Straightliner: It’s very unlikely to be the Maltodextrin. Torq gels contain Fructose, however, which does give some people GI issues. Maltodextrin is amazing stuff: Cheap, gives sustained energy, Very low osmolality and dissolves at very high concentrations. It doesn’t cause tooth decay either.

Has anyone done a study on the 2:1 (Malto: Fructose) formula at high intensity yet? As far as I know all these “2:1” products (in theory, the benefit is faster absorbtion than pure malto) are based on Jeukandrop’s study, which was done at relatively low intensities. At low intensities you can pretty much eat anything…stomachs generally get more particular the harder you go (and the hotter it is)

I find Torq gels are the tastiest but my fussy stomach gets on best with the isotonic orange SIS ones – I use maltodextrin in my drink as well, so it wouldn’t work so well with non isotonic gels either.

SIS drink contains Aspartime (gives many people nausea, including me) it’s not in the gels though

No need to with the SIS ones, which is why I think they are easier to stomach in larger quantities.

Don’t you get a bit dehydrated then? 😯

Assuming you are really taking in some liquid, then I don’t think your stomach cares whether the water gets there along with the gel or separately.

Personally I still use flasks and make up my own gels using drink powder – far cheaper and I get to choose the consistency. I also like having far more gel in a single package (a single flask is about an hour of “food”) and not having sticky gel wrappers to dispose of. Though I tend to mix fairly thick and take on water separately (which means I get to choose the balance).

not having sticky gel wrappers to dispose of

Up the leg of your bibs works well and less likely to be dropped than a back pocket attempt.

I ran on Torq energy and gels for the bikefest 12 hr solo and at the end my oesophagus was raw – they do work but all of them give me gut issues – only use them for intense stuff TBH – of for a caffeine kick at the end of a long ride.

http://www.ellaskitchen.co.uk/ellas_stage/stage-1/