In my post Analysis of a bad race I wrote about things that went wrong that were contributing factors to my DNF at the DIY Mountain Man Tri. One of which was that my Speedfill water bottle hose kept draining causing me to suck in air as I drank. In looking at this further I decided to document what I believe was the cause of this and how to prevent it.
First why did I name post this ‘Tri Bike Plumbing 101’. I was fixing the drain in the bathroom sink and asked myself ‘what is the the ‘P’ trap for? It holds water to prevent living things and odors from coming up from the drain. This also works to keep water closer to the top of the drain which gets replaced every time water runs in the sink.
What does this do for me? Well the closer the water is to the top of the drink tube the less air there is to suck in before I get liquid. Makes sense!
Below are some, IMHO, the correct and incorrect way to route the tube for a Speedfill or any frame mounted straw fed water bottle.
Since everything is black and two dimensional photos just don’t seem to be a worth a 1000 words. I used my awful artistic abilities to markup the pictures to help describe mu thoughts. The orange lines are used to try to show the path the hose to the water bottle takes. The red lines are used to show the handle bars.
Correct routing of the drinking tube:
Notice the slight drop below the aero bar towards the front, next to the Garmin and that the tube is routed above the base bar. This creates a ‘P’ trap next to the Garmin.
Incorrect routing of the drinking tube:
Notice that the drinking tube dips below the level of the aero bar and is routed below the base bar.
This create an angle that cause the fluid to drain back to the reservoir.
Correct ‘P’ trap:
Notice how the drinking tube drops below the level of the aero bar and then curves back upward. This creates the ‘P’ Trap holding liquid for your next drink.
By routing the drinking tube in a manner that creates a dip below the level of the aero bar you create a trap holding water for your next drink. The only air you going to suck in while drinking is the small amount in the drinking tube between the bit and the ‘P’ Trap.
I hope this tip is of some value to those of you using or thinking of using a frame mounted hydration bottle. Using tube fed frame mounted hydration has helped my overall bike time and comfort while in the aero position. After some practice and tweaking the position of the drinking tube I found it is much easier to drink from a straw than to reaching down or behind me for hydration.
One more tip: Once you find the ideal position for the drinking tube wrap a couple small pieces of tape around the aero bar to mark the location of the tube.
Be Fast, Be Safe, Stay Healthy
Mike