Rethinking Bidons with Bivo and Carina Hamel

Most of us hardly give those water bottles in our cages a second thought. It's plastic. It's there. It's got what we need. But in the late 20-teens, Carina Hamel and her partner started giving those bidons and second thought. And a third. And a fourth. And like a lot of new ideas, they thought, "There's got to be a better way." Their critical thinking led them to develop Bivo Bottles: stainless steel bottles that fit properly in bike cages.

Since late 2020, Bivo has been trying to convince cyclists that they are better off with a metal bottle than plastic. They've made progress but the ride has not been smooth. First came Covid, which delayed their launch and stalled their grassroots marketing campaign. Then just as they started getting momentum, along came massive tariffs which threatened to end Bivo altogether.

But Bivo is still here and as of this episode, celebrating a five year anniversary. We talk to co-founder Carina Hamel about their ideas, innovations and a chance run in with a NASA engineer.