I have bought a few energy bars in the past and normally go for the Powerbar Ride. I checked out the energy in them and they have around 260kcal. Out of interest, I thought I’d check the energy in a Snickers and was suprised to find it had more energy, holding 290kcal. Similar ingredients in them both but the energy bar is double the price? Are we being conned? Lately I have switched to Flapjacks which seem to do the same.

I’ve also heard that Wine Gums, Jelly Babies and Jelly Beans provide a good boost when needed. Anything else?

Very little advantage. Flapjacks will have more fat and also be longer lasting carbs mainly – snickers bar is much of a muchness with energy bars

Jelly babies are almost pure glucose and thus very similar to most energy gels – remember maltodextrin acts like glucose in the body.

Makes you look pro (or kinda dumb). Never really understand it when people have like 3 gels or something on a club ride or whatever.

Out of interest, can you buy unwrapped Opal Fruits, i much prefer those to Jelly Babies or Marathon?

Home made flapjack with chocolate protein powder and maple syrup gets me up hills fast. Haribo or jelly babies gets me home on a long ride. Orange squash with a little salt keeps me hydrated.

RealMan – Member
Makes you look pro (or kinda dumb).

Bit like wearing a replica KotM jesey then?? 😆

I’ve found that eating chocolate on rides gives me horrible cramps, whereas energy bars/gels don’t. Jelly babies/fruit pastilles also don’t, which is nice 🙂

Never really understand it when people have like 3 gels or something on a club ride or whatever.

So they can keep up with your awesomeness.

HTH

(Has Jimmy had his refund yet?)

I love cinnamon flavour gourmet jelly beans. I think they also make the lucozade beans (which are more expensive).

If i consumed 3 energy gels an hour like the manufacturer recommends i would be spending a fortune!

Don’t Jelly Babies contain laxatives?! I swear I heard that somewhere?!

Makes you look pro (or kinda dumb). Never really understand it when people have like 3 gels or something on a club ride or whatever.

I’d rather look dumb than do someone over on here. But that’s your choice.

I had to LOL at all the folk with hundreds of tiny gel tubes strapped to their belts at the marathon on Sunday, each one must have contained about 20gm, WTF do those idiots think they do?

Personally prefer a carb drink to eating, but if I eat will be something like a nutrigrain bar or bananna

snickers is ~20% fat. fat slows down energy absorbtion.

depends if you are going full out or you just need some extra fuel imo.

+1 for choclate bars containing fat which is rubbish during exercise.

Energy drinks/gels usualy contain a mix of maltodextrin and fructose, maltodextring doesnt tase as sweet as glucose so is more paletable, and the mix of sugars gets them into your blooodstream quicker as they travel by different pathways.

Whether its worth it is a different matter, I find energy drink in my camelpack gives a bit more endurance, i.e. where I’d normaly ride for 2 hours then bonk, I can go for 3, so in that case its worth it.

Jelly babies are almost pure glucose and thus very similar to most energy gels – remember maltodextrin acts like glucose in the body.

Yes but lacking whatever it is in gels which stops me getting cramp.

Some gels contain electrolytes some do not – and its very debatable if they have any effect on cramp at all

The carbs in a chocolate bar are mostly refined sugar but sometimes it hits the spot. Yesterday I had a Kit Kat Chunky in the afternoon then later on absent-mindedly opened another one.

I had no choice but to eat it nom nom nom

energy bars that are oat based, with nuts and fruit in them are pretty good, and don’t melt in a jersey pocket like chocolate, or turn to a solid brick in sub zero temps. Those powerbar ones refined crude oil are disgusting.

Trouble with flapjacks is making a small enough batch, make enough for 3 weeks and they seem to disappear in a couple of days anyway, I swear there is someone else hiding in my apartment eating my flapjacks 👿

http://www.220triathlon.com/train/nut-and-cherry-energy-bars

+1 for choclate bars containing fat which is rubbish during exercise.

That statement needs to be qualified by stating what level of exercise, intensity and duration. Otherwise it’s just bollocks. You may quote your experiences, I could quote mine that exactly contradict it. Peer reviewed scientific sources to back it up please.

I’d say the one “advantage” of the energy bar is it doesn’t taste as good as the snickers. You won’t be as tempted to eat two.

Flapjacks will have more fat

&

snickers is ~20% fat. fat slows down energy absorbtion.

Fat is long chain molecule & will slow down your uptake of carbs. Avoid anything with more than 6% fat if you want good carb absorption.

I had to LOL at all the folk with hundreds of tiny gel tubes strapped to their belts at the marathon on Sunday, each one must have contained about 20gm, WTF do those idiots think they do?

Uh give them energy when they want it rather than having to wait for a feed station? They also have the benefit of knowing that what they are using wont upset their stomach. I for one dont like using anything else other than Torq as its very gentle on me. Getting a gastric upset mid-marathon/race/ride isnt very pleasant…

That statement needs to be qualified by stating what level of exercise, intensity and duration. Otherwise it’s just bollocks. You may quote your experiences, I could quote mine that exactly contradict it. Peer reviewed scientific sources to back it up please.

Its a well documented fact that fat slows down carb uptake. Try Google for answers.

edit: heres a link to the Torq website, specifically energy bars. Scroll to the bottom for the peer reviewed blurb.

Torq linky

I’d say the one “advantage” of the energy bar is it doesn’t taste as good as the snickers. You won’t be as tempted to eat two.

Some of the mule, oatpack and cliff bars are rather nice, I would eat them in preference to a snickers bar.

A big advantage would be taste and texture, most energy bars taste rank, saying that a whole snickers would leave me feeling sick and too many sweets can gives me short sugar rush, followed by an intense low and headache, but then again I’m a sensitive soul. I think most use it as an excuse to eat sweets, nowt wrong with that, but yes on the whole we are being conned.

Pick the sugar you like and consume when necessary, but I’d start with a banana or flattened malt loaf.

I quite like to use electrolyte tabs in my camelbak on big rides but don’t bother with energy bars or gels. I have tried gels because I got some free from crc but I don’t feel that they did anything. I would rather spend my money on a couple of bags of starmix.

Electrolyte has the added benefit of helping you not get a hangover or greatly reducing it. So on a weekend away when all the other lads are rolling around in bed moaning I will be up and ready to go.

I think there is some value in bought energy bars being edible but not so nice as you’d eat them with tea before the ride. The also last well in jersey pockets. I kind of agree with the fat content thing for hard excercise it doesn’t agree with me. If i was on a very long, slower paced rider it’s a bit different.

I tried making my own energy bars a few times to a similar recipe as the bought ones. Suprisingly easy, takes 15 minutes prep and 30mins to bake. They taste absolutely fine and are cheap to make (a mix of oats, rice crispies, syrup, honey, dried fruit, jam, sugar and maltodextrin.

…also you get to drop a more niche type of litter 😉

WTF do those idiots think they do?

If they have red wrappers, then make them go faster obviously.

I’m not a fan of energy bars I think they taste horrid. The only ones palatable are zipps, but then I don’t eat them either. In the past I’ve been forced to eat them and probably overdosed on them in replacement for proper food, so for the last 15yrs I’ve either made my own flapjacks or nabbed at a snickets.
I sreer clear of energy gels too as I don’t feel any benefit at all from them.
The only “sweets” I take with me are old skool pear drops, they’re the only thing that doesn’t give me the shits.

That statement needs to be qualified by stating what level of exercise, intensity and duration. Otherwise it’s just bollocks. You may quote your experiences, I could quote mine that exactly contradict it. Peer reviewed scientific sources to back it up please.

I’d go for it being a useless thing to eat on the simple basis there’s always going to be >2kg of the stuff in your body even if your a 50kg wippet with 4% body fat. So no point eating it as a fuel, better to just concentrate on eating carbs which deplete with exercise, if nececary.

since i realised that i do not give 110%, i do not live on the edge and i often dont just do it

i realised that paying way over the odds for a bit of mid ride nutrition was daft.

my camelbak contains only water, if i require a carb drink, there are several tasty options served by the pint in public houses.
i like to eat my homemade flapjack – to the point that i cant make it too often as i will just trough the lot.
i like a few tangfastics too, gotta be half price mind.

Depends how long you’re riding for IMO, over 4 hours or so at a decent intensity and you need to think more about what you’re eating otherwise you’ll not keep up with the amount of energy you’re burning and bonk. As a quick boost on a short ride then something like a Snickers probably works as well as anything but it’s not what you want on long rides as there’s too much crap in them you don’t need for energy but will still need to be digested and therefore slow your ability to absorb the carbs you need (2:1 for maximum gains as well which you won’t get in a chocolate bar either).
Homemade stuff done well can be every bit as good (or better) than commercial energy bars but can be a faff some people don’t want to bother with.
Personally I generally always carry an emergency gel with me if going out for over an hour (but almost never actually use) and if on a long ride without planned cafe stops I’ll take an energy bar or two as well and usually eat at least one of them.

Are flapjacks easy to make?

Yes very easy. Just mix oats and whatever else with buttery syrupy mix and bake. Energt bars are pretty much flapjacks without the butter so more chewy. Although I find when you make something from scratch it’s always surprising how much sugar / butter is in it. Makes you think what goes into a lot of processed foods.

Energy bars have the advantage that you dont have to carry the wrapper home. Just throw it over your shoulder. Same principle as cigarette butts.

There is a lot of snake oil involved in the Sports Nutrition industry. If you’re a highly trained athlete, competing absolutely on the rivet where every second counts, then there is a place for a finely worked out nutritional regime.

If you’re a mid 30’s STW lurking Audi driving IT professional out for a bike ride of a weekend, then a Snickers is probably fine for that mid-ride snack stop.

Personally I opt for whichever cereal bar is on offer at the shops and some sweets. But then I don’t drive an Audi 🙂

I’d agree with the above, if you’re a top flight athlete then I think you’ve already got the diet sorted and these bars and energy top ups are fine and dandy, you’re gonna burn the stuff off in a matter of Km’s anywhoo’s right.

As for the taste of some, jeeze I remeber PowerBars all those years ago, we got a sponsor deal with them and there were boxes of the things, made me hurl once or twice and yet they were still handed out like “it’s da nu ting, n , all”

I get the runs with Bananas too, far too many rides eating warm, squidgy, bruised or vomit unripe green hard as nails things.
Not touched one in 15yrs. Hate em.

Cake beats gels

Proper gels have 60g carbs, enough carb for an hour and proper+ ones have 160mg caffeine as well.

If you’re not a top flight athlete, you’re more likely to need additional energy but less likely to have got used to taking enough during hard exercise. Bear in mind the ‘idiots’ running a marathon with lots of gels may be on the move for 5 hours or so, the elites for 2 and a wee bit.