Quantcast

The Aero Bottle Sponge...

magnus's picture
Posts
23
Member
613 days
started by magnus on June 5, 2008

Ok, this year i decided to get this Aero Bottle. So in my first race with it at Florida 70.3 at mile 10, I hit a light reflector on the street and whooshhhh the mesy sponge goes flying to the ground. So i had to spend the next 40 miles with gatorade splashing everywhere. Flash forward to last week during a local sprint, i hit something else in the damn road. Of course again it goes flying to the ground.

Is there any tips on making it stay the bottle better? Is there a lid option out there? When doing a sprint or olympic, there is no need for me to re-fill the bottle so if there is a lid out their that would be best.

Any help would be great. Thank you.

RV's picture
Posts
3349
Member
1362 days
RV posted 18 weeks ago.

I've actually never had mine fly out but I make sure it fits very tight. Will twist the mesh occasionally as I roll it up therefore increasing the volume and making it fit snug.

However for big races, as a just in case, what I do is use a zip-tie.

I simply drilled a small hole in the lip of the areobottle on each side. Put the yellow mesh thing in place and then work the zip-tie in one side, thru the mesh thingy and out the other hole and then secure the zip-tie. It is locked in place. No worries.

RV

It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss

NotAsFast's picture
Posts
126
Member
1091 days
NotAsFast posted 18 weeks ago.

Easy to solve.

The sponge is to stop splashing. All I have done is make two small holes, one on each side of the mouth of the bottle, put the sponge in, then run a small cable tie through the hole through the sponge and out the hole on the other side. Then take another tie and slide it up to the hole and clip it off. Clean, no major mods needed, functional and no major outlay of money.

Hit as many holes, reflectors etc as you want. It wont come out.

When you finish the race, just cut the tie to remove the sponge and wash. Repeat for your next ride/race.

brittda's picture
Posts
1575
Member
1356 days
brittda posted 18 weeks ago.

I have had the same thing happen. What I did was to unwind it and then rewinded it so it is really big and then stuffed it in...this seems to fix the problem.

ChunkyB's picture
Posts
997
Member
362 days
ChunkyB posted 18 weeks ago.

Check out this thread for some other suggestions. It's not just about the sponge issue, but it kind of became that. There are some really good suggestions in there.

"The melting point of wax means nothing to me": Thrice

My Blog

chekmarks's picture
Posts
146
Member
257 days
chekmarks posted 18 weeks ago.

i actually just got an aero bottle and had the same question! i keep reading about splashing, but mine has a star cut, spongy cap on it already. it also came with the yellow sponge and two straws? what do i need two straws for? thanks ya'll.

WillbIM1Day's picture
Posts
63
Member
177 days
WillbIM1Day posted 18 weeks ago.

chekmarks wrote:
two straws? what do i need two straws for? thanks ya'll.

Mine came with two straws as well, but they're not the same. The clear straw is wider than the opaque one. The opaque one is not long enough to make for comfortable sipping, so slip the clear one over one end of the opaque one and cut it off at a height that is comfortable for you. I'd do a long ride before you cut it, to be sure of the length you want the clear one to be when riding in aero position.

fpugsley's picture
Posts
236
Member
949 days
fpugsley posted 18 weeks ago.

chekmarks wrote:
... mine has a star cut, spongy cap on it already...

Mine too, it still splashes, just not as much

Leroy Bonkers's picture
Posts
372
Member
410 days
Leroy Bonkers posted 18 weeks ago.

You can stretch part of an old swim cap over the top, secure with rubber bands, and cut a slit in the top. pour in new water through the slit. super low splash factor.

If you've got the mesh try putting it in sideways. Can't pop out that way.

uglygreencow's picture
Posts
3
Member
128 days
uglygreencow posted 18 weeks ago.

The new generation bottle from Profile has a lid. I guess that prevents what we are talking about here :)

http://www.profile-design.com/products/hydration/aquacell/

fpugsley's picture
Posts
236
Member
949 days
fpugsley posted 18 weeks ago.

uglygreencow wrote:
The new generation bottle from Profile has a lid. I guess that prevents what we are talking about here :)

http://www.profile-design.com/products/hydration/aquacell/


Prevents.... doesn't stop. See my post above. I still get stuff everywhere until I drink it down an inch or 2.

I am thinking saran wrap and a tiny/weak rubber band for my 70.3 coming up, and then just pull it off and stick it in my pocket when i refill with water.

kylie's picture
Posts
4338
Member
1594 days
kylie posted 18 weeks ago.

fpugsley wrote:
I am thinking saran wrap and a tiny/weak rubber band for my 70.3 coming up, and then just pull it off and stick it in my pocket when i refill with water.

I went that route for a while. I used a hair rubberband (since they are easier to find in our house than regular ones) and a folded piece of saran wrap. I made it a couple layers thick to make it easy to fold back without tearing or stretching out of place. It worked fine, but I usually do just use the sponge now.

fastdog5's picture
Posts
258
Member
758 days
fastdog5 posted 18 weeks ago.

Why not just leave some room at the top?

beads1985's picture
Posts
4667
Member
1676 days
beads1985 posted 18 weeks ago.

I have used a water balloon and stretched it over the top after i have the mesh inside.

Nothing to it, but to do it

fpugsley's picture
Posts
236
Member
949 days
fpugsley posted 18 weeks ago.

fastdog5 wrote:
Why not just leave some room at the top?

The top is the widest part of the bottle, so inch for inch, it holds the most liquid. thats important to me, but for some, it might not matter as much.

kylie wrote:
I went that route for a while. I used a hair rubberband (since they are easier to find in our house than regular ones)

I have a pack of those in my transition bag... the little clear ones... to rubber band my shoes. They stretch like no tomorrow and you get a bazillion of them for cheap!

magnus's picture
Posts
23
Member
613 days
magnus posted 17 weeks ago.

Thankyou for your suggestions. This will help

M's picture
Posts
81
Member
274 days
M posted 17 weeks ago.

I have the aquacell with 2 chambers. Both bottles have the star-cut dense foamy thing as a lid. I first used that without the included yellow sponge and got spritzed constantly. I did some reading and tried some generally unsuccessful modifications. Finally I came across the suggestion to take that yellow thing and unwind it all the way til it looks like a fishnet stocking, then wind it all the way back up, again like a stocking. I took the wound-up mesh and kept just a bit of the end out so that it could hang over the rim when the black lid went on (to keep it from getting pushed down inside). This worked very well. The meshy part controls sloshing near the top and the denser black star-cut thing keeps the moisture (and the meshy part) inside. It's also good to do the full unwind thing for cleaning and drying.

I also got flexible camelbak-type straws for the upper straw because I didn't think they were long enough and they were definitely too hard to drink from comfortably.

topshelf's picture
Posts
1
Member
107 days
topshelf posted 15 weeks ago.

Seems like we all have the same problems...and looks like there is 101 different ideas...to make it 102...

We went to the local Target, Walmart, Shopko, Walgreens...whatever and bought a medium sized Loofa (nominal price of $1.09 and yes they are the things you use to scrape all the dead cells off your body). It fits the bottle very snug, has a built in handle to remove it and hold on to while you refill, and if you lose it...well again it was only $1.09..It really works like a charm...

If you end up with one that is just a bit too big you can trim it down with scissors to fit right....but remember, you cut off too much and you're back to square one.

Happy trails,

J

jsk85's picture
Posts
590
Member
269 days
jsk85 posted 15 weeks ago.

topshelf wrote:
Seems like we all have the same problems...and looks like there is 101 different ideas...to make it 102...

We went to the local Target, Walmart, Shopko, Walgreens...whatever and bought a medium sized Loofa (nominal price of $1.09 and yes they are the things you use to scrape all the dead cells off your body). It fits the bottle very snug, has a built in handle to remove it and hold on to while you refill, and if you lose it...well again it was only $1.09..It really works like a charm...

If you end up with one that is just a bit too big you can trim it down with scissors to fit right....but remember, you cut off too much and you're back to square one.

Happy trails,

J

You know a loofa is basically a loose mesh sponge, so you should be able to refill without removing it...unless it's very densely packed in there

beniger's picture
Posts
26
Member
130 days
beniger posted 15 weeks ago.

FYI: The new Aero bottle comes with a black lid to hold the sponge in place. There's still a whole, but the rubber lid holds the yellow sponge in place. I picked one up from my LBS, well worth the $12.