Tag: Cycling Hydration

If you have two bottle cages on your bike, you might find that is not enough to get you through an extremely hot day, especially if you are out for a long ride. In that case, you’ll either have to find a place to stop and refill your bottles or suffer through until you’re back home.

BiSaddle, the alternative bike saddle manufacturer, has developed a way to carry a third bottle if you have one of their saddles. While this is not an entirely new concept, it is an additional incentive to invest in one of the company’s very expensive saddles.

Who is BiSaddle and What Do They Do?

BiSaddle is a company that focuses on making adjustable bicycle saddles. They’ve been around since 2015 and have put their saddles through rigorous testing based on feedback from their staff and customers.

Instead of having the customer go through a series of steps to get a specific fit, BiSaddle has instead created a saddle where the nose and rear of the saddle can be adjusted to fit a cyclist’s sit bones. The cyclist can pull the nose and rear apart until they find what works for them.

See my post I wrote about the company in April of this year to learn more about BiSaddle and their bike saddle technology.

BiSaddle’s XLab Hydration System

BiSaddle is a company that is all about finding solutions to problems that cyclists encounter. While using a comfortable saddle is important for efficient and enjoyable cycling, hydration is just another problem area the company attempts to address.

It’s XLab Hydration System, which is a bit of a misnomer because it isn’t a device that delivers water or sports drink, but a device that makes carrying your bottles easier. For cyclists, we only have a few ways to address the problem of transporting enough liquid to sustain us through a long ride.

1. We can carry a third bottle in our jersey pocket, but that isn’t great if you hit a bump and the bottle pops out on the road.
2. We can strap on one of those hydration packs you see mountain bikers carry, but being a roadie is about eschewing weight, plus on a hot day a hydration pack can make you sweat profusely.
3. Stop and refill the bottles once they are close to empty, but finding someplace to do that can sometimes be a challenge. Plus, the water you do find might not be overly potable and not taste good.
4. You can buy non-standard-sized (or larger) bottles.

BiSaddle describes its hydration system as a “carbon fiber gorilla bottle holder cage.” It mounts to the back of the saddle via a rear bracket, which is included with the purchase of the XLab Hydration System for $89.95.

The company states the bottle holder is placed behind the rider and will not sway. BiSaddle also says that the cage exerts around 1o pounds of pressure, so the bottle should not pop out.

Last Thoughts

Staying fully hydrated during a ride is something all cyclists eventually face, especially when the luxury of a rest stop or SAG support isn’t available. Carrying two bottles is usually enough to get you through most rides, but if you run out of liquid, your energy systems will begin to wither quite fast.

While there are similar bottle holders on the market that attach to a bike saddle in the same manner, BiSaddle’s XLab Hydration System is the first one designed to work with a specific saddle. Furthermore, it is a system the company claims is worth the investment if you are the type of cyclist who goes through a lot of fluid during your rides.