Chris Chavies, Minnesota Navigator

CamelBak took the innovative design features of their Podium water bottles and made them even better this year with a few new improvements.  Each bottle is still made with CamelBak’s BPA-Free TruTaste™ polypropylene with HydroGuard™ to let you taste the water and not the bottle.  The new improvements make hydrating on the bike even easier.

The first two things I liked that CamelBak improved upon were the Jet Valve design and the larger removable nozzle.  The lockout on the Jet Valve is larger than the old design and much easier to turn to lock or unlock with one hand while riding.  The nozzle of the Jet Valve is larger delivering a faster flow and is easily removed for cleaning.  This new nozzle contains the self-sealing blue valve making it a breeze to clean, unlike the old design.

The new Podium bottles are a softer and need less of a squeeze to deliver flow, this became apparent during several rides in chilly temperatures.  The old design would become stiff in cold temperatures requiring more squeeze pressure to produce flow.

The grip was redesigned, too.  It fits perfectly to your thumb and index finger providing a secure grip.  This design makes it easier to squeeze the bottle to produce flow whereas the old design was much more rigid and required more squeeze pressure.

CamelBak Podium bottles come in 21 and 24 oz. sizes and also an insulated version called Podium Chill in 21 & 25 oz. sizes.  Available at Penn Cycle, other fine bike shops and from the CamelBak Shop online.

In conclusion, the new CamelBak Podium water bottles are an improvement on an already good design.  Forget about those inferior standard water bottles, CamelBak did it right with this one.  Whether you are a serious cyclist or a casual weekend rider, you will enjoy the new and improved CamelBak Podium Series bottles.