MTB'ers-anyone use a camelbak or similar?
 

Been into mountain biking for years now and always used either 1 or 2 water botles on my bike for hydration purposes but saw this and got me thinking

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+S...sic_CMK-CL.htm

Yes i know these camelbaks aren't a new idea etc but i have always stuck to old fashioned water bottles on bike for a few reasons-

1 - I cant help thinking having a basically small rucksack on your back must on hot summer days really make your back hot and sweaty and stop airflow there so it cant escape.

2 - Having a few years ago used my bike for work i used a rucksack to carry stuff in and when even going over potholes it bouncing up on my back was a pain so what would it be like over very bumpy ground?

ON my rides i do see some folk with these systems on back and they seem good in that you can also use them to carry other stuff as well like a pump,phone basic tools etc.

So basic question is are my fears about them bouncing around on my back over bumpy ground and makingmy back get so hot and sweaty on hot summer days unfounded?

If so is that one a good model at a good price or are say a halfords own version better for a cheaper price?

Get a good CamelBack, mine goes in the freezer on hot days, life saver. I have a huge backpack when paragliding so just chuck it in, and for other activities have a super light insulated backpack with room for a pocket full of bits and the bladder.

I have this one http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+S...Lobo_CMK-L.htm

And this bladder
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+S...stem_CB907.htm

You might not need 3 litres, I sometimes need ballast.

Same as mine, Great item

Few things can i ask then please

1 - Do they make your back hot or are they generally too small to be a pain

2 - do they stay still on very bumpy rides or when going down steep downhills?

As a point my rides generally are about the 2 to 3 hours in duration and i can get by with 2 half litre bottles of water on all but very hot days when i just factor in the campsite on the ride where i can re-fill a bottle, so even the small camelbak at 2 litre size is plenty big enough for me.Reason i basically ask about these is sometimes i'm riding hard over testing terrain and when i might want a drink its difficult to sometimes have long enough to get one hand of the bar ,get bottle, drink then put back into holder, whereas these seem to alliviate this problem somewhat.

Got one of these , never used it for water mind

http://www.deutergb.co.uk/products/a...race_x_air/13/

I use one. Yes it makes you hot on summer days, but not in Winter of course. But the trade off in summer is that there is a lot of liquid close by. I prefer using a back pack as I have some tools and a couple of spare inner tubes. And on long rides a spare energy bar or two. I could carry these on some sort of frame/seat mounted packs, but I've used a couple and everything gets squashed, plus the ones I'd seen seem to bounce around themselves.

However on short summer rides I do abandon the backpack as I don't need any of that and it's too hot! But again I've had one of my bottles decide it doesn't want in the cage on a particular bumpy ride!

All in all for the trade-off's I prefer a backpack.

I've got shoulder and waist straps on mine. It's stays secure, no bouncing around.

When you say short summer rides-how short do you mean?

They never bothered me when I had one on, on a hot day they will sweat your back a little but it depends on how hard you are cycling, they will stay on no problems.
One of them actually saved me from a bad back injury a few years back while downhilling, basically I had too much speed and not enough skill coming into a table top jump, I came right over the bars landed on stones on my back and the camelbak took the full force and burst, I got up a few minutes later checked myself and hobbled away.

The only annoying thing about them is the water in the tube gets very warm, so your first mouthful will be spat out.
An ice cube or 2 in them keeps them nice and cool for even longer.

I've always just used 2 bottles and make sure the cages are tight to stop them bouncing out. Saves a back pack.

Another alternative is ....

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m...4/0a51be76.jpg