While many cyclists like to alternate between sipping water and energy gel, doing so can be an awkward, messy and wasteful process. The Dualfuel Sports Bottle is designed to change that, as it can be switched between water and gel output modes.
Ordinarily, cyclists will drink water from a bottle, and drink gel from either a disposable packet or a refillable flask. In either case, doing so typically involves having to reach around and grab that second container from a location such as a jersey pocket. Additionally, in the process of doing so, some of the sticky gel may get on the person's fingers.
And what's more, the single-use packets just end up in the landfill – or sometimes even along the road or the trail – once they're empty.
That's where the Dualfuel comes in.
At first glance, it looks just like any other water bottle. It's made of BPA-free, food-safe LDPE recyclable plastic, fits in standard bottle cages, and is dishwasher-safe. Buyers can choose between 550-ml or 750-ml capacities.
Inside, however, it contains a 120-ml "gel chamber" that screws onto the underside of the lid. A washable, refillable pouch in that chamber can be filled with whatever gel you wish, although the Dualfuel company does offer its own brand.
As you're cycling, you just flip a switch on the lid between water and gel settings as desired. Pulling up on the mouthpiece nozzle then releases the flow for drinking, just like with any other water bottle.
Of course, it is worth noting that the gel chamber does take up some of the space that would otherwise be available to water. It also bears mentioning that for now, the Dualfuel Sports Bottle is only available within the UK.
That said, potential buyers from other countries are invited to email the company for updates about international availability. We're told that it could be available to markets outside the UK as soon as one month from now.
For readers who are in the UK, the bottle is priced at £23.99 for the 550-ml model, and £24.99 for the 750-ml. For reference, those prices are about US$32.50 and $34, respectively.
And should you be thinking that you'd like to see this water/gel output idea applied to hydration packs, well … we've seen it done three times now, but two of those efforts – Infuze and HybriFlow – have since gone out of business. The MXXY, however, is still around.
