Plastic or Metal Water Bottles, where do you stand?

We are thinking about offering a Legacy branded water bottle for merchandising and wanted to get your opinions.  

Would you be more interested in a plastic bottle (more optimized for drinking while riding http://goo.gl/k3NQa ), or a metal bottle (at a greater price http://goo.gl/f1pZJ ) ?

*Both made in USA and BPA free.

Would this be something you would be likely to purchase?

We appreciate your thoughts.

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on July 30, 2012 at 5:48am

In every situation except while riding a bike I prefer metal to plastic. But would I spend money on either? It is pretty unlikely. I like a water bottle I use on a bike to be cheap enough so that if i happen to leave it on my bike I don't have to worry about it disappearing. No-one would steal a crappy plastic water bottle.

On the other hand, I also hate the plastic taste of water after its been sitting in the typical giveaway water bottle. 

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on July 30, 2012 at 6:13am

I agree.  

I own a few Kleen Kanteens with the nice sport tops, with the nylon shoulder strap sleeve.  The metal bottle is superior to plastic for most uses.  I have a Kleen Kanteen bottle cage/holder and it works OK but a metal bottle isn't very good for riding.  If you drop it it can be destroyed (my wife did this to one of ours) and like Tony Adams said I'm always afraid to leave it on the bike since the bottle with the sport cap runs about $25 replacement cost.

On a bike the plastic water bottle is superior. It's nice being able to squeeze it to get water out of it faster.  If it gets dropped it probably won't break, and if it gets lost/stolen it's not a big deal.  I've got about a dozen water bottles that I've gotten free over the years.  I lose, damage, or give them away every year but I always seem to collect them faster than they go away.

Every freebie plastic water bottle I own has a promenent logo of some sort on it and it gets seen by everyone who walks by my parked bike or around it when I'm riding or at a ride.  It is a good promotional item that will actually get used by real bicyclists as we appreciate them and take them with us. 

If you expect them to be used by bicyclists my opinion is that they should be plastic and fit a bottle cage.   Cheap metal bottles leak and don't work as well. The air-valves to let air back in usually are cheap and make drinking very difficult -or the caps don't screw in very securely.  If you aren't going to go high-end like the Kleen Kanteen then I'd suggest just going with a cheaper plastic bottle that work even when they are cheap.

As a bicyclist who lives off of free plastic promo water bottles I say that is what I would prefer.  I owned a few cheaper metal ones and they aren't even worth keeping.  They are junk.  Only the Kleen Kanteen type are any good -or the very well-made copy-cats.  The cheap ones end up getting taken to goodwill. 



Tony Adams said:

In every situation except while riding a bike I prefer metal to plastic. But would I spend money on either? It is pretty unlikely. I like a water bottle I use on a bike to be cheap enough so that if i happen to leave it on my bike I don't have to worry about it disappearing. No-one would steal a crappy plastic water bottle.

On the other hand, I also hate the plastic taste of water after its been sitting in the typical giveaway water bottle. 

Permalink Reply by Michael A on July 30, 2012 at 6:19am

To eliminate the "plastic water bottle tastes" once a week I clean my bottles with a denture cleaning tablet, fill the bottle 3/4 and drop one in.... let it sit for about 10 minutes and then rinse .. works amazingly well especially if you use any sports drink mix to hydrate.

We have been using the specialized water bottles for our team bottles for the 3rd yr in a row, they have been great.

Metal bottles make little sense to me for use on a bike, you have to remove the cap to drink and then tip the bottle upright to drink. I guess it would be fine if you only drink while stopped.

Permalink Reply by David Barish on July 30, 2012 at 6:48am

I understand why people use metal bottles. I would consider one for use indoors.  I would never use one outdoors. I always use an insulated plastic bottle.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on July 30, 2012 at 7:20am

The insulated bottles don't keep the water cold for very long.  A couple of hours OK.  But really, water gets drank faster than it gets warm most of the time.    If you aren't drinking because you have 2-3 bottles on your bike it then it's going to get warm anyhow in another hour or so anyhow.   I'd rather have that extra few ounces of liquid in my bottle that the insulated bottles lose.   More/cold water can often be found at a water fountain, or at a SAG stop on a longer organized ride.   But that is just me.   It doesn't bother me to drink warm water at all.   There are many times in my life where I would have loved to have had clean water that was merely WARM.  

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on July 30, 2012 at 7:26am

I use a Klean Kanteen in my bike and it works great. Not sure why everyone is hating on metal here. :-)

Permalink Reply by David Barish on July 30, 2012 at 7:32am

If a bottle is out in the elements its hard to use a metal bottle.  Not only will the liquid get hot, this Summer it is literally hard to hold.  I completely get the envronmental concerns. However, the metal bottle simply makes no sense for me. I am just one person. I guess if you are carrying the bottle in your bag, there is less of a problem.  I don't like that option but that is a personal choice. I don't want to be fishing out my bottle when I need a sip.  If you are comuting it is likely that you can get by with no bottle at all most of the time.  James- your point is well taken. I think there is a judgement made over the gain in coolness v. the loss of volume.  I find insulated bottles keep a bottle that was loaded with ice water at first cool for a very long time. No question you can freeze bottles the night before you ride to keep them cool longer.  I also find insulated bottles great for Winter riding.  Water stays in the same state of matter even if the temps are in the teens. The only problem is the mouthpiece, which is not insulated, can still freeze.

Permalink Reply by S.Presley☠ on July 30, 2012 at 7:32am

The last metal water bottle I bought blew out when the water froze on a snow ride.

I have enough plastic water bottles, for free from events, that I never consider buying one. Like Manna, when I need one..there it is at the next booth.

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on July 30, 2012 at 7:34am

I used my metal, non-insulated bottle in 100 degree heat and it held up fine. Water got a bit warm though. I loaded it up with ice to solve that problem.

David Barish said:

If a bottle is out in the elements its hard to use a metal bottle.  Not only will the liquid get hot, this Summer it is literally hard to hold.  I completely get the envronmental concerns. However, the metal bottle simply makes no sense for me. I am just one person. I guess if you are carrying the bottle in your bag, there is less of a problem.  I don't like that option but that is a personal choice. I don't want to be fishing out my bottle when I need a sip.  If you are comuting it is likely that you can get by with no bottle at all most of the time.  James- your point is well taken. I think there is a judgement made over the gain in coolness v. the loss of volume.  I find insulated bottles keep a bottle that was loaded with ice water at first cool for a very long time. No question you can freeze bottles the night before you ride to keep them cool longer.  I also find insulated bottles great for Winter riding.  Water stays in the same state of matter even if the temps are in the teens. The only problem is the mouthpiece, which is not insulated, can still freeze.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on July 30, 2012 at 7:40am

Good point about the insulated plastic bottles when it is below freezing.   Metal bottles become worthless very quickly when it gets this cold.    It's also harder to drink out them fast.   I've sucked the little one-way air valve into my Kleen Kanteen a number of times -especially when it gets colder.   The new replacement sports tops that they gave out a couple of years ago on the safety recall don't do this as much -but they still can.  Who else was more than a little bit annoyed that the recall took 3 months?  I was out my bottles and almost didn't get them back for my month-long backpacking trip to Peru.   What a poorly-run recall.  I"m stil not totally able to forgive Kleen Kanteen for that one. 

David Barish said:

If a bottle is out in the elements its hard to use a metal bottle.  Not only will the liquid get hot, this Summer it is literally hard to hold.  I completely get the envronmental concerns. However, the metal bottle simply makes no sense for me. I am just one person. I guess if you are carrying the bottle in your bag, there is less of a problem.  I don't like that option but that is a personal choice. I don't want to be fishing out my bottle when I need a sip.  If you are comuting it is likely that you can get by with no bottle at all most of the time.  James- your point is well taken. I think there is a judgement made over the gain in coolness v. the loss of volume.  I find insulated bottles keep a bottle that was loaded with ice water at first cool for a very long time. No question you can freeze bottles the night before you ride to keep them cool longer.  I also find insulated bottles great for Winter riding.  Water stays in the same state of matter even if the temps are in the teens. The only problem is the mouthpiece, which is not insulated, can still freeze.

Permalink Reply by Liz on July 30, 2012 at 7:48am

I really like the camelbak podium chill bottles.  The water flows really well while riding, stays cool in the heat and it has a really good lockout. Unlike some other insulated plastic bottles you squeeze the water out of this one.  With proper cleaning I haven't noticed any "plastic" taste.  

http://www.camelbak.com/Sports-Recreation/Bottles/2012-Podium-Chill...

A metal bottle is likely to heat water more quickly in high temperature unless its insulated.  Also as long as you reuse a plastic bottle for as long as a metal bottle, it doesn't really produce any more waste. 

Even with the 100+ temps ambient and 110+ pavement temps and hours on the road my water was staying cool last week for about 2 hours with the insulated bottle.  I wasn't carrying a bag, since I don't like carrying anything on my back while I bike. 

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 30, 2012 at 7:59am

I prefer free.

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