The Stainless Steel Bivo One is a Smarter Bicycle Water Bottle
Stainless steel. Designed by an ex-NASA engineer. Clean, plastic-free taste. Carbon-neutral construction. And seriously good water flow? The Bivo ONE water bottle is perhaps our new favorite water bottle, enough to tell you all about it.
Bivo Is Built With a Purpose
The most obvious component of a Bivo bottle is that rather than using a plastic construction like a vast majority of water bottles for bicycles, the Bivo One is made of stainless steel, just like your Hydroflask. A stainless steel bottle hopes to be more sustainable and without an expected end of life when compared to plastic water bottles. They also designed the rest of the bottle to be easier to clean than a standard bottle, thus keeping the bottle mold-free ride after ride.
All in, Bivo says their bottles use 69% less plastic than a traditional 21 oz bike bottle, but they didn't stop there. They focused on working only with suppliers that they felt cared for their employees. Those suppliers create carbon, so Bivo offsets those carbon emissions by contributing to a project in Cambodia that seeks to improve water quality where people use wood-burning stoves to boil water. Further, Bivo has pledged to set aside part of their profits toward the Bivo Fund, allocating money to charity.
But It Can't Be Squeezed?
As far as the water bottle itself is concerned, Bivo sought to make a bottle that works better than a traditional water bottle. Most plastic water bottles require a bit of a squeeze to have water flow. Not that big of a deal; you're forcing water out of the bottle and the plastic goes back into place when you're done.
Bivo requires just a bit of a tilt, no squeeze required. The water coming out is smooth, surprisingly so, and comes out with far less force than a squeezed water bottle. More surprising still is that Bivo bottles actually empty their contents faster than a normal bicycle water bottle, just without squeezing.
So no, a Bivo bottle can't be squeezed. This is an issue if you drink your water right side up, but even that requires a bit of a squeeze. But when all you need to do is tilt it, squeezing is becomes an afterthought. We noticed it the most when we were breathing really hard while riding the bike, which leads to drinking more while you ride.
Stainless Steel, Rattle-Free, and Extra Water
Just as you would expect, a stainless steel water bottle has a few advantages. Fans of drinking just water will find that there is not aftertaste. If you're fond of sporty cocktails (think adding drink mixes to your water), you'll know that cleaning every crevasse of a bottle is of the utmost importance to prevent mold from growing. That isn't an issue here, as stainless steel is relatively easy to clean, and the nozzle design can be easily taken apart to be washed.
Interestingly enough, the Bivo fits well in just about every water bottle cage. The silicone finish that comes on these water bottles does a good job of preventing rattling while riding. The silicone finish also means that while you likely won't see the millions of water bottle prints and designs in the world, Bivo offers a few choice color options that look great.
The size overall is roughly similar to that of a standard water bottle. A small One will get you about 21oz of water, or about the same as a small bottle. This of course is largely due to the single-wall construction, meaning this isn't the insulated bottle most people expect from a stainless steel bottle.
What we've found most interestingly is that we went through these bottles more quickly than with a normal water bottle. We credit this to increased water flow. And While that doesn't sound like a big deal, our drink more water culture leads me to believe that more water while riding is better.
Conclusion
The Bivo One bicycle water bottle works great on the bike, and off it too. Putting aside Bivo's considerable efforts toward being a carbon-neutral company that tries to give back, their bottles simply do well at their main job: providing you water while you ride.
These bottles have become a go-to for a bunch of people in the shop. Hopefully, they'll become a go-to for you, too.
Have had one of these for over 2 years now. It is no longer is leak proof when “closed” and if my bike falls over if I prop it up (which I often do to take photos) the mechanism pops totally open and the entire content will spill out before I can get to it. Have also had a number of times in a bike bag or car seat where water leaked out. This bottle is great if you can keep it upright 100% of the time when there is water in it. The water is indeed taste free which I love, but for a water bottle that cost me almost $40 with shipping, I feel very ripped off and cranky every time it inadvertently is on its side. I had to cut a ride short the other day because the entire bottle emptied near the start of my ride on a hot day. If it did not have this fatal flaw I would have ordered a 2nd one for me and others as gifts. I was able to get it to mostly not leak at the start of my 2 years but now it won’t shut at all no matter how much I try.
Marcia A Buser on