CAMELBAKPodium Sports Water Bottle, Squeeze Bottle, Run Cycle Hike

Review of Camelbak Podium 24oz bike bottle in Smoke, after five months and few dozen uses.Bought to replace old bottle with pop-up teat that became detached.24oz is just under 0.7 litres. Don't buy smaller than this, go bigger if you can!Colour is transparent and excellent. Twist cap seals well and hasn't leaked. Twist-lock teat superior to previous pop-up and hasn't broken so far. Yes, it's v difficult to use the twist lock one - handed but why would you need to? Once on the bike I leave it open so I can grab and squirt (so to speak) as I ride.Dishwasher dulls the relatively soft plastic of the bottle so I wash that by hand. As it's not in contact with mouth and only water goes in it, a quick swoosh with soapy water then rinse is best. The cap still goes in the dishwasher and no effect on operation, nor on appearance.Great product.

Great bottle even fitted on my bike bottle stand

Quite expensive for a water bottle but I find it very easy to squeeze and the valve releases loads of water quickly into my gob.

Best water bottles for bike rides by far. Easy to clean as the whole nozzle comes apart so you can get to every part. Brilliant price also

The quality is great, I did think the white one would be opaque but was disappointed it wasn't and it is see through, no fault on amazon though, I'll just order a coloured one next time :) I love Camelbaks and think the bottle is good, no leaks or anything when running with it

I've been using various brands and models of bottles over the years, for hiking and cycling. Many leaked right away or just after a few weeks of use, even after very careful cleaning. Some are too heavy, made of metal, although ok for small walks, but not good for cycling. So overall a frustrating experience. Then I found this Camelbak podium bottle mostly for cyling, without much hope. But after using it a few times, I first really appreciated the close/open mechanism. It opens/closes gradually and is genius. I actually leave it half way open when I cycle so I can take the bottle while cycling with one hand and just squeeze to drink. Importantly it doesn't leak in that position when cycling. When I hike and the bottle is inside my backpack, I fully close it to make it can't leak. So far so good. It's the best bottle I've had so far. Let's how long it lasts

I can imagine this is great for some sports but none that involve drinking while still moving or any that involve dirt, something like Snooker or Darts.Starting with the positives, excellent build quality and use of plastics, compared to my cheaper bottles the body of the bottle is very squeezable and the silicone mouth peice is easy on the lips as aposed to smashing teeth and lips onto hard plastics whilst trying to move and drink at the same time.I had purchased this for cycling, and have previously used SIS bottles with the standard style mouth operated pull up mechanisms. I feel this bottle has tried to be purposely different for the sake of it. The valve mechanism requies that you use two hands (one to hold the bottle, one to open the twist valve) which seems very inpracticle for any sport where you continue moving whilst trying to drink or trying to quickly access water.Also the mouthpeice has a large hole that I have found when cycling with the bottle in the bottle cage just fills up with dirt and dust. So you get a lovely mouthful of dirt whilst drinking, plus the silicone makes the dust and dirt stick to the material.I understand that camelbak also sell a separate "mud cap" for £6.95 but these seems absolutley rediculous fixing an issue that shouldn't exist in the first place then charging me for it as an accessory. Plus that means an additional step of taking of that cap before opening the valve to take a drink.I purchased this primarily as I liked the look of it and know of Camelbak as a reputable brand. I would have less of an issue if this wasn't targeted as a sports bottle and list the sports alognside cycling in the name. Good quality but rather impracticle.

We only tend to buy this brand and type of water bottle now as it seems to be the most leak-proof option. They're really simple design. Easy to use. Great for kids, and come in lots of different colours . They're also really easy to clean and you can put them in the top rack of your dishwasher.