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A bidon is a business card for a bike shop. A standard 500ml bidon with the shop's logo should go out the door with every purchase of $50 or more, no questions asked. It's pure marketing. Every cage on every new bike that goes out the door should have a 500ml bidon in it. Every bike repair of $50 or more should go out the door with a 500ml bidon in it. It puts the word out for the shop and makes the customer feel good. Within a year, the bike shop logo will be at every cycling event with 50km. And if its a normal 500ml bidon, it doesn't cost the shop much. It's the best cheap advertising in cycling.
Lots of good comments, Jeff, on the bidons. After using tons of free/cheap ones over the years I'm quite happy with the camelbak ones. I use the 500 mL ones most of the year.
Like I wrote, if I'm heading out for really long rides and it is as hot as it was last summer (months in triple digits) I go for the bigger insulated camelbaks. I normally respect the Rules, but if I can ride longer and harder due to more liquids and the soothing coolness of them, I gotta take the Rule penalty on this one.
I do fully admit the big, insulated bottles look like fucking garbage and make my Elite cages want to revolt.
We all can't have Gianni following us up the mountain...and we all aren't Italian camels like Pedale, who don't even require cages.
Oh, and I also have a Tommasini-only bidon, a sweet as Tacx-made, Campagnolo branded one. I'll never put an insulated camelbak on that bike.
Also never paid more than $5 for a bottle. Always get them on sale.
Great ideas, Jeff on getting a bottle free with any work over $50 or on any new bike.
@Collin
I've had it start to go bad at the end of a 3-4 hour ride before in hot weather when I used just a normal bottle plus ice. After that I started making it the night before and freezing it in an insulated bottle, which keeps it cold for an entire ride. I just take it out an hour or two before I start and it's fine.
Granted, I could probably freeze it overnight in a normal bottle and have it work fine, but I tried it in an insulated bottle and it worked so I just stick with it. During the winter it's not a worry obviously, and I just mix it into a normal bottle right before I leave with some ice, and it's fine.
I mix it thick enough that I only need one bottle for all my nutrition during an entire ride, so I just want to make sure it lasts. I save my other bottle for plain water, and I don't take any extra mix with me on rides... but I don't do 300km solo rides, either!
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Almost Rule-worthy, this. Nice work.
@Ron
Seriously, nothing personal, Ron. I've got big bidons, too. I just think they look like shit on a bike.
What gets me is how expensive high-tech bidons got over the last year. Example: My wife doesn't ride bikes. She rides horses. But she takes a bottle with her to the stables. Outside of the bike industry, these insulated beasts are selling for close to $20. And the metal industry has the PC crowd freaked out about plastic, so they market metal canteens shaped like bidons, for $20--in pink with flower stensils, to chicks.
It's a free market, and everyone should charge what the market will bear.
I think the loss of a good, cheap, 500ml bidon is a shame. It's such a great business card.
@mcsqueak
Bananas, bread, and water!!!!! There might be Clenbuterol in that witch's brew you use.
Oh, wait. The Spanish say Clenbuterol is perfectly acceptable in very small amounts.
Nevermind.
@Ron
Yeah, I'm no camel either. I consume tons of water during warm-weather riding, and quite often during the summer I ride with my jerseys mostly unzipped for extra airflow. I get really, really hot, I sweat a ton and I never have to stop for "natural breaks" during rides because I sweat all the water out that I can consume. Not having to stop is pretty great, actually...
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Bananas are a staple for me. I eat them often before rides and as a snack at work. I eat light before a ride, and generally, unless I'm doing a really long ride and I need all the calories I can get, I hate eating during a ride. It just feels gross to me.
Eh, a little Clenbuterol wouldn't be so bad for me... I'm not racing so I don't have anyone to tell me otherwise...
Also, I think BPA was only found in hard, clear plastics, such as those large water bottles from REI everyone use to carry around. Soft plastics, and those that are opaque do not contain that chemical. However, I could be wrong.
@mcsqueak
When training, we used routes where we could stop after 50-60 miles. We were regulars at certain gas stations. We'd refill and buy a snack or a Coke. And it was obligatory to fuck with a teammate's bike while he was in the restroom. His fault for not having a wingman outside. Made for good bonding, esprit de corps and all that.