Author: Nancy

When you have biked for as long as I have, there is seldom something NEW that you NEED. The most you can hope for is that something will wear out so you can replace it with a new, more up to date piece of gear. Two and a half years ago that happened for me and I got a new bike!!! That most likely will not happen again but this did…

For (many) years I wore a water bladder on my back (like a back pack), and loved the freedom of taking a sip through the attached hose and not having to reach anywhere for a water bottle. My aging back has made using that bladder uncomfortable to say the least, and often painful on a longer ride. I can no longer comfortably use a water bladder, and my Tern bike does not have a good place for a bottle cage to carry a bottle. The cage bosses are in the direct path of my mounting the bike making that not only an unsafe place for it, but a very inconvenient reach while riding.

I went for a while struggling with stopping and dismounting to grab my water bottle out of my pannier, but eventually I was simply not drinking enough to stay hydrated on my rides. After I complained enough about this, Susan found the perfect cage (she does love to do the research and finds the perfect solutions – I lack the patience) that fits on the front of the handle bars.

This is perfect as it does not interfere with my headlight and is easy and convenient to grab for a drink.

This plastic water bottle is old enough to know that it contains those unhealthy plastic components. Keeping in mind that in the past I more often used a water bladder, but still…23 years has been long enough to hold onto and now let go of this memento from a “Bike To Work Day”!

Yesterday REI was on our errand list for various reasons, one of them NOT being to find me a new water bottle. But, Susan agreed that I do need a new one. So now I have a more “modern” non-plastic, steel bottle that keeps contents cold/cool for 14 hours.

And pretty too…

It fits well in my front mounted bottle cage, and makes me happy ;’-).

Now I will stay well hydrated from a healthier bottle overall. I must add, while in REI I did find the bottle, but when we then stopped in at different bike shop I found this one that was identical (I thought) for a much less price! Comparing them side by side however showed they were not actually identical as the much pricier one (more than twice the price) was TITANIUM. At REI I did not see a choice and told Susan I would take that one back. She convinced me to keep it!!!! So now — I have 2 very good water bottles with one being very extravagant!