CamelBak comes to India

[camelbakindia]

All you bikers out there....CamelBak has finally come to India with their full range of best-in-class hydration products. We are eager to hear how you think CamelBak will affect your everday ride. Check out our website to see what we have to offer http://www.camelbakindia.com

[camelbakindia]

Check out CamelBak's latest best-in-class sippers. These sippers were used by Tour de France 2011 team winner - Team Garmin




To all biking enthusiasts....in a hot and humid country like India, getting dehydrated is very easy. The following videos will explain how the pro's keep themselves hydrated at all times

[rahul13]

Woot! Nice!

We'll let you know once you post some prices for the packs

[psynide]

damn thats nice !

[farazs]

Cool ... based out of Mumbai, I see. Will the stuff be available at any retail outlets too?

[camelbakindia]

Woot! Nice!

We'll let you know once you post some prices for the packs

Hey Rahul. Thanks for your interest in CamelBak packs. Packs will be launched at a later stage. We will be launching 2012 model packs directly. The prices will be in-line with CamelBak's global pricing. But for now, only bottles and sippers are on offer. I welcome you to check them out on our website http://www.camelbakindia.com. Once you have used a CamelBak bottle, you will never use any other bottle.

[camelbakindia]

Cool ... based out of Mumbai, I see. Will the stuff be available at any retail outlets too?

Hi Faraz. Yes, CamelBak products will be available at leading cycle retailers in Mumbai. We are working on making these products available at cycle retailers in other cities too.

[sanjaymj]

Welcome to India!
I have a CamelBak Podium Chill Bottle & have used it for last 6 months or so .
It's good.

[camelbakindia]

::welcome Welcome to India!
I have a CamelBak Podium Chill Bottle & have used it for last 6 months or so .
It's good.

Hi Sanjay. And thank you. Glad to know that you are liking your Podium Chill Bottle. Here is a quick-tip for you. Leave your bottle filled 3/4th over night in the freezer and take it along with you for your ride the next day. This will ensure that you have cold water on the return leg of your cycling trip

Only CamelBak makes bottles in which the nozzles can be taken apart to ensure thorough cleaning. This video will explain you how to do so. Also, the propitiatory antimicrobial "Hydroguard" lining ensures that there is no fungal or bacterial growth in your bottle if you forget to clean it for a day or two. But it is recommended that you clean your bottle after every ride.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eATl8ZPRp7g&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

[camelbakindia]

This video demonstrates the "jet valve" and "insulation" benefits of the Podium Chill Bottle. Due to the hot and humid climate of India...the Podium Chill Bottle is a must. Also, it keeps the bottle's nozzle clean

[sanjaymj]

I do clean the nozzle & bottle regularly.
Thanks for the video .

[deepakvrao]

I might give this a shot, though Arvind was not happy with the insulation.

Sanjay, how do you find it on really hot days?

[sanjaymj]

Hi Doc
I am using this from April/May this year. I found that its better than other bottles. I wanted to test this one so I carried two bottles one Camelbak & the other a local one. I did a 50 kms ride after 3pm. Water in the Camelbak water remained slightly cool even at 5pm. The temperature was in 38 /40 range.

[magadre]

I have podium Chill bottle. The jet valve has cracked. Can I get the cap and the jet valve ?
Mandar Gadre

[camelbakindia]

Hi Deepak. You should definitely consider using the Podium Chill bottle. We are sure that you will like it.

There are 3 aspects related to the performance of an insulated bottle.
1. How cold was the water when it was poured into the bottle
2. How hot is the weather outside
3. How often do you drink from the bottle during your ride

The 1st point is straight forward. If you do not pour cold enough water into the bottle, it obviously won't stay cold after a couple of hours.

The 2nd point is also relatively straight forward. Hot air temperature outside will definitely have some kind of effect on the insulation.

The 3rd point is the most important. It's basic physics. Whenever you drink water from the bottle, the volume of water reduces inside the bottle. This empty space is taken up by the hot air from outside, thus affecting the temperature of the water (+vely or -vely depending on whether you want your water to stay warm on a cold day or whether you want it to stay cold on a hot day). The more often you drink, the more often hot air from outside enters the bottle. But as Sanjay has mentioned in his post, the water in his bottle stayed slightly cold even after 2 hours of riding in the sun. I believe that Sanjay would have drank atleast 300ml of the 600ml that the bottle can hold (am I right Sanjay?). So that means 300ml of hot/warm air inside the bottle.

So you can see that the insulation does provide benefits. Another good part about the insulated bottle is that there will not be condensation on the outside of the Podium Chill bottle even when filled with iced water (the outside of an uninsulated bottle will be completely wet due to condensation). So your hands will be dry after you sip water from the Podium Chill and thus you will be able to grip the handle better.

The best combination is to use 2 Podium Chill bottles as following:
1. Leg 1 of your trip: use a Podium Chill bottle filled with cold water (add ice cubes if you like). Hydrate during the first leg of your trip.
2. Leg 2 of your trip: use the other bottle that was filled 3/4th and kept over night in the freezer. Since you will not have consumed water from this bottle, hot air wouldn't have entered it. This will ensure that you have cold water on the return leg of your cycling trip.

The best form of insulation is vacuum insulation found in steel bottles. CamelBak vacuum insulated steel bottles provide insulation for 2+ days. Unfortunately, plastic bottles like the Podium Chill cannot be vacuum sealed because they need to be soft and squeezable at the end of the day. The Podium Chill series uses closed cell foam insulation which helps keep the water cold twice as long as an uninsulated bottle.

Hope this will clear your doubt to some extent.

[camelbakindia]

I have podium Chill bottle. The jet valve has cracked. Can I get the cap and the jet valve ?
Mandar Gadre

Hello Mandar,

We are sorry to hear that your jet valve has developed a crack. Unfortunately CamelBak currently does not make replacement Jet Valves or lids for the Podium Bottles.

Give us a day's time to see if any thing can be done about the same.

[Iceman1969]

Hi !

I use a camelbak classic on shorter rides 2l and just taken a mule 3l for longer rides. Great backpack awesome quality. I have seen other bags and bladders as well but non comparable.

The backpacks are a little pricey but certainly worth it. I am looking for the tube cleaners not the entire kit, do you have it in stock.

[hitanshu]

Dear camelbak team - good job on engaging with us here. Not that it was required, most of us here are fans of your stuff.

can you tell us when you're launching your hydration packs? I'd be glad to buy an indian warranty product!

[stalker]

Not a 100% sure if Camelback has comparable products, but design like that in packs made by say Deuter, is ABSOLUTELY necessary, imho.

Most if not all Deuter packs have a meshed+framed backside that lifts the pack off of the riders back. On long rides, this becomes super important, else you end up with a clammy wet backpack that sticks to you and makes one super uncomfy.

[camelbakindia]

@iceman - glad to know you are liking our products. Appreciation like this from our customers makes us strive harder to better our products. BTW, which reservoir are you using - omega or antidote? We don't have the cleaning kits in stock presently. But we shall have them soon

@hitanshu - thanks for the positive feedback. Hydration packs will be launched in 2 phases. The 1st set will be launched in late October. We are doing this because we want to offer only the new and improved 2012 models. The new packs have been designed and built from inside out keeping in mind the new Antidote Reservoir. The Antidote Reservoir is lightweight, low profile (ensures better stability) and has a wider fill port. More on this at http://www.camelbakindia.com/cbi/product_features/meet_antidote

@stalker - yes, CamelBak does have comparable products. It's just that the full CamelBak range was never available in India. CamelBak's "meshed+framed backside that lifts the pack off the riders back" is called the N.V.I.S. backpanel. We suggest you checkout more on the various backpanels available at http://www.camelbakindia.com/cbi/product_features/back_panel_tech

[camelbakindia]

@Mandar

Hi. Unfortunately we cannot do much about the broken lid. Since the bottle was not purchased from CamelBak India, it does not fall under the Indian warranty. We can try sending it to CamelBak USA for a warranty claim but in that case the two way shipping cost will have to be borne by you.

We request you to buy Indian Warranty CamelBak products in the future in order to receive full benefits. Thanks!

[magadre]

Dear Friend
I am not asking for any replacement. Can you sell me the lid and the valve together. I will pay for it.
regards
Mandar Gadre

[camelbakindia]

Hello Mandar,

As mentioned to you earlier, CamelBak currently does not make spare lids and valves for the Podium Bottles. We make spare lids and valves only for the Better Bottles. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

[sanjaymj]

We make spare lids and valves only for the Better Bottles.

Does that mean that the Podium Bottles are not good?????

[san2411]

We make spare lids and valves only for the Better Bottles.

Does that mean that the Podium Bottles are not good?????

I think "Better" is a model name