I don't think the steering's at risk at all, Nathan, but I'll let you know after the first fall:)

Anyway, I'm happy with what I have now and if I find it a problem later when I ride longer distances, then I'll just change to mounting a bottle cage up there.

Good. Best thing is to find out what works for you by experimenting.

fatass wrote:I know some of you won't understand the aversion to wearing a backpack and nothing I say will change your mind, but I can't handle the idea of the sweaty, hot bag on my back all the time. I have Asperger's Syndrome and here's a little extract from the NIH website - "People with autism and Asperger syndrome are anecdotally said to be hypersensitive to touch."

I don't think the steering's at risk at all, Nathan, but I'll let you know after the first fall:)
.

I know what you mean about a sweaty back, I switched from using a backpack to panniers for my work and it is so much nicer. I do use a camel back for mountain biking but for some reason that is different to me.

you may be able to construct a more ridged holder (I would think about under stem slung) for your bladder that is less likely to interfere with your steering if it turns out to be a problem

some thing like this may also be a go,

or a fork mount cage might be easier to reach