Bladders (Camelbaks) - good or bad?

 

Kev and I, the hardcore mountain bikers, regularly wear Camelbaks (other brands are available) on longer distance MTB rides, especially in warmer weather.

But apparently road bikers don't typically wear such things.

The reasons given for not wearing such things are

  1. Can make your back a bit sweaty
  2. A preference to carrying more weight on the bike itself, and less on the body.

What a load of old rubbish! Bladders are fab! Here's why:

  1. Typical fluid capacity is 1.5-3 litres. When I wear my 3L bladder, fully loaded with water and electrolytes, I barely feel the weight. Maybe if I weighed 60kg instead of 100kg I'd feel the weight more 😁
  2. If wearing one has contributed to me having a sweatier back... I've not noticed.
  3. They provide additional storage options, especially as the fluid goes down. Many come with additional pockets/pouches that are affected by how much fluid is left.
  4. They greatly increase your total water carrying capacity. A typical water bottle will carry, say, 750ml, so a 3L bladder is equivalent to 4 bottles. This is important when you want/need to be more fully in control of your environment, i.e. less dependent on the availability to fill up your bottles en-route, e.g. from shops, taps, etc.
BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IS SAFETY!

The actions of retrieving a bottle while riding, swigging from it, and successfully returning it to its storage mount,  especially if you're fatigued, can definitely be destabilising and distracting for a cycling. I've seen/experienced this many times.

Sucking from the tube of a Camelbak is SOOOO much safer. Strongly recommended!

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