Mounted Skyway's hydration system on the bike and trekked down to LA (Huntington Beach) from the SF Bay area last Thursday with rain following me all the way down. A couple of observations to pass along:
The straps that hold the quick releases to the base definitely need to be secure, and I had sewn one end of the strap around the center of the buckle. At a gas stop I found myself thinking, "Gee the jug wiggles a bit, better cinch it down a tad." Gave the upper strap a little tug and (surprise) the lower strap came undone! I've seen this mentality before: if tight is good, tighter must be better.
So no need to overdo it, and maybe a bit of superglue on the lower strap wouldn't hurt.
Good call on the bite valve, Ian! The scorpion helmet I bought has very little space between my jaw and the lower part of the helmet, but this bite valve could squeeze by and worked just fine. A straight bite valve would never have worked in my current setup.
I have the magnet for the bite valve attached to the side of my tank bag. And while it worked pretty well, I'd managed to inadvertently knock it off a few times. Fortunately, the tube only
almost
reached the ground. I'll have to think up a better way to secure it.
Thanks again, for a great idea well implemented. Now if only I could find some Fizzies to add to the jug like I remember as a kid.
Cheers...