The Podium Titanium from CamelBak takes the familiar high-flow bike bottle and rebuilds it in double-wall vacuum-insulated titanium, with the body and insulation doing the work that ice used to do in a plastic bottle. Weighing in at just 240 grams, the Podium Titanium combines the strength of titanium with a weight that stays close to plastic bottles, and it's built from the ground up to meet the demands of riders who want to curate their kit down to the last detail. Available in Raw Titanium and Turq Ti.

What you're paying for, compared to the stainless Podium, is weight. The 18oz stainless version weighs roughly 300 grams, versus 240 grams for the titanium — a real difference if you're carrying two bottles and counting every gram on the bike. The titanium wall also doesn't transfer heat the way stainless does, so the bottle itself stays cooler to the touch on a sun-baked cage. The double-wall construction keeps drinks cold on hot rides, the high-flow cap means no squeezing is required, the leakproof lockout prevents spills, and the optimized cage fit keeps it secure on rough roads.

Practically, it drinks like a Podium, not like a thermos. The bright blue Vent Tube under the Podium cap is the secret to the high flow rate — it allows air into the vessel, displacing water as it flows out , so you're not sucking against a vacuum when you tip it up. The team at Excel recommends flipping the lockout lever before you drop it back in the cage, especially on chip-seal — metal bottles don't forgive a bounced cap the way plastic does.... Read More