Dirt or Something in Camelback Nipple ... but only on ONE bike

[drewellison]

I really like this Camelback bottle, but it seems on one bike (and one bike only), I get little black flecks inside the nipple. It doesn't look like dirt off the road, but little solid black flakes or something. I ride a few miles, and there's a bunch in there. (Not shown in photo.) I rinse it out before drinking. Then the next time I go to take a swig, there's more in there!

I haven't seen this on any other bike, just the one older carbon fiber bike. I use it in the downtube cage.

Is this an indication that my CF bike is slowly disintegrating and some day it'll just spontaneously explode?

Yes, I'm serious about this (but not the exploding part).

What say you all?

[pdmtong]

weird.

it's either the bottle or the lid so swap the lid to another bottle and isolate which is decomposing.

then contact camelbak to warranty the offending piece (https://www.camelbak.com/en/customer-service/warranty)

[merckx]

It is likely mold. I punted those bottles because of this issue. The nipple well is also a nice place for road grime to accumulate. They were a PITA to keep clean.

[pdmtong]

It is likely mold. I punted those bottles because of this issue. The nipple well is also a nice place for road grime to accumulate. They were a PITA to keep clean.

I run our camelbak lids in the dishwasher and shake the valves before letting air dry in the rack. Never had mold issue.

If as Eddy says it is mold, then that is why isolated to one lid/bottle.

[ColonelJLloyd]

I steam my Camelback lids in a baby bottle steam bag from Medela. A dishwasher cycle is not sufficient.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51wUbOWvxqL._SY355_.jpg

[Cicli]

Watter bottles are cheap or sometimes (lots) are free. Just toss them if they are funky.

[makoti]

I steam my Camelback lids in a baby bottle steam bag from Medela. A dishwasher cycle is not sufficient.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51wUbOWvxqL._SY355_.jpg

Huh. The things us kid-less folks never know. Thanks for the tip!
EDIT: Ok, to be stupid...can you fit the entire bottle in these things? Or do you just do the tops?

[MattTuck]

dishwasher.... steam bags.... woah.

When I see it getting a little dirty, I clean it out with a q-tip to get most of the grime. But that is maybe once every month or two months. Jeeze, I feel gross now.

[ColonelJLloyd]

dishwasher.... steam bags.... woah.

When I see it getting a little dirty, I clean it out with a q-tip to get most of the grime. But that is maybe once every month or two months. Jeeze, I feel gross now.

I use the bottle brush to clean it routinely but only use the steam bag to sterilize after several uses.

Or do you just do the tops?

Just the tops.

[Black Dog]

dishwasher.... steam bags.... woah.

When I see it getting a little dirty, I clean it out with a q-tip to get most of the grime. But that is maybe once every month or two months. Jeeze, I feel gross now.

Not gross. The silicon nipple comes off easy and is easy to clean.

[benb]

My wife and I had tons of mold and dirt issues with those bottles too.. we had something like 4 of the bottles and they all did that. IMO there are much better designs out there these days that don't grow/accumulate stuff and disassemble better for cleaning.

[cmbicycles]

My wife and I had tons of mold and dirt issues with those bottles too.. we had something like 4 of the bottles and they all did that. IMO there are much better designs out there these days that don't grow/accumulate stuff and disassemble better for cleaning.
Better designs such as... ? I have the older camelback bottles and don't have issues keeping them clean with hand washing and occasional dishwasher cycles, but they are due for replacement soon.

[R3awak3n]

I have one of the specialized bottles with similar system (they just dont lock, which is unnecessary). Dishwasher cycles was fine but now I don't have a dishwasher and dirt gets in there and it sucks. I might just stop using those till I get a dishwasher because I can't easily get the dirt out of there.

[biker72]

Soak the bottle tops in a solution of 1/4 cup bleach and a quart of water.
Rinse thoroughly after one hour soak.

I used this formula back when I was putting Gator Aid into my CamelBak Rogue. Lots of potential mold problems.

[heartattackride]

Hahaha Been there trying to remove Gatorade from Camelback.:D

[Fatty]

I really like this Camelback bottle, but it seems on one bike (and one bike only), I get little black flecks inside the nipple. It doesn't look like dirt off the road, but little solid black flakes or something. I ride a few miles, and there's a bunch in there. (Not shown in photo.) I rinse it out before drinking. Then the next time I go to take a swig, there's more in there!

I haven't seen this on any other bike, just the one older carbon fiber bike. I use it in the downtube cage.

Is this an indication that my CF bike is slowly disintegrating and some day it'll just spontaneously explode?

Yes, I'm serious about this (but not the exploding part).

What say you all?

Maybe your front tire is going away.

[drewellison]

Just to close the loop, this is what I've concluded.

The stuff I was seeing on the outside of the nipple (looked like little black flakes) was not from the inside of the bottle. The inside of the bottle is washed after every use, the interior is spotless, and the nipple/lid is clean and spotless (also on the interior workings of the opening/closing mechanism). So it's not from the bottle itself.

Which means it's from another source ... it's either road debris or from the bike itself.

I do not think it's road debris, since it seems to be bike-centric, and consistent in color and appearance - what looks like very tiny black flakes. Road debris would vary is color/shape/size, etc. Just yesterday I found a blade of grass on the top edge of this very same nipple when I got to work. That was road debris.

I think it's brake pads that are wearing away. Older rims which don't have smooth tracks with older dried out pads and maybe bits are flying off as I brake.

You know how you get all sorts of brake and/or dirt stuff accumulating under the lower headset cups on the front and back sides? I think it's the same sort of thing going on.

You see how much crap flies on your bike as you ride at night in the wet with a headlight and no fenders ... you see stuff flying off the wheel in all directions and the right back at you as you're going forward. I think that's what's happening.

Brake pads ... that's the source. It's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Drew

[benb]

Better designs such as... ? I have the older camelback bottles and don't have issues keeping them clean with hand washing and occasional dishwasher cycles, but they are due for replacement soon.

Didn't see this but I definitely think the Specialized Purist Bottles are similar but much better if you like the Camelbak ones.

I think the plastic on the valve on the bottle can be too soft and cause dirt to stick in there easier and/or mold to grow. We had stuff we couldn't get out even with a special brush on all the Camelbak bottles we had. We have also seen this happen on some baby bottles and such with a lot of silicone parts. I have also seen it happen on silicone seals on the lids for Clean Kanteen products. And I also have 2 of the Clean Kanteen 18 oz bike bottles.. the Silicone valves on those don't grow mold like some of the other bottles I've had trouble with, but they magnetically attract pollen as you ride... really gross, ride 1 mile and they're totally green and you don't want to put the bottle in your mouth.

So I end up using the Specialized ones.. between my wife and I we have about 6 and they stay really clean and are lasting a long time.

[dton]

dishwasher.... steam bags.... woah.

When I see it getting a little dirty, I clean it out with a q-tip to get most of the grime. But that is maybe once every month or two months. Jeeze, I feel gross now.

Man, I clean mine every 6 months to a year...or when it looks unbearably dirty. If you're drinking just water, they really don't get that dirty. That or my water sources are much cleaner. Ignorance is bliss sometimes. :p

[makoti]

I found this on how to really clean the nozzle of these bottles. Very easy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFQhOdBQOhw

[73Bronco]

Man, I clean mine every 6 months to a year...or when it looks unbearably dirty. If you're drinking just water, they really don't get that dirty. That or my water sources are much cleaner. Ignorance is bliss sometimes. :pI resemble this remark.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[wombatspeed]

Black gunk in those camelbak bottles is often mold. Gotten some not very fun stomach issues from that. Now I clean them basically like in the posted video. Sometimes you also need to take the inner piece that contains the blue valve apart,too. PITA for sure.

Definitely keen on trying new bottles. You all recommend the specialized ones? Or any others? Would like to stay with valved bottles.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk