Bars, gels and drinks

Rouge Penguin

What's everyones weapons of choice? Been looking around and chatting with other riders and thought I'd ask you lot. Questions...

Protien bars. Worth eating and does the GNC power bar stuff do the same job?

Which gel?

Which drink. Some say Sis some just stick to loserade.

Where do you shop?

incog24

Always been a bit of an SIS fan. GO for on the bike and Rego for afterwards. Cut down on the energy drinks though and just use water now unless I'm doing an event or a really hot ride. Its not great for your teeth to be swilling sugar around every 5mins for 4hours...

Used to use PSP22 but I need GO to avoid cramping on hard stuff.

Gels, again don't use them often, but a Smart gel before a race seems to work well.

Ribble is pretty cheap if you spend over £50.

However, I think I'm going to be making a change to ZipVit since we're sorting out a deal with them to get it cheap through a rep for the Uni team. I'll report back in 6months...

Rapha

High5 Energy Source 2:1 for racing, 4:1 for training and some X'treme for hard sessions or for a race that I target.

For Gels I prefer the EnergyGel but the IsoGel can be quite handy when its warmer because it goes down so easily.

I tend to not eat on the bike when racing because it takes longer to digest. I like a protein bar (banana vanilla is great) for afterwards.

Its a case of experimenting with what works for you and on the right strategy but if you check out the race faster guides from High5 you will find someone useful info.

I normally get all my stuff from wiggle or chain reaction but if you search you can probably find it cheaper

nickwill

Zipvit or Torque for energy drinks on the bike. Strangely though Torque tastes nicer, I find I drink more of the Zipvit and therefore stay more hydrated. I dislike the taste of SIS drinks, but I tend to use their gels,. The fact that they are isotonic means you can consume them without water or with energy drink. The best bars I've tasted are Honey Stingers and Clif Bars. Again I tend to go for those because they taste good and therefore get eaten. Torque Bars are also pretty good. I find SIS bars and Powerbars too hard to chew.

Rouge Penguin

Thanks All.

I did wonder as a friend had some pro bars left over, and when i mentioned the ones in the zipvit trial box, he said they were probably similar. In fact the zipvit ones have more Protien and Carbs per bar, though about the same weight.

I'm really trying to improve my diet and recovery, as healthy eating isnt always convienient or quick enough after a good ride.

holybinch

If you have a look on google, you can find a nice promo from ZipVit where you pay only delivery for a box of goodies. Lets you try their stuff...

Tom Butcher

Any sports drink for racing- tend to use Hi5 - for a short distance TT I have started having a redbull not too long before the off and as it seems to work I'm going to carry on doing it - training I just use water and food like bananas, muesli bar or a cafe stop.

teulk

I use either SIS GO or Lucozade Body fuel ( as its less than £4 at ASDA) but ive also used NUUN tablets which i found to be good. As for eating then its either SIS Go bars or Lucozade Body Fuel Carb bars (49p at Morrisons) or even the Lucozade Gels.

hopper1

I use ZipVit gels, High 5 energy drinks for longer rides (3 hrs +).
I always have a protein shake (USN PURE protein) after training.
Just love protein bars from the GNC store, almost addictive...

rjh299

Bikefood energy drink and bars
SIS Rego
SIS Gels

I find the SIS bars a b*tch to eat. Massive bars and take an age to chew, especially if they haven't heated up a bit