KineticShift.com continues our hands on test of water bottles.
Specialized’s Product Description: In creating the next generation of water bottles the team set out to solve the puzzle of how to combine the two most desired elements in the ideal bottle – the flexibility and safety of a sports bottle with the purity of taste from a drinking glass.
Introducing Purist – With inspiration from nature we have created the first water bottle that offers a taste as pure as drinking from a glass, with all the advantages of a flexible bottle. With a simple rinse, mold and residue are removed ensuring that water drunk from the bottle does not taste like plastic or impurities, but clean and fresh. All you taste is the water. Even in extreme conditions where tomato sauce is left in the bottle overnight, Purist shields the bottle from the taste, smell and staining. Nothing sticks, so your bottle stays cleaner and your water tastes pure.
Nothing tastes better.
Bottle Sizes: 22oz and 26oz
Plastic: Low Density Polyethylene
Country of Manufacture: USA
Retail Price: TBD
Basic Standards:
1. This bottle did not leak when filled with water and squeezed
2. This bottle did not leak when filled with water and turn upside down
3. BPA free
Taste test and manufacturer’s claim test: I first picked this bottle up at the Interbike Outdoor Demo in Boulder City, NV. Without a rinse, it was filled with cold water and as advertised, it did taste as crisp as drinking water from a glass. This was the first bottle that I tested that used the ‘Watergate’ valve:
The Watergate, also exclusive to the Purist line, is our most advanced cap. The Watergate features the self-sealing Heart Valve, delivering a high rate of flow with a leak proof design, even when the valve is open. The simplest drinking experience ever: just squeeze and drink.
The valve also worked a advertised… when the bite valve was pulled up and the bottle was squeezed, a good amount of liquid was allowed to pass through the valve. When the bite valve was open, but the bottle was not squeezed, the bottle could be turned upside down and the liquid did not pass through the valve.
The one claim that this bottle did not live up to was the ‘Simply rinse to clean’ line. Accelerade Sports Drink can be a pretty sticky drink, and this drink stuck to the sides of the bottle just the same as the classic Specialized bottle. Even after cleaning the bottle with a scrub brush and dish soap, the smell still lingered. It took repeated cleaning, even with a sanitizing solution, to rid the bottle of the smell. The bottle uses sections of see-through plastic so that the used can see the level of liquid in the bottle, but these see-through sections allowed us to view areas of collected Accelerade around the bite valve. This was a concern because that could be an area where mold can ground, but wisely Specialized molded little ramps on the bite valve stops to allow the valve to be pulled, rotated counter-clockwise and easily be removed for cleaning.
Likes: The ‘glass like’ taste of water, the function of the Watergate valve and being able to remove the Watergate valve
Dislikes: None (except for the cleaning with some sports drinks)
Kinetic Shift Recommended Use: All water bottle uses… cycling, hiking, running, fitness classes, etc.