Gear Review: Speedfil (Standard)

Last year, my wife wanted to buy something where she did not have to reach down for her water bottle.  She is not the greatest bike handler and was uncomfortable reaching down for the bottle off of the down tube.  At that time, she did not have aerobars and vertical bottle mounts for the handlebars were not practical for triathlon.  You can use them on your beach cruiser but it is inconvenient on a road bike.  So we picked up a Speedfil.  The Speedfil standard model fits on your downtube where the water bottle goes but has a tube straw that goes up to your handlebars or your aerobats.  

The Speedfil is meant to be used in aero like a between the arms (BTA) bottle but resides on your frame.  This way, it can hold a much larger capacity than anything that could be mounted to the bars.  The current model holds about 40 ounces of liquid.  It has a sliding groove for the screws allowing for adjustment of placement on the tube to account for varying geometry of bikes.  In reality, this was invented before the advent of bikes with built in bladders (Shiv) for the exact same purposes: easy filling and aerodynamics.  The attached hose features a bite valve so the athlete doesn't have to worry about splashing from the straw.  

The Speedfil has a quick fill mechanism with a rubber flap valve and also a funnel decide to reduce backsplash.  The idea is that it can be refilled on the fly and really without even going out of aero.  The tube is long enough and comes with neoprene insulation wrap with a metal rod inside that is flexible and moldable to make it form to your needs and not flop around.   You still need to attach it with zip ties or something to the bike.  It also has a bite valve on the end to prevent leaking and splashing.  Speedfil sells neoprene covers for the entire unit to help it be insulated on hot days.  

I have begun to use this since my wife has not been doing many triathlons.  I started last year for my training for Ironman Maryland.  I put it on my Orbea as part of my dual hydration system.  In the Speedfil, I can put several servings of Infinit (or Gatorade) and reserve the BTA hydration system for water.  I can more easily fill up the BTA and water is typically more plentiful on a long course.   I now have two straws and rarely need to leave the aerobars to pick up a bottle.  Plus, it cuts down on the juggling and risk of dropping bottles all over the place.  

I think the Speedfil is very remarkable and useful.  It can be configured in a multitude of ways with the straw being positioned pretty much anywhere you want it.  I use zip ties to hold it in place, but Speedfil now makes a retractable leash style accessory that allows athletes to pull it up to the mouth and it snaps back to the aerobars when you let go.  It is essentially the badge holders that you see pretty much everywhere with retractable strings.  They sell it for a bit more than the badge holders so I could see people using the cheaper retractable badge holders for the same purpose.  Zip ties or rubber bands also can be used to attach it in unique ways.  

During my long training, I used the system exclusively and found it did very much what it is made to do.  I had very little spilling and was able to put in the full amount of liquid.  Refilling is very easy and having the system cuts down on the splashing of sticky nutrition all over the front of my bike.  When using the neoprene covers, the liquid does stay cold longer but without the cover, it is a plastic bottle and no match for the Florida heat.  The liquid becomes warm as it would with any non-insulated bottle.  It is also easy to take out and replace the bottle for cleaning or to transfer to another bike.  

I only have a few problems with the system.   The first is that it is a pain to clean and reinsert the tube/straw.  It is just unwieldy and you cannot let it sit uncleaned unless you like drinking mold.   If you use it for anything other than water, it is essential to clean very frequently and very efficiently.  The straw and the bite valve are prime places for sugar loving organisms to set up residence.  The second drawback is the straw placement into the container.  Because of the shape of the bottle, it is difficult to set the straw tube at the right place to ensure you are able to get all the way to the bottom so you can get to the full 40 ounces.   You can get around it by setting it once and marking with a black marker the stop point when inserting it.  It still is a little dubious to make sure it sits correctly.  If you don't set it correctly, you will not be able to draw the last bit of liquid from the bottom of the triangle bottle.  

Overall, the system is a great addition for those who do not have internal bladders for longer courses.  I wouldn't suggest it for those doing short course as you may not need 40 oz of liquid in a sprint.  However, in longer International distance or above it might come in handy rather than carrying gels or multiple bottles of water and other liquid nutrition.   The price is also a plus as it is in line with other hydration systems and often can be found on Amazon or other outlets for half of the price.  As more and more TT bikes feature integrated nutrition, the utility of this piece may be limited but at this point there aren't many integrated options that are not prohibitively expensive.  It may also work well for those using dual-purpose road bikes with aerobars where integrated bladders are not an option at all.