“not nice” is a nice way of putting it. >_>
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I was about to abort my ride when I came across a well and discovered that the damaged bottle could still hold water when held upside down. Drinking needed some skill since water would start to flow once to mouth piece is opened. Surely looked funny. 
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Not 1L specific but an interesting bottle test…
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Quick tip from me - not sure if it’s been mentioned, but lately I’ve been taking one of these soft flasks in my jersey as a 3rd bottle on longer (4 hour+) no stop rides. Pop in some ice and it’ll keep you cool at the start of your ride.
Liquid will obviously get warm the longer you leave it. I tend to only fill it with water in case it leaks in the jersey, but can add more sugar to the on bike bottles if required.
I don’t really like the nozzle, but love the pliability, and how it shrinks way down as you drink compared to being lumbered with a 500ml bottle in the jersey all ride.
https://www.salomon.com/en-gb/shop-emea/product/sflask-500-17-spd-42.html#color=74287&size=29055
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Bingo, that’s my concern.
I quite like the Zefal, but reliably holding water is a precondition to being a water bottle. 
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At 28cm long doesn’t it stick way out of the jersey pocket? I’m imagining it flopping over since its soft. I like that though, soft seems nice rather than a hard bottle.
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Same thing. 21cm but not sure if that includes the top. I don’t find it flops around. I do find it’s a little more challenging to put back into the jersey pocket because of that floppiness.
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Yes, it can flop over, but is a bit more stable than you’d think. I tend to shove it in the pocket, then just ensure the lid/nozzle are upright. It tends to sit along the bottom of the pocket and then up and out, with just the lid protruding from the pocket. Hard to explain well, but it stays put and is obviously less cumbersome the more you empty it.
By the time you’re done it’s just a small lid in your pocket, and the rest is about the size of a few gel wrappers.
Smartwater bottles fit very well (too well?) in the Specialized cages, and they are a liter.
Actually put one on my riding mower because their idea of bottle retention was a really bad joke. Nothing has popped out of that on the mower. A little hard to put back in, but I think I have the trick down now.
The only big problem with the Smartwater bottles is the outlet. It’s a flip cap, and I can flip with lips or teeth, but it’s not easy at times…
Anyone else has had issues with Specialized bottles? I am wondering particularly about the watergate caps. I got a couple specialized bottles, one with a mo-flo cap and one with the watergate cap. The watergate cap is useless! It doesn’t let air into the bottle fast enough, so when I drink it stays out of shape for a while (maybe 40 seconds) so I can put it back on the cage. I sent them a couple messages asking if there is an easy fix but no reply. I also called but hanged up the phone after 20 minutes waiting.
Also, the “26oz” bottles can’t hold a drop of water more than the 24oz camelbak podiums. So yeah, not happy.
I like the insulated camelbak podiums and polar bottles. Still looking for something than can hold more water, non insulated is OK as long as it hold more water. Will definitely try a Zéfal.
Anyone know why there is such poor availability of the Zefal Magnum Pro in the US? My searches turn up sketchy EBay sites or international sites with high shipping fees.
Seems like a good bottle, but odd that we cant readily get it in the US.
These are the ones I bought a few weeks ago. They were in stock then… now they show as delivering in the second half of July, which is still not that bad IMO.
Thanks. Comparing the bottles to what the Zefal site shows, the ones listed on Amazon look like an older version of the base Magnum. The company offering them looks like an international importer. I’m always leery of 3rd party resellers and worry about knock offs. That’s just me.
Amazon is showing the Magnum Pro as well, but the price is $22 verses €9 on the Zefal site. Of course, Zefal only supports e-commerce sales in France.
Mine does this too, which is a shame because I otherwise love it.
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The Watergate caps are amazing and I have switched them to all of my bottles for the last couple years. It allows a lot of water out fast and quickly returns to its original shape. Additionally the rubber coating and shape is nice to drink from and easy to open/close with your mouth.
YOU MUST MODIFY THEM! You’ll need to cut out the inner “heart valve” liner. From the top of the cap inside where water comes out is an odd “heart valve” that restricts air/water. Make a cut or two on the edge of that valve liner and pull it out with needle nose pliers.
After removal of that valve piece (should come out as one piece) the cap will work amazingly. It’s allows plenty of water flow and doesn’t leak. This “heart valve” is simply an unnecessary extra layer and prohibits air back in the bottle for it to take its original shape.
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Thank you.
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You’re the hero I needed today. Thank you!
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Has anybody been able to find the SIS 1L bottles? I have a couple, and they’re great, but can’t find more.
Not sure how often this has happened to anyone else (it now looks like a handful in this thread), but I’ve now broken two of the Zefal’s. First one seemed like a fluke, hit it out of the cage grabbing the other bottle, hit the pavement and cracked wide open.
The second one was a little concerning. It was cooler out (40’s F? ) and I grabbed the bottle and gave it a big squeeze trying to down some quickly, and crushed / cracked the thing wide open with my hand dumping half the contents and forcing me to down the rest of the bottle right there…
Fluke? Bad batch? Design issue? Last thing I want to happen if it’s in a race or somewhere I’m relying on it.
I’ve cracked a lid dropping it while moving, but the bottles seem good