Cheap Hydration System for a Recumbent Bicycle.

When I changed the handlebars on my Tour Easy for a "T" bar arrangement I needed to find a new place for my water bottles. I took a look at some of the Camelback type systems available but balked at their prices. In the past I'd used homemade "hydration" systems made from soda bottles and plastic tubing so I decided to try it again. This time, however, I added two features that really worked out well.

For $5.99 I bought a genuine Camelback Bite Valve, this is a big improvement over my previous method of always rememebering to blow out the water in the line before dropping the end. The other feature is a key-card retractor to keep the end of the hose conveniently to hand.

The bottle is suspended from my rack bag by a caribeener key ring attached with a black tie-wrap. A mini-bungee keeps the bottom of the bottle from swinging around. Total cost about $7.