Spotted this in the local Sainsbury’s and was intrigued. More carbs per gel and something to help the mind.

Wondered if anyone had tried them and had any thoughts?

(Yes, I know jelly babies exist…)

Can’t speak for the nutrition, but I was given some Beta Fuel sachets a few years ago. They were possibly the most unpleasant things I’ve ever tasted.

yes I used / use them for my longer events pre race.  I find them very good although I run well on Beta Fuel anyway.  I found a definite feeling of “continuity” in my endurance phase and less of a down beat mentality throughout.

I wouldn’t use them for short XCO though I think you’d get any benefit other than the carbs.

Heard an anecdote on a podcast that the nootropics gels have shedloads of caffeine in them but that the writing on the packet that indicates this is rather small and that someone nailed half a dozen of them resulting in no sleep and having to poo in the bushes.

I can’t stand gels but have started adding maltodextrin to my bottle for longer road rides which I think does the heavy lifting on getting the carb content so high in Beta Fuel. Completely taste neutral, although had horrendous flatulence after using the second time that was putting in about 45g into an 800ml bottle and then having my other bottle just plain water. There is a lot of talk of training your gut to get used to the high carb contents that the pros are using.

They were possibly the most unpleasant things I’ve ever tasted.

Yup. I got a free sample and it cost way too much.

Did a couple of 100 mile + mountain bike events last year and i don’t like gels, but found that Beta Fuel chews were good, started on Veloforte chews which are all natural ingredients, proper food every couple of hours, then Betafuel chews towards the end worked well.

The beta nootropics gels are very effective but not particularly pleasant tasting – there is a warning on them not to take more than 1 a day. I only use them a handful of times a year when racing so the cost isn’t too bad. Because i dont like them i’m not tempted to use them for things like chaingangs or general riding/training.

The beta energy chews are really nice though and i use them regularly. Sometimes a bar is hard to swallow or digest when working hard and the chews work well in that respect.

For balance I really like the Beta Fuel gels, but as above buy a pack of six once a year to use with my A events only.

Heard an anecdote on a podcast that the nootropics gels have shedloads of caffeine in them but that the writing on the packet that indicates this is rather small and that someone nailed half a dozen of them resulting in no sleep and having to poo in the bushes.

that will have been Ronan McLaughlin of the Escape Collective,

theres 200mg per 60ml Gel, 3-6mg per kg bodyweight is advised for performance, so do the math,

other than that it’s L-Taurine, Cognizin(R) Citicoline and L-Theanine,

I wouldn’t use them for short XCO though I think you’d get any benefit other than the carbs.

I’d say much of the perceived benefit is coming from the high dose of caffeine if you have a low tolerance

I’d say much of the perceived benefit is coming from the high dose of caffeine if you have a low tolerance

Not for me.  Ima hefty ground coffee drinker and prior to using these I used a 250mg SIS caffeine tablet so the difference is something else.   I would agree that the ever-pedalling legs sensation is the same, but the cognative sharpness is much more pronounced with the Nootropics gels.

But YMMV, is could be placebo or just the way my brain is wired – whatever works, works.

Not sure on the gels and bars as never used them.

The drink is great for longer races (3-4hours). Genuinely feel it makes a difference compared to lower carb options. Caveat is that you need to be able to stomach it. I’ve used it in longer races but normally with another option as it’s a bit much. Also a problem if hot as you can’t get enough liquid in so might as well go back to lower sugar drinks or one beta one electrolyte.

I think there are better gel/bar options. But mainly for me that’s a taste thing. Drinks wise OTE do something similar and Maurten (spelling?) who I think were the pioneers of this approach. Stryker often pop up in my feed and they do bars etc.

All this is race stuff, and then only the big longer ones. Don’t see any benefit in XCO/CX as they are too short.

Loading dose of 150 mg caffeine from 3x generic Boots Caffeine ProPlus (2 mg/kg), then a double espresso gel every three hours for endurance. Caffeine is absorbed with a peak at approx 40min after dosing and a half-life of six hours. So even dosing every three hours will see some accumulation (about 2-3x a single dose). In my case it tends to buy an extra 7bpm in HR. Don’t take it immediately before a short event, you need at least 30min absorption time.