Are they the food of the devil? I bought some to “assist” me in a non-Contador way for some longer events I am planning. Looked at the reviews, went for the ones that get the best taste rating.

Tastes horrid, I’d hate to taste the ones that people think are foul

they’re alright to get you out of a hole near the end of a ride but that’s about it. I think they average about 40-50 calories so ride up a couple of slopes and that’s that used up then.

Kev

Jelly babies for me – although I do carry a gel for emergancies

jelly babies here too

ace, except in winter when they form a sludge in the bottom of the bag when it’s wet – I suppose I could scoop that up, bag it & flog to “real” cyclists
(I think the trick is to eat all that you take with you; schoolboy error on my part)

Like swallowing snot. Jelly Babies are way nicer. If you do use them stick the empty packet in your pocket. These things have got to be top of the list when it comes to trail litter. Grrrrrr.

As above, great as a “getting you out of a hole” emergency food. Also very easy to transport/store in a bag.

re taste testing, the following have pleased my taste buds of late;
Maxifuel Viper Active Mixed Berry flavour (Avoid the Citrus flavour)
Maxifuel Viper Boost (Tastes medicinal, but so much caffeine it’ll knock you in to next week
Gu – Various flavours, all good so far

However, favourite so far is the fine stuff from those nice people at Mule. http://www.mulebar.com/fuel-gels.asp

Its just donkey bunk in a wrapper.

Generally they’re manky tasting, but through trial and error I’ve settled on High5 raspberry or summer fruits, which basically taste like jam.

oh and +1 for emergency food.

Accel Gel I’ve found to be very nice but yeah I carry them as emergency ration rest of the time it’s Tangfastics or Jelly Babies.

Accel Gel have 90 calories in them.

Clif raspberry flavour for me.

Don’t think they sell it over here though, I tend to add it to an order when buying from Jenson.

Prefer Clif Shot Blocks now though – delicious!

Just forgot another one! Zipvit energy chews – Truly delicious!

Zipvit gels however…..Sent me off to talk to Ralph on the great white telephone.

Torq for reasonable tasting best absorbed energy. Lots nicer than Powerbar or SIS ones. More like the inside of some runny centred liquor chocolate and less like snot.
Torq bars for best energy food
Normal food for tastiest solution

I dunno what you were expecting tbh, they are hardly a meal in a bag 🙂

Zipvit gels however.

I’m sure the one I had was aluminium-flavoured glue.

Nothing else has ever come close to being that revolting.

Zipvit energy chews – Pomegranate + Watermelon – not bad, slight after taste. Find jelly babies and haribos give me heartburn and sharp come down after sugar rush. Just plain old H2O for me most of the time though.

i like the cheapy lucozade ones from the supermarket.

I use Torq but mainly to help alleviate cramp. They’ve been ok in moderation but at my last race decided to take one every 20-30minutes and after about 90minutes I puked most of it up. Other than that found the flavours all ok

I got a Zipvit one for free from wiggle… tastes good! It’s the only one I’ve tried and from the reviews I’ve read they’re some of the better tasting ones. Had it about halfway round a 50 miler and it kept me going til the last 10 or so miles where I really started bonking.

all tatse minging but have on ein ever bag just in case I ever need them seem to help when I am near bonkin gor to get you home but not a substitute for proper food

You might need one now Junkyard.

Never touch the energy gels….Rowntrees Randoms for me

They’ve been ok in moderation but at my last race decided to take one every 20-30minutes

You can only absorb so much carbs, so eating more is not necessarily better. Although puking up is a bit extreme 🙂

Zipvit blackcurrant flavour for me. Tastes sod all like blackcurrant but the one’s with caffeine give you a serious high about ten minutes after taking it.

I haven’t found anything that packs a bigger carb punch either.

I can’t eat or drink anything by Lucozade after last year’s Edinburgh marathon. That chemical orange taste just makes me retch.

Matt

Gels are the dog’s bollox for racing and long all day training rides; great for stuffing up the leg of your lycra for quick access (dark side, predominantly)

For any other scenario, I prefer cake of the fruity variety.

Warning, most gels require a ‘healthy’ intake of water (not with energy drink in it) – I used to race with water in one bottle, power drink in the other and that combo works very well.

Also, I’d side-step the ones containing aspartame, granted some research states that it’s harmless yet others claim otherwise. For me, every time I drink artificially (esp. aspartame) sweetened drinks I start coughing and my heart arrhythmia intensifies.

😉

EDIT: Jelly Babies are awesome, but a nightmare when wet…sticky mess in your speed-suit 😯

Don’t take them very often but will do on a long ride if I feel like an energy top up. Yet to find anything that tastes anywhere near as yummy as Torq gels – they are the tops. However, I do tend towards a sweet tooth. Wifey doesn’t like them. The kids love them.

Bars is, again, Torq for me. Great flavours, great taste and moist as well. Love ’em.

aspartame – agreed, don’t trust it myself.

If I use gels I tend use a very light mix of hydration powder in my water otherwise you can become dehydrated very quickly.

I got some of those Zipvit ones in an sample pack. The normal ones are ok, but that caffeine one caught me by surprise. Absolutely rank, like white marmite made out of leftovers from the red bull factory.

What perplexes me is that loads of them have artificial sweeteners in them? It’s an energy product, not a diet product.

If I use gels I tend use a very light mix of hydration powder in my water otherwise you can become dehydrated very quickly.

How’s that work then?

For me, every time I drink artificially (esp. aspartame) sweetened drinks I start coughing and my heart arrhythmia intensifies

Aaah.. interesting. I thought I’d noticed a link between aspartame and caffeine and arrythmia…

The fact that Torq doesn’t contain the stuff is a big win. Although I bought a tub of isostar from the local supermarket here and it also contains only natural stuff and is pleasantly lemony.

Banana and snickers bar works for me.

there are some ones that are meant to be fudge flavour, they taste like poo…

torq bars and gels for me, all about taste preference of the individual so try a few beforehand.

zip vit bars are very nice and have kept me going many a time, I really rate the powerbar energy shots, not cheap but the little bit of liquid inside them is magic

I used them alot when I did triathlons and marathons. I prefer the SIS blackcurrent, you don’t need to take water with these but I prefer to if I can. On the bike I would carry just water in one of my water bottles so I could take it with my gels.

Only use gels when racing as you cant really eat anything else in last 20 miles of a road race, either too much faff or too dangerous trying to fanny about….SIS ones dont require water and the caffeine one is quite good. Stick gels in short legs and even easier to eat as warmer.

Just dont get one of the ghey gel top tube bags that trianthelopes use.

Just dont bother on training rides – no need.

On training rides I use energy drink and bars if it’s going to be over a meal time. I take a couple of gels (esp caffeinated) if I flag towards the end.

I prefer the SIS blackcurrent, you don’t need to take water with these but I prefer to if I can

That claim of not needing water is bobbins – you can’t process and use carbs without water afaik.

I’ve used gels, but I find them too much trouble to get out, peel open, squeeze out, then tuck the wrapper up the leg of my shorts while racing off road.
I use a small frame bag full of Julian Graves fruit jellies now.
Easy to pull the velcro lid back, grab one and close the lid again.
No potential for unintentional littering and lots of smaller sugar hits instead of a few big ones.
I also use two water bottles on longer rides. One for Torq, one for water.

SIS gels are like sucking on phlegm. Ugh.

High5 are generally nice – particularly the banana one. Have recently started using Torq gels which are nice, natural but more expensive.
All provide a good pick up IMO.

For racing they are great, say one gel per hour plus energy drink with caffeine gels in second half. I wish I’d discovered them years ago instead of trying to eat a bar while bouncing around some course. Waste of time on training or social rides. Always Torq stuff for me, natural, tasty, effective and he’s a top bloke.

High 5 berries/ fruits but for me they are ‘imminent bonk’ only as they just seem so artificial – they do work though and pdq.

The Zipvit jelly baby things are as tasty as a real jelly baby and backed up by 100% pseudo-science so clearly much better – also they need to be kept locked away from the sprog which must be a good sign in some way

With gels watch you don’t cut your Tongue on the torn edge and pls dont leave the empty wrappers lying around Surrey Hills which you would think was obvious but it would seem not…

Doubt it’s people who login here though…