Elite Fly Tex: The Lightest Bottle on the Market

I've been using Elite Fly Tex bottles as my primary choice for six years, and it's not just because they're among the lightest cycling bottles on the market.

Elite manufactures these bottles in three size variants:

• 950 ml – 71 grams
• 750 ml – 58 grams
• 550 ml – 51 grams

I could always fit two one-litre bottles in my hardtail and had exactly as much water as I needed for bikepacking across Europe. I definitely recommend choosing the transparent version, otherwise you'll lose part of the bottle's advantage.

• You can see how much water you have left – with the opaque version you have no overview of your fluid status.
• With dark bottles you won't see mould that will sooner or later start growing. Although, if you're burying your head in the sand, black is the ideal variant. You won't know about the mould...

Besides low weight, these bottles have another useful feature – the cap with nozzle can be completely disassembled. When you need to clean the bottle, you can nicely take it apart and wash it thoroughly.

Regarding bottle ejection, it's ideal to use an Elite cage, which has a special shape that keeps the bottle in place. But I've never had problems with other cages either.

🐌 Is It Too Soft?

I've seen reviews where people complained that the bottle is soft. It's true that the material is soft, but I actually like this. When I want to drink, I squeeze and drink 😉. I've never had a problem with holes forming in the bottle or water leaking from it. I usually replace them once a year, but more because I pour sugary drinks in there and after a while they just don't look appealing anymore.

The "softness" does have a disadvantage though. Sometimes, especially when I have wet hands, the cap gets stuck and I can't unscrew it. The bottle twists and twists, but won't budge. In such cases, I have to dry my hands and only then does it work.

After a while I also have problems with leaking around the cap. It's not a complete tragedy, but after some time it doesn't seal properly. When I shake the bottle, something drips, or when the bike is in a stand with the bottle facing down, it drips as if it had an IV drip. It's a great shame that you can't buy just the cap separately. You have to buy a whole new bottle, even if only the nozzle or cap breaks.

Elite also sells an MTB version with a cap cover for the nozzle, but I must say that it's really poor. The cover always broke almost immediately and couldn't be used. So I use the classic version without a cover and hope not too much mud gets in there.

✅ Verdict

Despite some disadvantages, I continue to use the bottles. Not just because of the weight. I also like drinking from the nozzle, I like their system. The only thing is that about 10 millilitres of water remain at the end that can't be drunk until I unscrew the cap. But I actually quite like that because it always serves as an emergency reserve.

You can get the bottles on Amazon:

• Elite Fly Tex 950ml, 71 grams
• Elite Fly Tex 750ml, 58 grams
• Elite Fly Tex 550ml, 51 grams

If you're interested in other systems for carrying water on your bike, check out the article Where to Carry Water on Your Bike.