KineticShift.com continues our hands on test of water bottles.
Time for another dash to the finish line, and this one might just be the water bottle to help you on the long ride to the podium and beyond. And we hear it’s good for the casual group ride too.
CamelBak Podium Description: Step up to the Podium. The New CamelBak Podium Bottle incorporates Jet Valve, a revolutionary self-sealing valve into a taste-free bottle with a high flow rate.
CamelBak is the official hydration sponsor of Team Garmin-Transitions, and proud to support the team’s 100% Clean initiative for untainted sports performance.
Bottle Sizes: 21oz and 24oz
Plastic: Polypropylene
Country of Manufacture: China
Retail Price: $8 (21oz) and $9 (24oz)
Basic Standards:
- Both bottles did not leak when squeezed
- Both bottles did not leak when they were turned upside-down with the Jet Valve ‘unlocked’
- BPA free
Taste test and manufacturer’s claim test: I had recently evaluated the CamelBak insulated bottles mainly focusing on the amount of time ice would remain frozen inside the bottles. I only used water during those evaluations, but I thought that I would now focus on the TruTatse polypropylene to see how it could handle the Accelerade sports drink.
Though I have used the CamelBak Hydration Packs since they debuted years ago, this was the first time that I used a CamelBak brand bottle. CamelBak Podium bottles use the self-healing Jet Valve which is always ‘open’ unless the Lockout feature is used. The Lockout is designed to ‘close’ the bottle during transportation…just twist the Jet Valve 90º and it is ‘closed’. This always open, self healing or self closing valve is now being featured on more bottles, but since CamelBak’s lockout feature twists shut instead of pushing the valve down, it took a few uses to adjust my habits. By the time I had gotten around to testing the Podium bottles, I was use to the Jet Valve through the evaluation of the CamelBak insulated bottles and had broken the habit of trying to pull the bite valve open with my teeth.
For this evaluation, I filled the 24oz bottle with orange flavored Accelerade and the 21oz bottle with water. I headed out on a ride lasting about two hours. Following their insulated brothers, these bottles functioned without incident…the valves functioned perfectly and no leaks were detected. The water in the 21oz bottle tasted the same as if it was drank from a glass and the valve on the 24oz bottle was not fouled by the Accelerade. When I arrived back at home, the typical Accelerade residue was left on the inside of the bottle.
I cleaned the 24oz bottle out with dish soap and a soft bristle brush, and the residue was easily removed. To my dismay though, the smell still remained in the bottle – as bad, if not worse than the Specialized classic bottle. I then proceeded to use a sanitizing solution to try to rid the bottle of the smell and now the bottle has a minty, orange smell. This does not seem to affect the taste of water, but I will probably just use this bottle now exclusively for sports drinks.
For water uses, all of the CamelBak bottles worked great, but when Accelerade was used in the bottles, there was residue from the sports drink visibly left in the Jet Valve. The Jet Valve is difficult to clean especially when CamelBak recommends not disassembling the valve. I really did like how these bottles functioned and will continue to use them, I just have to make sure to take the time to clean these valves after each use with a sports drink.
CamelBak does manufacture a product called Elixir. This product is an effervescent tablet that the user drops into a bottle filled with water to create a drink full of electrolytes. Since Elixir is sugar-free, no residue is left behind. I was able to taste-test the Elixir at the Dirt Demo during InterBike and it did live up to the residue-free claim. This is probably a better choice for the CamelBak bottles that have the Jet Valve to avoid the issue inside the valve.
Likes: The Jet Valve.
Dislikes: The Jet Valve has tight areas that are difficult to clean the residue from sports drinks.
Kinetic Shift Recommended Use: All water bottle uses…cycling, hiking, running, fitness classes, etc.; but you may want to think twice before adding a sports drink, other than Elixir, to the bottle.