Speedfil Speedflask – Keeping Your Drink Cold On Your Adventures

It’s a bit full circle for metal water bottles to be making a comeback. For decades, cyclists rode with metal bottles until plastic eventually replaced them. Now, there are many reasons to go back to metal water bottles, some see it as a health reason, others enjoy improved insulation, but they do typically come with a weight penalty. So, is it worth the fuss? Speedfil sent some of their Speedflasks over, and we’ll have another review coming soon for another metal bottle. Here is how we got on with the Speedflask.

For Speedfil, the Speedflask is a bit of a departure from the rest of their product line that is more focused on triathlon or other instances where you want hands free or aerodynamic hydration. This includes the F1, which fits at the bottom bracket between the down and seat tubes, and the A2, which mounts between your arms on aerobars.

The Speedflask on the other hand, uses a metal bottle shaped somewhat like a large cycling bottle, and uses a flip top lid. The body of the Speedflask is a double-walled, vacuum sealed stainless steel bottle that can hold 21oz of fluids. It is shaped to work with most bottle cages on the market, though Speedfil did send over a bottle cage that is designed specifically for the Speedfil. The double walled design, similar to popular water bottles from brands like Hydroflask, Stanley, and Yeti, helps keep your beverage cold or hot over time.

At the top, a screw on lid uses a button activated flip top that opens up a large spout to drink from. There is also a small plastic loop on the lid that helps with carrying the bottle or handling while trying to drink, but can be locked in place when not in use. Specialized style lids will work in place of the flip top, but since you can’t squeeze the bottle, you can’t force your drink out of the bottle.

On The Road

The Speefil Speedflask is a bottle that would look at home on a gravel ride or bike packing adventure, a backpack for a hike, or at the gym. It definitely has a more rugged look to it than your typical plastic cycling bottle, due mainly to the metal bottle and its size. Giving that it weights 324g, it isn’t going to be the bottle you see at your local Crit. But short fast rides aren’t what this bottle is made for.

Being an insulated bottle, the Speedflask is made to keep your drinks cold on long adventures. Speedfil’s testing showed their bottle helped ice water actually get colder, before coming back to the starting temperature about 8.5 hours later while sitting in a 75 degree room. A plastic water bottle was warming within a hour, and hit room temperature in 6 hours.

While I didn’t test with thermometers, I did fill bottles with water from the tap and the same amount of ice, and took them for a two hour ride. During the ride, I alternated sips from each bottle and the Speedflask definitely stayed cold, while the plastic cycling bottle warmed quickly. In another test, the flip top lid helped keep the drinks a little bit colder than a squeeze bottle top, due to the ticker material the lid is made from.

One thing I didn’t test was an insulated plastic bottle versus the Speedflask. From past experience, the plastic insulated bottles helped to keep drinks cooler for longer, but not like the Speedflask.

Drinking on the road is a bit different than a traditional plastic bottle. Grabbing the bottle and opening the top was a fairly simple affair. Due to the size, it was a little tight getting the bottle in and out of the Elite Cannibal XC cages on my gravel bike, but it also made for a solid fit. Speedfil’s water bottle cages made specifically for the Speedflask (but will also fit regular bottles) were little easier to get the bottle in and out of. When you press the button, the top flips open and stays open, due to the tension of a rubber band. To close, just flip it close and press down to lock it in place. The biggest difference is that you cannot squeeze it to force the water in. Instead, you pour it into your mouth.

The bottle takes getting used to. When trying to drink while wearing glasses, I found the lid would hit my lens, limiting how much I could tilt the bottle. To solve this, just turn the bottle 90 degrees so the lid is to the side. Since the spout is in the center, your drink will flow the same way, no matter where the lid is positioned. The other challenge is that there is no vent. When you squeeze a bottle, you force the drink out, but you eventually have to let the bottle fill back up with air and expand out to drink more. Since you can’t squeeze, you must give the spout an opening to allow air to flow in while drinking. It wasn’t always the easiest trying to do this while putting an effort out on a seated climb or if the road was a little rough.

You have an option to get the bottle in black, white, or a natural silver. Over time, you’ll see scratches that can develop just from sliding the bottle in and out of the cage. This happens with plastic bottles as well, but you can also pick up dings and dents here and there. All of this gives the bottle character and is part of owning stainless steel bottles.

Verdict

The Speedfil Speedflask fits a purpose. It’s a great bottle to take along with you on an adventure, on or off the bike. The double-walled vacuum sealed bottle does a great job keeping your drinks cold all day long, and the flip top lid allows it to be emptied quickly with a cap that keeps the spout clean. This is what makes it a great adventure bottle. For those looking to limit their plastic usage to try and reduce exposure to microplastics, it fits the bill. If you go through your drink quicker and don’t need hours worth of insulation, or are more performance focus where the weight and nuances on how to drink from the bottle might be a bit of a turnoff, the Speedflask might not be the bottle for you.

Personally, it’s not a bottle I will use often, mainly because my rides tend to be a few hours and I usually go through bottles pretty quickly when I ride. Maybe if I was doing a longer ride and was carrying additional bottles besides the two on my frame, then the Speedflask would be a great option.

If you are more of an adventurer, or are looking for a bottle that can keep up with your active lifestyle while keeping your drink cold, the Speedfil Speedflask is a versatile option that will keep up with you. At $39.95 a bottle, it’s definitely an investment over your typical plastic bottle, button far off other insulated stainless steel bottles out there.

www.speedfil.com