Bivo Trio Review: The Insulated Steel Bottle That Actually Flows
Bivo Trio Insulated Stainless Steel Bottle
Price: £44.99
Best For: Riders who want cold drinks and a plastic-free bottle
Capacity: 621ml (21oz)
Weight: 270g (dry)
Material: Double-wall vacuum-insulated stainless steel, BPA/BPS/BPF and phthalate-free
Features: Patented high-flow nozzle, cold for 12 hours+, seven colours
Reasons to Buy:
Genuinely high flow rate, no squeezing required
Keeps drinks cold for 12 hours and more
No plastic taste, fully recyclable steel
Reasons to avoid
Pricier and heavier than a standard plastic bidon
There's little better than an ice-cold drink when you're deep into a hot ride, and little worse than reaching for your bottle only to find it's been warmed to bath temperature by the sun. That's exactly the itch the Bivo Trio sets out to scratch. It's an insulated stainless steel bottle designed to keep your water genuinely cold for hours, and for us that gives it a clear place in the cage: this is a hot-weather bottle, plain and simple. On grey winter rides a normal bidon does the job fine, but when the mercury climbs, the Trio comes into its own.
Of course, the age-old objection to a steel bottle is that you can't squeeze it, so how do you actually drink from the thing mid-effort? Bivo's answer is a patented high-flow nozzle that pours freely under gravity alone. The brand likes to point out that the flow rate was engineered by someone who used to work at NASA, and tongue-in-cheek as that is, the result speaks for itself.
Design and Flow
Tip it up and the Trio delivers a proper gulp of water without the desperate squeeze-and-suck routine you'd expect from a metal bottle. In fact the flow is stronger than even a standard plastic bidon; tilt it back and it delivers a serious amount of water, enough that your first go will probably catch you out. It's a revelation if you've ever grabbed an insulated flask on a hot ride and found yourself fighting it for a mouthful. The nozzle is quick to open and close, and because there's nothing to compress, one-handed drinking on the move is easy once you've got the hang of just how much comes out.
Insulation and Everyday Use
This is where the Trio earns its keep over a normal bidon. The double-wall vacuum construction keeps drinks cold for 12 hours and beyond, so a bottle filled with ice water at the start of a summer ride is still refreshing hours later, rather than the lukewarm soup a plastic bottle serves up. The steel doesn't taint your drink with that faint plastic tang either, and it's BPA-free and fully recyclable, which is a nice bonus for the environmentally minded.
A note of warning, we’ve been using the raw stainless steel bottles over the past few rides and they’re starting to pick up a patina already. Obviously the scrapes dont impact performance at all, but just be aware that they wont look showroom fresh forever.
Bivo Trio Review: Verdict
At £44.99 and 270g the Trio is pricier and heavier than a bog-standard bidon, and it won't fit every riding style. But if you want cold drinks on long, hot days, a bottle that won't taste of plastic, and you've been put off steel by the squeeze problem, the Trio genuinely solves it. It's a lovely, well-made thing in a good spread of colours, and it's earned a permanent spot in our cage.