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Bottles
Zefal Sense Pro 65 bottle Zefal Sense Pro 65 bottle
Zefal Sense Pro 65 bottle

Zefal Sense Pro 65 bottle

8
by John Stevenson
UPDATED Fri, Oct 25, 2019 19:55

First Published Oct 25, 2019

0
£7.99

VERDICT:

8
10
Good size, well-priced bottle with a very nice mouthpiece
Weight: 
78g
Contact: 
www.chickencyclekit.co.uk
How we test

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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Zefal's Sense Pro water bottle is easy to drink from, doesn't affect the taste of your drink, and has a clever pull seal that has resisted our attempts to make it leak.

  • Pros: Good seal, available in large-volume option, excellent value
  • Cons: Not quite as 'squishy' as the competition

The Sense Pro bottle's key feature is the push/pull mouthpiece which both delivers plenty of water and seals the bottle very effectively when you push it into the cap. How effectively? I tested it by standing on it and it took most of my 100+kg to pop the valve. The same test on a Camelbak Podium bottle produced a leak from the cap thread. I've been throwing full Podium bottles in bags for years without problems, and I'll happily do the same with a Sense Pro.

> Find your nearest dealer here

> Buy this online here

The rest of the Sense Pro is nicely executed. The neck is wide for ice cubes or drink mix and the cap screws firmly into place. Water flows freely when you give the polypropylene body a squeeze and even after a couple of days your water doesn't taste plasticky.

Zefal Sense Pro 65 bottle - top.jpg

It's also made in France, which is good. Buying a water bottle that was moulded in, say, China means you're paying for three-quarters of a litre of air to be shipped round the planet in a hulking gert polluting container ship. That's an admittedly small but entirely bonkers addition to global warming.

The Camelbak Podium is the obvious rival when it comes to premium water bottles. The seal is more or less equally effective, and the Sense Pro scores on being a bit cheaper and a bit larger. This one is 650ml vs the 610ml of a small Podium and the bigger versions are 800ml vs 710ml. A pair of the bigger bottles therefore gives you an extra 180ml of water, and that's got to be worth having on a hot summer day.

However, the Podium is slightly easier to squeeze, so if glugging down your water very quickly is vitally important to you, that might be the way to go.

> How to eat – and drink – right for long rides

A major feature of the latest Podium is that the valve is straightforward to dismantle for cleaning. To take apart the Sense Pro you simply prise the mouthpiece out of the cap, then you can pop the parts in the dishwasher.

Overall, then, the Zefal Sense Pro is a worthy rival to the Podium, and cheaper too.

Verdict

Good size, well-priced bottle with a very nice mouthpiece

road.cc test report

Make and model: Zefal Sense Pro 65 bottle

Size tested: 650ml

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Zefal says:

"The Sense Pro bottle has been designed down to the last detail to offer cyclists the very best. Its over-moulded cover offers better grip on the bottle and its double-closure Pro-Cap system makes it 100% watertight for easier carrying. No more spilled drink on the bottle and on the bike! The silicon push offers a pleasant sensation when drinking. The quick-opening valve provides better-regulated control of the liquid consumed without spillage due to overflow. Like the Sense and Shark bottles, it is manufactured with our specific polypropylene material, which is light, more flexible, and odourless to keep your drinks clean and pure."

I can't really argue with any of that. It works, and it doesn't leak.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

PRO-CAP SYSTEM

Double-closure system for 100% watertight transport.

SOFT PUSH

Soft push for a pleasant sensation while drinking.

GRIP RING

Over-moulded cover for better grip on the bottle.

ODOURLESS MATERIAL

The polypropylene material keeps water clean and pure.

BPA-FREE

No Bisphenol-A, phtalates or other toxins used.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10
Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
9/10

The silicone mouthpiece is very pleasant against your lips and teeth.

Rate the product for value:
 
9/10

This is probably the cheapest 'posh' water bottle around.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Very well.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Ease of use; price.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Nothing.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

Significantly cheaper than rivals such as posh bottles from Camelbak and Specialized.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

It's hard to get too excited about a water bottle, but the Sense Pro does its job very well. It scores for being nice to use, very good value for money and made in the EU, but loses because the cap can't be dismantled easily for cleaning.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 53  Height: 5ft 11in  Weight: 100kg

I usually ride: Scapin Style  My best bike is:

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, club rides, general fitness riding, mountain biking

Zefal Sense Pro 65 bottle 2019
Zefal Sense Pro 65 bottle
Zefal 2019
Zefal
John Stevenson

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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