17 oz Insulated Bivo Trio Mini

21 oz Insulated Bivo Trio

21 oz Non-Insulated Bivo One

25 oz Non-Insulated Bivo Duo

Bivo Collaborations

Geeking Out on Product!

Geeking out on product. It’s what we do.

Everything starts somewhere, we just never thought taking a drink of moldy and plastic tasting water would be the beginning of something new.

 

Where did this idea even come from?

Our first baby was born in 2018. As parents it seemed obvious to us that Svea, our daughter, should drink out of non-plastic bottles. It turned out to be much more difficult than we thought because most baby bottles are plastic and Svea refused most lids. In the end she fought all bottles any way and went straight to a sippy cup, which is beside the point (she is still very stubborn to this day and we love her for it!). Fast forward to a cross country ski later that winter after we stopped along the trail to take a drink of water. Or, in my case, rather pound some water to attempt to keep up with Carina. For those of you that don’t know what a drink belt is for cross country skiing they are basically a fanny pack of water and are harder to clean than traditional plastic squeeze bottles. Point being, the water was terrible and full of a moldy and plastic taste. After realizing what we were drinking every time we exercised, our brains clicked.

 Drink belts are a huge part of a nordic skier's life - whether on snow or off. Carina's was 15+ years old and tasted oh so bad. 

We had this big realization that we consumed water out of plastic in all the sports and activities we loved. Cycling, in particular, jumped out as having a huge problem waiting to be tackled. We are product geeks at heart  and from that moment forward we jumped straight into the world of bottles. WOW, did we have a lot to learn!

No squeeze, no problem (haha, yeah right!)

We realized from the beginning of creating the first Bivo bottle that it had to perform as well or better than traditional plastic cycling bottles. Why?! As a product that was going to be focused on health and sustainability, we were confident that without nailing performance too, it would flop. We simply couldn’t think of a cyclist who would use a nifty stainless bottle only to have to convince their cycling friend to pull over while they unscrewed the lid to drink. No, our bottle had to perform as well or better than plastic in multiple areas to ensure it would be adopted. And, most importantly, you had to be able to use one hand and get a whole heck of a lot of water without squeezing. 

We tested a lot of bottles in the process of developing the Bivo One and used whatever we could get our hands on to mock up prototypes. 

 

From early sketches to our first real prototype. It was so fun to pour the Bivo One for the first time. 

As it turns out, getting water out of a bottle is way harder than expected. Especially out of a rigid metal bottle that doesn’t squeeze. What we thought would take a good 4-6 months ended up taking 18 months, lots of hot glue, countless 3D prints, endless tinkering, and a very smart engineer (yes, he really did previously work for NASA). These were incredible days - we love product, the thought process, strategy, and tinkering required. The team laughed at me filling up prototype after prototype, drinking from it, staring at it, and then repeating. In addition to being the most fun project I’ve worked on, it was also probably the most hydrated I’ve ever been. 

Cage testing was also a huge part of our development - on and off the bike. We had a 2"x4" in our office that we screwed different cages onto and when people needed a break from their desks, they took a turn putting bottles in and out of different cages.

Simplicity is best

When we started down the path of solving how to get water out of a rigid metal bottle, we quickly had idea after idea. Some of them were crazy cool while some were extremely complex. I still remember measuring and tweaking designs that had chambers, pathways, and involved way too much knowledge of fluid dynamics than should likely be part of a simple water bottle. We set ourselves on a quest for simplicity knowing that our future consumers would demand it. 

At this point, we had interviewed many cyclists of all types as well as set up a few focus groups. We gained a lot of information during this time. However, the key pieces of feedback that drove our design forward were three elements; it had to flow well without squeezing, have a one-handed open/close system, and be easy to clean. We were told time and time again about gross old bottles that tasted like mold and plastic. This was a big moment as easy cleaning helped spearhead the need for simplicity. It was easy to think of other water bottle lids that had so many parts or completely lacked the ability to be taken apart. We kept pushing and pushing ourselves to simplify our ideas until at the end, the Gravity Flow lid, our current system, came forward.

The many phases of the Bivo One. We started simple through rapid prototyping that evolved into our final concept. 

Why did we land on this concept? It met all the key aspects we determined necessary. You could open and close it with one hand, it flowed (wow, it flowed so much we almost had to slow it down!), and the overall design was beautifully simple and, better yet, could be designed to have every component come apart for easy cleaning. 

Endlessly tinkering with our prototypes prior to launch. 

A few short paragraphs makes this process sound easy but it was nowhere near simple. In fact, there were times we all felt like it was not going to be possible to make a metal bottle as good or better than a traditional plastic bottle. The good news is we love problems and as I’ve said we are product geeks at heart. This is a good thing because while we have launched our bottle, we still work on it daily and discuss how it can be improved.

On that note, if any of you have product feedback we are all ears and would love to hear what you have to say.

While we designed the Bivo bottles specifically for cyclists, we know they are being well loved in all aspects of life. We want Bivo to take you on adventures and fuel more fun, no matter what you’re up to. Here's some photos of you having fun while riding. That makes us so happy!

 

 Photo Credit: @roszko

And yes, your kid will probably steal your bottles, it’s probably the number one complaint we get! Thanks for all the cheers and supports. You are helping spread the word of Bivo and we are so grateful!

Cheers,

Robby

10 Responses

Keaton Smith

Keaton Smith

July 22, 2024

Hi Janet! So glad you love our story! We produce our bottles in a factory outside of Shanghai, China. Our bottles are made of stainless steel and we have not found a facility in the US yet that can make our bottles. We would love to get to the point where we can have more localized production and that is certainly a goal as we grow!

Our team has a deep background in product development and manufacturing (mostly footwear) and have seen some of the worst and some of the best factories. When we were selecting a partner to manufacture our bottles, it was important to us to find someone who also cared about the impact to the environment and the people working on the production lines. Our factory has solar panels, gas and wastewater treatment facilities. They are also ISO 9001, 14001, 45001 certified. You can read more about our impact here: https://drinkbivo.com/pages/sustainability. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Janet Daisley

Janet Daisley

July 22, 2024

Hi- love your story. Where is your product manufactured? Is it in Vermont or somewhere in the USA? Thanks! Janet

Carina Hamel

Carina Hamel

December 05, 2023

Hi Emily! We are looking for better ways to carry bottle on skis too! I currently use a Fischer water bottle holder but I know we need bigger pockets to carry what we need! stay tuned :)

Emily Maple

Emily Maple

December 04, 2023

I would be very interested in a Bivo drink belt for cross-country skiing! Going to try the bottle since it is Ben Ogden approved but wondering the best way to carry it while skiing.

Carina Hamel

Carina Hamel

November 27, 2023

Hi Curtis, The Bivo team really likes most Arundel cages. The Sport and the Grypto are great cages that hold the bottles quite well. If you are the type who likes the bottles really secure (Robby who wrote this blog is in that boat!), go for the Bando. In you want a lighter weight option, the carbon Mandible is also great. We have a blog about cage fit that shows snug to relaxed cage fit – check it out here: https://drinkbivo.com/blogs/news/cage-fit

Cheers! Carina

Curtis Hamlin

Curtis Hamlin

November 27, 2023

I just received my 2 Bivo 21oz insulated bottles in the Stainless finish. Now I need to get some bottle cages and, since you tested so many during your development of these bottles, who better to ask than Bivo?
My Primary bike is a Lynskey R240 that I recently had refinished by Lynskey with the brushed finish (Bivo SS is a perfect match) and all the Graphics are in Acid Rain, a multicolor anodized finish. The current cages are RavX carbon which I want to replace. The Bivo bottle fits, but scuffed the finish first time in and I can only imagine it after a year of riding. For the refinish, I bought a couple of Lezyne AL cages,but never mounted, Tried a Bivo bottle in the Lezyne and it won’t work.
I’m thinking about a Ti cage from Silca or others. In your testing, which Cage works best on a Bivo bottle regardless of the manufacturer?
Thanks for your reply.
Curtis

Carina Hamel

Carina Hamel

September 18, 2023

Hi Nita! The body of the bottles are dishwasher safe (even the insulated bottles!). The nozzle and straw are food grade silicone, so are safe to be put in the dishwasher. While our lid is tested as safe in the dishwasher, we like to wash our lids by hand with a mild dish soap. We also recommend a dishwasher detergent that isn’t harsh, such as Unscented or Seventh Generation. Here’s a link to a cleaning video for extra help! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCpnosoN15Q

Nita Bernat

Nita Bernat

September 18, 2023

Remind me about putting the bottle in the dishwasher…can all parts go in? Thanks.

Carina

Carina

March 16, 2023

Hi Dylan! A replacement for drink belts was actually our first idea but we realized there are too few nordic skiers in this world and decided to tackle the cycling industry first. I have moved from a drink belt to a water bottle holder using a Bivo bottle while skiing but I do find myself missing space for the important things such as kick wax and bars. No designs are in the works at the moment, but it’s great to know there is some demand for it!

Dylan Syben

Dylan Syben

March 16, 2023

Love to hear the history! I’ve had mine since 2020 right when it came out. What is the likelihood that you’d make a drink belt for xc skiing? I used to ski professionally and spent many many hours sipping on water with a hint of plastic – which was fine as ignorance is bliss… until I realized how much better it could be with Bivo! Thanks for the great stuff you guys are doing.

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