I feel more precise about hydration w/ bottles, generally I drink one bottle per hour. Makes the math super easy. Im sure that can be achieved w packs too but I’m used to bottles.
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IMO, a section that also benefits from having a pack is the Columbine descent. It’s long, so important to drink. And also fast enough where reaching and drinking from a bottle would be a bit sketchy (each year when I rode LT100, I saw crashes on that descent).
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Good point. That’s indeed harder.
Even just a technical ascent can be enough, when line choice is important, I don’t like drinking then.
The goat trail descent is definitely too sketchy (loose scree) for me to drink a bottle but you’re only on it for a few minutes on the descent and once you get back on the dirt road it’s fine.
When I hit twin lakes I swap for 2 Elite Fly 550ml bottles which I finish by the summit. The way the turnaround is now you ride a triangle with the aid station in the middle and you can hand your bottles off to them at the entry point and they hand them back to you full as you exit.
I mention the Elite Fly bottles specifically because have very thin walls and a relatively wide nozzle so they are very easy to squeeze which in turn really blasts the water out of them. You can get an enormous amount of fluid from them in a second or two so I really don’t find it to be a problem to find moments in almost any terrain where I can get a quick drink in. You get way more fluid per unit of time vs sucking it out of the pack though of course there is no real urgency when using the pack since you can have your hands on the bars.
I ride more standard higher capacity bottles for other sections, but given you can swap bottles out with your crew there’s no reason not to optimize for the climb.
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Do they “re-inflate” quickly, too? That’s my gripe with e. g. Specialized bottles or the early Mark 2 Camelbak bottles (the plastic was a tad harder than the previous version and the cap was harder to rotate, too, issues that have been fixed). I prefer drinking out of the Specialized bottles compared with the Mark 2 Camelbaks, but the bottles are unsecured for a few seconds if I immediately put them back into the bottle cage.
(Sorry for geeking out on such as niche of a niche topic.)
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Ha there’s no such thing as geeking out too much about marginal gains. The Elite Fly bottles pop back to shape very quickly in my experience. Pros are they are super light and super easy to drink from, cons are they are not very durable and provide no insulation at all. If it’s a very hot day outside your fluids will heat up fast. Both the pros and cons are all down to them being a very thin wall design.
I use them in events but don’t use them as an every day bottle.
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Since I’m slow uphill, that’s a section where I try make up a few mins and I’m flying down 
.
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Hi,
just a heads-up: Wolftooth offers a 30 T chainring which I run on my Quarq XX1 cranks without problems.
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You’ve found it doesn’t throw off the power data?
It’s not oval, so it shouldn’t. Just ordered one myself as it is advertised to work with my Quarq PM.
Those bottles do the job, but they kinda suck. I’d love to get a group of people to all send feedback to specialized to get them to make a 1L purist bottle, as those are far better. They’ll just ignore 1 person’s feedback. It could be their “gravel specific” water bottle to make it sell better too.
Specialized, reach out to me, this can definitely work.
Hi,
I have two Quarq-equipped bikes, one with a 32- and one with a 30 T chainring. I don’t have ways to compare them scientifically but the numbers are comparable on both bikes so I assume they’re not off (by a big margin).
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Yep, those 1L Zefals are not the best quality (they’ve gotten better BTW) but generally do the job. Personally think they are a bit of an overkill for Leadville but for those that are heavy drinkers or on a hot day could find them handy.
On the power meter thing, never done Leadville with one (just HR) but this would be a perfect course for a PM.
I have a 4iii left side only PM not a Quarq so not a direct comparison but riding with a oval ring generally improves the accuracy. This is only because of the quirk of a Left only system doubling left leg power and I like many people am right leg dominant by a few %.
Riding an oval ring seems to exaggerate sprint power but for more steady state it brings it closer in line to my other PMs. I tested by riding my MTB and road bike with different PMs on the same Erg workout on Kickr and comparing the 3 power data sources. Not foolproof but I have a general idea of how they overlay.
I was thinking more along the lines that Quarq states its compatible with 32T and 34T. I didn’t know if somehow the 30T throws off the strain gage in the spider.
Pretty sure that’s more a fitment issue because of the diameter of the 30T being smaller and approaching the size of the spider. 30T is threaded and requires different chainring bolts than the larger rings. PowerMeterCity will supply the 30T Wolf Tooth with the XX1 AXS Power Meter stating it works, and here’s what Wolf Tooth Says:
- All sizes of 104 BCD chainrings are compatible with QUARQ power meters.
- The Wolf Tooth 30T is the only 104 BCD chainring made in the market, and it is compatible with Quarq.
Praxis offers one too, not sure if it fits.
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