Hydration bladder vs bottle

[Venod]

Pretty much every XC racer carries bottles, not hydration packs. Assuming a half decent cage and a correctly placed bottle, there is practically no chance of the bottle rattling out.

OK I agree, but I have had one come out and found others on trails so not everybody has decent cages and places them correctly (including me) they still get mucky though.

 

[Big Dave laaa]

Hydration pack on a roadie? You will incur the wrath of the Velominati

 

[Salad Dodger]

Pretty much every XC racer carries bottles, not hydration packs. Assuming a half decent cage and a correctly placed bottle, there is practically no chance of the bottle rattling out.

Of course, racers can pick up replacement bottles mid race, which they couldnt do with a hydration pack. Leisure riders, perhaps reckoning to stay out for a few hours, might be more inclined to go a a hydration pack, which they can also use to carry a few spares or an extra jumper/winndproof jacket.

 

[Cubist]

Pretty much every XC racer carries bottles, not hydration packs. Assuming a half decent cage and a correctly placed bottle, there is practically no chance of the bottle rattling out.

Not every MTBer is an XC racer though. On ordinary trails for mere mortals you tend to spray your bottle mouthpieces with animal faeces, rotting corpses (I've run over a fox carcase before now) and all manner of unpleasant surprises. In any case, the type of riding I do means I want at least a waterproof/spare layer of clothing, a paper map to back up my garmin, a good pump to inflate tubeless tyres, a spare tube, a chain breaker and spare links, a handful of allen keys, triangular bandage and field dressing, food/snacks, tubeless repair kit, mobile phone and car keys. A litre and a half of water on top of that and the pack is more than just a hydration system.

Bottle cages on MTBS are to stash your rechargeable batteries anyway.

 

[ufkacbln]

I use an "unbottle" on the back of the recumbent seats, as this is the most convenient

I have also used this as a reservoir on the rack of the uprights on hot days to back up the water supply on very hot days or long distances

 

[mjr]

Not every MTBer is an XC racer though. On ordinary trails for mere mortals you tend to spray your bottle mouthpieces with animal faeces, rotting corpses (I've run over a fox carcase before now) and all manner of unpleasant surprises. In any case, the type of riding I do means I want at least a waterproof/spare layer of clothing, a paper map to back up my garmin, a good pump to inflate tubeless tyres, a spare tube, a chain breaker and spare links, a handful of allen keys, triangular bandage and field dressing, food/snacks, tubeless repair kit, mobile phone and car keys. A litre and a half of water on top of that and the pack is more than just a hydration system.

Don't put tools in your backpack unless they're well padded because you could land on them in a crash.

If you don't want crap on your bottle lid, use bottles with caps over the drinking spout.

 

[Smurfy]

http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/#32