ote nutrition london bike show food drink hydration bar gel isotonic

London Bike Show 2017: OTE Nutrition

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Founded just over three years ago, OTE is a relatively new up and coming British sports nutrition company. Focused on creating locally-made sports nutrition products such as energy bars and isotonic sports drinks, OTE believes it has something a little different to offer in an industry dominated by sugary drinks, sticky gels and slightly obscure-tasing energy bars.

Targeting mountain bikers and road cyclists alike, OTE aims to deliver a simple and easy to navigate product range that’s cooked up with natural ingredients and flavours that are on the right side of intense.

Despite OTE’s prevalence in the UK race scene, we’ve not had a lot of experience with their products in the past. And so at the London Bike Show, we took the opportunity to sate our appetites with a visit to the OTE stand for some taste testing.

ote nutrition london bike show food drink hydration bar gel isotonic
OTE is a British owned and operated sports nutrition company.

The OTE Performance Nutrition range covers the three key nutrition areas: energy, hydration and recovery. With nine specific products targeting pre, during and post-ride nutrition, OTE should cover most riders’ needs.

ote nutrition london bike show food drink hydration bar gel isotonic
Tasty flapjack-style bars from OTE.

The Anytime Bars have proved to be a hit with mountain bikers, and we’re sure you can tell why. These are basically oat-based flapjacks that are packed with about 40gm of carbohydrates for energy on the bike. Unlike gels and such, the beauty about these is that they taste like real food. And we can attest to that, as we had a good ol’ munch on some samples whilst snapping these photos.

Available in Cherry, Banana, Caramel & Cocoa Nibs, these bars cost £1.30 and are made from seven or less all-natural ingredients. They’re also nut and wheat free too.

ote nutrition london bike show food drink hydration bar gel isotonic
You want tasty? Try chocolate rice crisps in the Duo Bar – these are delicious!

The Duo Bars are labelled as such because the bar itself is split into two inside the packaging. That means you can eat one half at a time, which is useful if you’re whipping it out of a jersey pocket whilst on a ride. These are proper energy bars, so they’re equipped with over 40 grams of carbohydrates in total (20.5gm per half bar). Made with rice crisps and real chocolate, these are available in Chocolate and Vanilla flavours.

ote nutrition london bike show food drink hydration bar gel isotonic
For post-ride muscle recovery, the Protein Bar is a tasty little snack that makes for a nice alternative to recovery drink powders.

For post-ride recover, OTE makes both powdered drinks and these tasty bars. Protein is an essential nutrient for rebuilding damaged muscle tissue, making it ideal after a long and hard ride or race. Using a real chocolate coating and soy crisps, these have a great texture to them and are super tasty.

Despite the taste, there’s less than 0.1gm of sugar in each bar, and under 10gm of carbohydrates, which is ideal for people who are carbohydrate-sensitive. Each bar has 22gm of protein to aid with muscle development, and are available in Dark Chocolate & Orange and Dark Chocolate & Mint flavours.

ote nutrition london bike show food drink hydration bar gel isotonic
Just add tequila!

This big margarita bucket was cooking up some of OTE’s Energy Drink formula. Available in six different flavours, OTE’s Energy Drink comes in a powdered form, which you then add to your water bottle. It’s made from actual real fruits, and it has quite a light flavour that avoids sitting heavily in your gut like a lot of energy drinks can.

The big thing with the formula though is that it’s pH neutral, which is also why the flavour is so light. Inside you’ll find carbohydrates from Maltodextrin and Fructose, as well as key electrolytes such as magnesium, sodium, potassium and calcium. You can get a sachet for £1.50, or you can buy it in bulk.

ote nutrition london bike show food drink hydration bar gel isotonic
Isotonic Sports Drink in a wee little tablet.

One of our favourite products that OTE was showing off at the London Bike Show was the Sports Hydro Tabs. Coming in a small plastic tube, these little dissolvable tablets can be dropped straight into your water bottle or hydration bladder, creating an isotonic sports drink that’s designed to replace all the minerals you sweat out while riding.

Unlike the OTE Energy Drink however, the Sports Hydro Tab doesn’t have any sugar or carbohydrates in it whatsoever. That makes it quite light on for flavour, and is again suitable for those who are sensitive about sugar intake. Available in Lemon, Blackcurrant, and Caffeinated Cherry Cola.

ote nutrition london bike show food drink hydration bar gel isotonic
Energy Gels made from real fruit juice concentrate.

The last product that we checked out during the London Bike Show was OTE’s Energy Gel. Most sports nutrition companies offer some kind of energy gel, and to varying levels of tolerability. Aiming to deliver a more natural flavour, OTE’s Energy Gels are made with real fruit juice concentrate, and aren’t designed to be as sickly sweet as other gels on the market.

One feature we really dig is in the gel packaging. At the top, there are two different openings that you can choose from: Sip or Gulp. The Sip option is ideal if you don’t necessarily want to down a whole gel in one go.

ote nutrition london bike show food drink hydration bar gel isotonic
The smallest cocktail we’ve ever seen.

The overall consistency of the Energy Gel is quite a bit runnier than other gels, which can often be more like a thick honey. Because OTE uses water in its Energy Gel, it also means you don’t have to smash a swig from the water bottle just to help the gel go down.

If you want to know more about the OTE Performance Nutrition range, have a squiz at our live taste test video below. Alternatively, get your skates on and shoot over to the OTE website to learn all there is to know.


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