Having never used energy gels, drinks, tablets etc, what would people recommend? Specifically for use during exercise and for recovery, and preferably something that doesn’t taste too rough…

Thanks in advance 🙂

Nothing generally, but when needed Torq stuff works and is palatable.

TORQ

although, have recently been using OTE stuff and find it pretty good. Not as tasty as TORQ, but not sickly sweet and easy on the stomach so far!

After-best-before-date Hi-5 gels bought on-line for under a tenner (for two boxes)! 8) They make the tastiest gels IMO.

Gels and powder sachets are damned expensive. Better to buy bulk maltodextrin at a fraction of the price from Myprotein and pour about two fingers’ worth in the bottom of your drink bottle.

I periodically buy a Hi-five ” Bottle Bundle” from wiggle or PX when they’re down to ~£3 simply for the 750ml bottle it comes with…

I just Stash all the Gels, powders and tablet and only use them when I have a particularly big ride to do…

Day to day I just use water for any ride up to say 50 miles or so, above that I might use some potions or carry a gel in case I start feeling knackered, but I’d not use the stuff all the time, I see it as “Emergency nutrition” not to be used on every ride…

Elete electrolyte drops for me – just add a few drops to water. Fine in a hydration bladder and doesn’t make it taste funny.
Always carry a gel or two in my pack ‘for emergencies’.

High 5 4:1 powder for energy drink

High 5 energy bars

High 5 isogels

SIS gels

Those are the things I’ve settled on as most palatable and effective (in the case of 4:1).

High 5 is what I’ve settled on, they don’t upset my guts and taste OK. What works for me is:
High 5 zero (or similar, Nuun, etc.) in my bottle/camelback. These have no carbohydrate in them, I prefer this and use the bottle exclusively for hydration.
High 5 EnergyGel to provide a sugar kick as needed
High 5 EngerGel Plus (the decaffeinated version) for when I need a rocket or I’m really struggling.

However, I rarely use any gels unless I’m on a very long ride or in a race, I tend to just eat banana’s or stop for cake.

I use ZipVIt for me it’s the only stuff I can keep down and, for me, taste good. I’m not a huge eater of the things but do find the Bars and Gels get used 1-2 per ride (if over 4hrs) I use the energy drink and mix it very sparingly for my bottles and also use the carb load for post rides too.

I’ve recently tried OTE because I was in Harrogate and Prologue sold the stuff and it’s not too far away form ZipVit and therefore I’ve now found another supplier if I feel like a change.

I could start pointing out the other Brands I’ve tried and don’t get along with, but thats pointless because what works/tastes good for one person will invariably taste horrid for another.

Try making your own Bars, flapjacks are so easy to make and you can control what you put into them (it’s what I do if I run out)

VAMO

Torq for me. Only one that I find works predictably and no nasty side effects. Gels taste nice too.

Only used on all-dayers though, never on short blasts.

Torq or SIS gels both work well for me, used to use electrolyte tablets but have gone back to plain old water and not noticed any difference.

May not be the case when the warm weather rolls around again…

Torq bars and powder for me. Not a fan of the gels, although they do work well, just hate the stickiness of them.

SIS if you want to destroy everyone else in the vicinity through use of weapons of ass destruction. Results with that were truly violent, and very not silent.

I like Clif Shot Bloks. They are chewy blocks, so less messy than gels. And I think they are quite tasty. Though not cheap.

High 5 Extreme before ride, High 5 4:1 during ride and High 5 gels as required, I find them ok taste wise and easy to digest. Usually always a good deal to be found if you search around.

Currently trying out High5 stuff for a couple of reasons. Firstly, every triathlon we do seems to give us a High5 bottle filled with samples, and secondly it’s what will be on offer at the Outlaw, so making sure I’m used to it before hand.

Think the main thing is to try a few, and use what works for you. Tried a few different TORQ gels and never got on with them

Please just make sure you pick up the tear off tabs. Find them littered all over the trails.

High 5 zero in drink, for hydration and flavour without the stickiness of squash. Picked up as freebies in bottles or wiggle packages whenever possible.

For food it flapjack all the way, real food is a million times tastier than chemical gels. I ride to eat cake not over-caloried mush.

Torq gels, mainly the whacky flavours seem to trick me into thinking I’ve had real food!
Nice shot of apple crumble or rhubarb’n’custard has much better effect than yet another generic citrus or forest fruits gel.

High 5 zero in drink, for hydration and flavour without the stickiness of squash

Yep, agreed. Then, when required, Mule or Clif bars and occasional Mule or Torq gels. The Mule salted caramel gel is lovely!

SIS gels. Washed down with NUUN green tea salt drink. I like the SIS gels because I can take them WITHOUT ripping off the top, then just put the wrapper in a pocket.

The green tea is discontinued, Cola isn’t bad either.

For long rides, I like real food though.

Nuun to drink (1 bottle Kona Cola, 1 Pink Lemonade at the mo), usually combined with some flapjack or cake.

I can take them WITHOUT ripping off the top

Both Mule and Torq now use packaging where you can leave the “top” of it attached before stashing.

Tried many potions over the years (mrs lad works for a health/energy food company so was a guinea pig for many of their new products), only thing I can say I felt any difference with was using L Glutamine as a recovery drink. It makes me feel not quite as knackered as normal the day after a ride.
MyProtein can do it cheaper than her company though 🙁

Get some freebies with a magazine or CRC order. Try, chuck up or get the shits. That’s all gels and tablets are good for.

Oh, and don’t forget to chuck the gel wrapper on the trail.

Deadkenny +1

Since I stopped using high 5 zero tablets I am no longer in contention to win the extreme high velocity bowel evacuation of the decade competition.

High 5 zero tablets are like a dose of salts and that leads to a dose of the sh!ts. Not good when you are out on open moorland with no trees to hide behind to take a dump.

I’m a High5 fan, mainly because you can buy them incredibly cheap online, but also because they are easily digestible and taste fine to me.

Done all my marathons and triathlons fueled mainly by them. Compared to trying to chew down a partially dessicated slug which some others can be like, they’re delicious!

I get them either in this format, or this. Slightly different mix of stuff in each.

However, gels are a very personal thing, what works for some won’t necessarily work for someone else, so I’d suggest trying a few and see which sit on your stomach OK and you can face consuming when you’re needing to get the calories in but don’t actually want to eat anything!

Cheers, Rich

Organic baby food sachets of mixed fruits FTW. About 60p in Aldi 🙂

Tend to buy all my stuff in bulk now from myprotein. I just buy the ingredients (whey, maltodextrin, fructose, oats, BCAA, L-Glutamine, etc.) and mix up my own energy/recovery drinks. It’s a bit more faff than just buying a tub of Torq but it does work out a lot cheaper and is nice to be able to mix up different proportions of ingredients. Their gels are ok too, can be taken without water (a big downside of the torq ones for me is that they are far too gooey and need to be washed down.) Once you start buying stuff from them you get a lot of offers too so can be really good value (e.g. 40% off everything the other day for an evening.)

Salt tabs, I just get whatever’s on offer. High 5 Zero at the moment. Sometimes use the caffeine ones too.

Tried the Osmo active hydration stuff last year too, seems pretty good, shall be experimenting with it a bit more this year.

langylad – Member

Tried many potions over the years (mrs lad works for a health/energy food company so was a guinea pig for many of their new products), only thing I can say I felt any difference with was using L Glutamine as a recovery drink. It makes me feel not quite as knackered as normal the day after a ride.

I found Mars Refuel (or any other milkshake for that matter) works as a pretty good recovery drink.

I found Mars Refuel (or any other milkshake for that matter) works as a pretty good recovery drink.

Very high in simple sugars for a recovery drink.

Very high in simple sugars for a recovery drink.

You should see how many I put in tea 🙂

Torq gels, mainly the whacky flavours seem to trick me into thinking I’ve had real food!
Nice shot of apple crumble or rhubarb’n’custard has much better effect than yet another generic citrus or forest fruits gel.

+1 for Torq.

I like the SIS gels because I can take them WITHOUT ripping off the top

From fairly recent experience with SIS gels you don’t even need to open them for the gel to seep out. Makes a bit of a mess of the jersey pockets.

I had that happen to a few as well, seems to be sorted from the last couple of orders over had.

Forgot to mention I really like sis rego for recovery. Chocolate flavour.