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TECH NEWS
BackBottle jersey pocket water bottle smashes Kickstarter goal
With just 14 hours remaining of its Kickstarter campaign at the time of writing, the rather unique BackBottle, a water bottle designed to be transported in a jersey pocket, has received nearly double its funding target of $7,777.
The BackBottle was created by cyclist Brian Davis, who wanted to carry more water on longer rides, but didn’t want to fit a third bottle cage and definitely didn’t want to resort to a hydration backpack.
So he designed a water bottle shaped to fit comfortably into a regular rear jersey pocket, and be easily accessed while riding, with a wedge shape that allows for single handed retrieval. It’s designed to stay in the pocket and not be ejected the first time you hit a bump in the road, though we’d like to test that out for ourselves.
The BackBottle has a 535ml capacity and weighs a claimed 85g when empty. It measures 8.5in in length, and is 3in wide. The neck has a 53mm diameter opening, large enough to add ice cubes. It’s manufactured in the US from squeezable plastic and uses recyclable parts and is dishwasher safe.
The BackBottle could be useful for cyclists tackling longer rides and might not be able to stop frequently for water. It could also be useful for cyclocross, as many ‘cross race bikes don’t even have bottle cage mounts. And it could be useful for mountain bikers that have a full suspension bike that does allow the fitting of a bottle cage, and don’t like lugging around a hydration pack.
Here are the benefits offered by the creator:
• ride long-don't plan your day route based on refills
• take a drink from your jersey pocket as quickly as a regular cage
• stay aero longer and avoid slowing down for refills in triathlons
• keep riding - don't click-clack through gas stations with your bike outside waiting to be stolen, just keep hammering
• allows your eyes to stay on the road
• be your own support team (or support a teammate)
• reduce your waste by not buying refills on the road
• freeze the bottle and enjoy a cool drink while keeping your core cool
The BackBottle will have a retail price of $12 but there’s a discount for Kickstarter backers, if you act quickly, so you can get one bottle for $10, and two for $18. You can pledge you support for it, if you're quick, here www.kickstarter.com/projects/fixitsticks/backbottle-the-jersey-friendly-...
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
Latest Comments
- Hirsute 1 hour 23 min ago
Radar tells me their closing speed, if they are slowing and how far away. Then I decide to say a prayer. The change of light pattern is incidental.
- lonpfrb 1 hour 43 min ago
Quite so, which is why our village 20mph zone covers the whole residential extent. Of course, enforcement is another thing..
- lonpfrb 2 hours 9 min ago
No, that's very doubtful while proper testing would be fully destructive.
- TheBillder 2 hours 55 min ago
In that £1000 exactly scenario, beginners should probably be made aware that pedals will be extra.
- don simon fbpe 3 hours 23 min ago
What's wrong with dropping down on to the Millenium Bridge, or the swing bridge, then the brief, but satisfying climb back up the hill? #training....
- chrisonabike 4 hours 4 min ago
The relatives might of course disagree, but in general I'd countenance a relatively light sentence* if only we could fix it so that those who...
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Id forgotten that I got a second hand set of project two's for my getting to work bike over twenty years back.
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My bet is that all these tires popping off are from people with bad pressure gauges or they're simply just putting too much air in on purpose. ...
- chrisonabike 6 hours 56 min ago
David9694 - you were right! These new autonomous vehicles really are conspiring to run out of control!...
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17 comments
For something so simple, I am psyched on the #backbottle...as the Florida pressure cooker warms up here around Daytona, it will be very handy on the road (Larry's 200 mile weekends) and in the dirt (6 legged monster race anyone?) ....yes it seems gimmicky but I think it does fill a niche for some long haul riders.
I saw one of those spesh aero videos and they were on about the drag that a bottle creates and the best place to put it is in your jersey pocket, maybe TT folks would buy this.
Actually that's a dam clever idea. Simple and solves a problem, I'd definitely buy one.
I'd say the idea was pointless... A niche product, but if he can flog 'em then good luck to him.
me, I'm out
I can hardly wait to ignore this product.
'That's the whole point, yup. The pointy end solves the 'how to get it back in one-handed' conundrum, the curved shape and ridges are then pluses.
As I see it.'
Personally never found a problem with normal bidons & jersey pockets. This conundrum seems not to exist?
Plus, you can then put normal bidons in a standard cage if needed.
That's the beauty of Kickstarter - people like me with a specific need can back a product we want, and you/others don't have to buy into it, let alone buy it.
Everyone wins
It seems churlish to nay-say an idea which has met its funding goal - if there is a market for this, then good.
From a personal point of view, if I'm on the sort of ride where I'll need more than two bottles, and I'm so fare out in the wilderness that no re-fill is possible... my pockets might be full already with other supplies.
Those flat rectangular bottles from Ikea do the job well.
If I invented the super light 'frameless bike': 2 unicycles with saddle on one and handlebars on the other someone with more money than sense would want to buy it.
They retail at £2000. Gear shift cableless naturally.
wow, what a micro-niche problem / solution. I'd rather wear a hydration pack.
Why can't you swap out a regular bottle from your jersey pocket to the bottle cage once the original bottle in the cage is empty?
Some bikes don't have two cages, or even one. Or room for one, even if you wanted to use a band-on adapter.
And a regular bottle will be less comfy / more prone to falling out of a pocket.
Good luck to them and the project, but the thought of that weight sagging in a summer weight jersey would put me off
Don't want to be a party-pooper, but on the rare occasions I carry a bottle other than on the bike, I find a flat or rectangular shape is better than traditional bidon shape. It's more comfortable, better fits a jersey pocket, and is less likely to fall out. I also sometimes use one of those 0.5L rounded bottles that runners carry, or a 'hiking' bottle made from flexible plastic which is even more comfortable in a jersey back pocket when full of water, and folds very small when empty.
'• ride long-don't plan your day route based on refills
• take a drink from your jersey pocket as quickly as a regular cage
• stay aero longer and avoid slowing down for refills in triathlons
• keep riding - don't click-clack through gas stations with your bike outside waiting to be stolen, just keep hammering
• allows your eyes to stay on the road
• be your own support team (or support a teammate)
• reduce your waste by not buying refills on the road
• freeze the bottle and enjoy a cool drink while keeping your core cool'
so, it has all the same benefits as a standard bidon, but it's a different shape?
That's the whole point, yup. The pointy end solves the 'how to get it back in one-handed' conundrum, the curved shape and ridges are then pluses.
As I see it.
Done. Backed. Two coming. What a cracking good idea.
Will go perfectly with my vintage Raleigh Corsa, only one bottle cage mount and no desire to add an aftermarket bodge in order to carry more than 500ml.
*edit* Yes you can buy QR extra-bottle mounts a la Monkii etc. And yes, you could just stop more often. This obviously isn't a product for everyone, for every ride, or every bike. But for £10 each they will solve a problem I / others have on occasion, elegantly.
Case in point: I regularly head for the North Hampshire Downs. There's an area north of Andover measuring about 100 square km of gorgeous narrow lanes, in which pubs open before noon (often before 4pm) are few and far between, there's only one shop and they can be grumpy about giving free refills, and when pushing it you don't want to stop. This sort of bottle will fill a gap for a hot day out on an old (or new) bike.