Bar Mitts have made a name for themselves with their pogies which are designed and tested to keep hands comfortable and protected in even the harshest winter conditions. Taking this insulation know-how and applying it to hot environments has resulted in the Bar Mitts Summer Bot. The Summer Bot is a neoprene cover for your bottle cage whose purpose is to keep drinks cool in sweltering conditions.
Sipping a warm drink on a hot ride is anything but refreshing and can lead to one drinking far less that he or she should be. The Bar Mitts Summer Bot solves this issue by enclosing the bottle cage in a 5.5 mm thick neoprene cover. The cover is held in place by the bottle cage bolts and a Velcro®-style loop ring secured to the frame of the bike. The cover can be slightly frustrating to install, but installation is made much easier by sliding the top down to mount the lower bolt first. A long zipper provides easy access to remove and replace the bottle, though the long zipper can be hard to reach on a bigger frame. The loop ring holds the Summer Bot in place while zipping. The Bar Mitts Summer Bot has space to enclose up to a 20 ounce water bottle.
The Summer Bot went on several summer rides and the drink inside stayed cool to the last drop. We had a mild summer here, so the bottle went into the lab for testing in a hotter environment. By placing the bottle in a small, hard cooler, I created and sustained a hot weather environment using a hair dryer. During my hour of testing, the average temperature was 106 degrees. The temperature ranged from 100 to 115 degrees F. The liquid inside the bottle started at 42 degrees with no ice, which would have skewed the thermocouple reading, should a cube come in contact with the probe. After an hour in this environment, the temperature increase of the liquid was only 10 degrees. This is very impressive with the lack of ice in the test conditions.
Even if hot weather has retreated for the year, the Bar Mitts Summer Bot has not lost its usefulness. I like warm drinks on cold rides, and the Summer Bot keep drinks warm on frigid days. In an 8 degree environment, the Summer Bot kept a 130 degree drink warm for over an hour. The temperature after an hour was around 100 degrees. My usage for the Summer Bot is definitely not over, though summer may officially be. Bar Mitts make a Winter Bot, and this one is black to absorb heat. So if you‘re looking for a four seasons model, the white Summer Bot is the better choice.
Whether you are looking to keep cold in or out, Bar Mitts just might have what you are searching for. If you hate cold hands in the winter months, their pogies will be a revelation to you. And if you hate drinking warm liquid on hot rides, the Summer Bot is the answer. The Bar Mitts Summer Bot is available on the Bar Mitts site for $29.95.
Alex
Thanks to Bar Mitts for sending the Summer Bot over for testing and review. We have budgets just like everyone else and passing along information is a privilege and is hopefully useful for everyone.
This would really come in handy for riders doing endurance rides to keep gunk out of their bottles. I remember a few years ago at the DK200 some people got sick from riding through the cattle pens area and getting bullsh*t in their bottles.