Speedfil Speedflask Review

Most people are familiar with the cheap plastic bike squeeze bottle. Those who are serious cyclists may know Speedfil as the name in innovative designs for cycling hydration. With the Speedflask, they aimed to make the average biking bottle more durable, insulated, and easier to chug. While it will set you back monetarily more than the average plastic bottle, it's sure to keep your liquids cool through many, many miles on the trail. As a bonus, the flip cap will keep mud, dirt, and sand off of your spout, which will also keep it out of your mouth.

This bottle is also available in white and black colors. We love the stylish look of the black option, and the white option makes it look a little more like a traditional water bottle if you are going for that look.

Tested and Rated

GearLab prides itself on rigorous testing. We bought the Speedfil at retail with no influence from the manufacturer or its PR company. We then compared it with 14+ other bottles. I integrated the information into my daily rides, commutes, and hikes to evaluate how it stacks up against others, taking detailed notes on its functionality, design, and effectiveness. Here's my personal take on this product.

Performance Comparison

Closure

The Speedfil Speedflask has a hard plastic screw-on lid with a push button cap covering a circular spout. The pop-up cap is easy to operate one-handed, which is good when you're trying to take a drink while in motion on two wheels. The cap is sealed by a rubber plug gasket, which creates a satisfactory seal to keep your liquids in while you roll down the trails.

While the seal performed well in field testing, there was some noticeable leakage on the controlled test. Left sealed on its side with blue-dyed liquid inside, it left a small puddle after 24 hours. This wasn't enough to cause a lot of concern, but we'd hesitate to throw it in the bottom of a pack that I wanted to stay dry. This bottle is best carried in a bike cage or cup holder or by hand using the convenient clip-down carry handle.

Insulation

Right out of the gate, this bottle has the upper hand on insulation over most bike bottles. The vacuum-sealed double walls do a great job at keeping your liquids insulated from outside temps. This makes it an outlier in the bike bottle category. Among the other insulated bottles, however, it ran middle of the pack.

On the controlled insulation test, where we filled the bottles with cold water and tracked the temperature of the contents over 6 hours in the sun, the Speedflask went from 65 degrees F to a warm but manageable 80. It was neither the most nor the least insulated bottle in that category. In field testing, I was impressed by how cool this bottle kept our water while rolling through the hills and valleys. If you fill it with ice and then water, you can further ensure that you'll be sipping cold water on the trail and the spout is of a size that limits ice cubes from pouring into your mouth.

Taste

Many have memories of sipping warm water from plastic bike bottles growing up. That familiar plastic taste went hand in hand with the classic squeeze bottle. In this way, the Speedfil is superior to those bike bottles of yore. Made from premium 18/8 stainless steel, it won't leach chemical taste into your source of hydration. This was a welcomed change on the trail for those used to using plastic bottles or bladders.

Throughout testing, our cold water tasted clean and fresh from the Speedflask's spout. Even on the hot water test, where I filled the bottles with 100 degree F water and let them sit to simulate a water bottle left in a hot car, this bottle's contents tasted clean. If you like to fill your bottle with sports drinks or vitamin powders, you'll be happy to know that this bottle is flavor resistant. Although a faint smell may remain, subsequent water fill-ups taste like pure water.

Ergonomics

First off, we'd like to note how easy the Speedflask is to use one-handed. The slender design, inset waist, handle clip, and push button flip cap all work together to make it easy to grab, grip, flip, and chug. Some bike bottles can be sticky when trying to grab them from your bottle cage while in motion. I found that it was mindlessly simple to reach down and grab the clip handle to remove this bottle from the cage and hydrate. It slid in and out with ease.

Off the bike, this bottle was comfortable to carry and tote around. The convenient carry handle clips down to sleekly stow when not in use. It will fit in your cup holder as well as it fits in your bike cage. This makes it a versatile bottle to use if you're biking to work or going on a hike. The finished stainless steel design makes it just as suitable for the office as on backcountry trails. It was so easy and convenient to use that we'd recommend this bottle whether on or off the bike.

Material Quality

The Speedfil Speedflask is made of 18/8 pro-grade stainless steel. The durable design will surely last hundreds of trail miles, if not a lifetime. The push button is well-designed and built and showed no signs of wear during testing. There's a silicone gasket under the lid that ensures a tight seal and a silicone post gasket under the cap that keeps liquids in while rolling down the trail.

There are a couple of weak points in the design. For one, the flip cap is not spring-loaded. It functions with a rubber band that will likely wear and break over time. But rest assured that if it does break, it's a cheap and easy fix. The second potential weak point is the clip-down carry handle. It's affixed to the pop-up lid hinge with a metal pin. It's easy to twist and bend, and I can imagine this piece getting broken if you take a spill or drop it in just the right way. One other thing to note is that the manufacturer recommends hand washing. I see no reason why the vessel can't be thrown in the dishwasher, but that may reduce the life of the rubber band on the flip cap. Overall though, this bottle is a bomber and a durable investment.

Should You Buy the Speedfil Speedflask?

If you're an avid cyclist and spend a lot of time on your bike sipping from a cage bottle, then you'll want to seriously consider upgrading to stainless steel if you haven't already. Your water will taste cleaner and stay cooler no matter where your two wheels take you. Even if you don't spend a lot of time on a bike, you may want to consider this attractive polished steel bottle as a quick-fill, lightweight, insulated bottle that's easy to use on the go. I don't recommend this bottle if you plan to store it in a pack, on hikes, or during the commute. While the flip cap produces an adequate seal, it did leak a bit on our controlled test.

What Other Water Bottle Should You Consider?