# CrankTank4: carrying water Aussie style



## H0WL (Jan 17, 2007)

Came across this on my state's facebook bikepacking page.

Made by Adventure Hydration, an Australian company, it's a molded, 4-liter plastic tank that fits in the "V" of the frame above the crank. The person using it said it took about a month to arrive from Oz.

He used it last week on a bike packing trip in Big Bend and found it worked well.

CrankTank4 $110 Australian = ~ $75 US

Video: 




Didn't drill down into the website far enough to locate shipping price to US. They also sell nice neoprene covers for the tank and other accessories, like drinking tubes.

If you're wondering, and I know you are, four liters of water weighs almost 9 lbs.
The container weights 480 grams, or ~ 17 oz.
So -- total weight of filled container would be about 10 pounds.

Bikepacking.com reviewed it in December 2019 here.


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## bsieb (Aug 23, 2003)

Interesting concept, I wonder how many frames it fits without wasting space? At this point I still prefer a 5l dromedary bag in the bottom of the framepack. Hard containers can waste a lot of space.


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## mikesee (Aug 25, 2003)

bsieb said:


> Interesting concept, I wonder how many frames it fits without wasting space? At this point I still prefer a 5l dromedary bag in the bottom of the framepack. Hard containers can waste a lot of space.


Took the words out of my mouth, almost verbatim.

On my fatbike I can get 5.5L of agua into a 6L drom into the frame bag, with room for a spare tube under it and a small arsenal of snacks atop it.


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## H0WL (Jan 17, 2007)

Check the comments on the bikepacking.com link. 

Some folks definitely preferred using a bag in the framepack for various reasons; others, not so much. The slosh factor might also depend on if you are on gravel/bladed roads vs singletrack/rugged double track.


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## Brother Shamus (Feb 25, 2020)

I got one; about USD $22 shipping to Los Angeles.

Have put about 100 miles on it. Looks like it'll be a good solution for bikepacking, but I'm not going to use it for everyday. Mainly comes down to the hose/bite valve. I have a deviated septum, so nose breathing is something I can't do when I'm exerting myself, which is what I'm doing 99% of the time I'm riding. I've found that water in the hose drains down to the reservoir after every drink, which means that drawing water is a heart rate-spiking exercise in sucking the air out of the hose before the water arrives. I thought it might be due to the stock bite valve, so I put an Osprey one on that I thought would seal and prevent the water from draining out of the hose, but that didn't do it either.

Fit on a gravel bike is excellent -- no contact with cranks, and plenty of room for partial frame bag. Sloshing not an issue; I feel it slightly, but no big deal.

Wish it had a transparent window to easily see remaining water level.


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