Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Been a roadie for more decades than I care to admit. Most of my bottles are 10-20 years old and really need replacing. This bottle had good reviews, so I got one. After a single use, I can tell I won't be buying a dozen of them, which was my plan. It's all about the cap. Yes, it prevents spills, but the valve design is the last thing you want when you've been throwing down 300+ watts for 20 minutes, your IQ is a quarter what it normally is, and you're trying to figure out if you're going to bridge to the break or not. Main problem: there's no way to use your teeth to hold the bottle. If I'm rotating bottles from front to rear cages, I need to be able to hold the empty in my teeth for second. You can't. You will drop it. A traditional valve has more of a knurl at the top. This one has a knurl, but it's about 1/3 the width you want it to be. Another problem is that when you stick the thing in your mouth, you can't tell if it's open or closed. You have to try pulling with your teeth, and *still* can't really tell until you throw the thing back and squeeze. I don't remember if I left it open or closed. I should know the moment it's in my mouth. And certainly don't make me look at it. Then there's some flow strangeness. It either shoots too much when you squeeze, making you nearly choke on the water, or when you suck, so much comes through at once you stop, then end up with half air, half water. I never thought I'd write a review for a water bottle. They're all the same, right? No. The lids that have been around for 30+ years work. This one does not. I added a start to my one-star feeling because the lid really does seem amazingly leak-proof. If you care about that sort of thing.