When on a road trip, I find that I get less fatigued when I’m able to sip on a cool drink while riding. My Super Glide has a leather pocket attached to the front of each saddlebag that’s the perfect size for a bottle of water or an energy drink. It’s perfectly positioned for me to grab the bottle quickly, take a swig and place it back in its holder. However, the Switchback has hard bags and I haven’t been able to find anything to perform the same function. Enter the Quick Release Drink Holder by Chubby Cups.
The drink holder is made of glass-impregnated nylon that is touted to hold up in the heat and the cold, and be impervious to UV rays. It attaches to your bike’s 1/2″ to 1 3/4″ handlebars using a cantilevered locking system. A set of two rubber pads to be applied to the ridged surface inside the “jaws” is included in the kit to prevent the holder from scratching the handlebars. There are three height adjustments, depending on the position of your bars. The holder can be set at any one of three positions that cover most any mounting angle—parallel on the bars, horizontal, or in between. You will need a 3mm Allen wrench (not included) to set the desired height or angle.
The “arms” securely snug down a 20-ounce to one-liter can or bottle (or a 12-ounce can inside a coozie), and a tab holds your drink from underneath. The Quick Release Drink Holder is aptly named because once the height and angle has been set, it takes about five seconds to attach or detach the device from your handlebars. The only fault I could find is that it takes me a couple of tries to attach the holder to the bars because the rubber pads slip out of place. If you lose one or both of those pads, you can use pieces of inner tube or even rubberized electrical tape instead. Other than that minor inconvenience, the drink holder performs perfectly, helping to keep me hydrated and energized on long trips. The Quick Release Drink Holder has a money-back guarantee, and the company invites questions to be e-mailed to hogcups@aol.com.
