Best gels?

rodgers73

I'm about to run out of SiS gels and wonder what to replace them with.

Bit bored of them now - any good alternatives??

MattC59

I find they're all like licking snot off a tortoise, but.............. the Mule gels are like rocket fuel. Perfectly edible, a noticable kick, but the cherry one has a bit of a sugar burn to it.

The best one I've found is the Torq gel in rhubarb & custard flavour.

kev77

Zipvit!

They are especially made by Pablo Escobar! strong as hell!

Escadrille Ecosse

Oh gels. Came here under false expectations, I thought you might be from Edinburgh and said gels :?

rodgers73

kev77 wrote:

Zipvit!

They are especially made by Pablo Escobar! strong as hell!

£5 more than SiS for 24 though,,,

mattshrops

Torq strawberry yoghurt flavour yum yum

greeny1

+1 for the torq. the rhubarb and custord and bannoffee ones are both delicious. Plus they do the job definatley give me a kick when needed

kim10

Another +1 for torq, specially the bannoffee.

I changed from Zipvit when I ran out as I did find them quit sickly to eat, but it's all about personal preference I guess. Try and by a couple of singles in each brand and see how you get on.

Belv

I don't think there's a 'best' gel. The advice I got was to find a brand that doesn't upset your stomach and use that. Maybe stick with SiS but change flavours?

cougie

Do you really need gels for cycling though ? Fair enough if you're racing, but for normal riding - solid food is easier to deal with, cheaper and less messy. What do you do with your empty gel wrappers ?

sloppyschleckonds

cougie wrote:

Do you really need gels for cycling though ? Fair enough if you're racing, but for normal riding - solid food is easier to deal with, cheaper and less messy. What do you do with your empty gel wrappers ?

I thought you had to digest them :shock:

hulla the hulla

ditto on the Torq stuff

their drink powders are good too - the new vanilla drink is just like a non sweetened cream soda - very yummy

AidanR

Personally I wouldn't touch gels with a barge pole unless I was competing, and even then I probably go for something like this instead:

http://paleovelo.com/2011/02/13/real-fo ... ce-riding/

I don't want to be putting some hyper-processed sugar crap in my system. The fact that they disagree with a lot of people's stomachs is surely ample demonstration that they're not good for you.

nferrar

Torq are the easiest to stomach IME however the Zipvit ones are probably the best , at least in terms of number of carbs they're packing. They are really thick and not that pleasant though (although I seem to be getting more used to them now after I've had 5 or 6 - not on the same ride obviously ).

nickel

I like high 5 isogels as they're like a thick drink rather than a gel which makes them easier to consume whilst cycling, taste ok too!

rodgers73

AidanR wrote:

Personally I wouldn't touch gels with a barge pole unless I was competing, and even then I probably go for something like this instead:

http://paleovelo.com/2011/02/13/real-fo ... ce-riding/

I don't want to be putting some hyper-processed sugar crap in my system. The fact that they disagree with a lot of people's stomachs is surely ample demonstration that they're not good for you.

cougie wrote:

Do you really need gels for cycling though ? Fair enough if you're racing, but for normal riding - solid food is easier to deal with, cheaper and less messy. What do you do with your empty gel wrappers ?

I think if my diet involved a lot of gels on a daily basis I'd be worried but three or four over an afternoon once or twice a month doesnt really bother me.

I like them because they dont fill my stomach in the same way that solid food would. The only other thing I eat while on the bike are jelly babies in two or threes, which go down very nicely. I shove the wrappers in my back pocket, rather than chuck them on the ground.

kev77

How long you spending in the saddle?

ben16v

zipvit are good (but the caffeine natural orange is like eating silicon sealant) but works, i`m now on maximuscle viperboost citrus whatever flavour and they are good - quite liquidy so go down easy - genarally use them for tri`s or before a hillclimb/tt but keep one for emergency in back pocket

AidanR

Maybe I'm a freak, but I can happily do 50 miles at a reasonable pace in a morning without breakfast and with only water.

rodgers73

kev77 wrote:

How long you spending in the saddle?

A full day sometimes, but only using gels when moving.

rodgers73

ben16v wrote:

i`m now on maximuscle viperboost citrus whatever flavour...

Bloody hell that sounds a bit hardcore! Monkey glands??

rc856

I've recently tried CNP

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... NPAEFOO195

They're the nicest tasting ones I've tried and they're smaller in size compared to the likes of SIS but pack more into them.

springtide9

Some can upset your stomach as previously stated....

Just been trialing the Cliff Bar Bloks... a sort of expensive jelly baby - come gel... find them pretty easy to eat with no bloating so far, and equal to 2 normal gels (so similar to a power bar). The Orange has a bit of caffeine - think they state roughly the same as a can of day Coke.

Here's the link...
http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_shot_bloks/

(think Wiggle sell them BTW)

Cleat Eastwood

MattC59 wrote:

I find they're all like licking snot off a tortoise,.

Ha ha post of the day, well played sir.

ben16v

just bought some clif double expresso (maccas favorites apparently) 100mg caffeine - i`ll give em a go for tomorrows hill climb!
http://will49.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p165777537-5.jpg

NWLondoner

Zip Vit gels are like rocket fuel.

They are quite thick and sticky to swallow

The Banana flavour is ace. Blackcurrant is ok.The Orange one tastes like cat p**s :

sloppyschleckonds

NWLondoner wrote:

Zip Vit gels are like rocket fuel.

They are quite thick and sticky to swallow

The Banana flavour is ace. Blackcurrant is ok.The Orange one tastes like cat p**s :

Try the cherry cola, makes the above seem like nectar

NWLondoner

I agree with that!!

Cherry cola tastes like diesel mixed with wd40

rodgers73

NWLondoner wrote:

I agree with that!!

Cherry cola tastes like diesel mixed with wd40

Aaarrgghh!! Now we're in for it...

teulk

I use lucozade gels, tried others and tbh i cant say ive noticed much difference. For 77pence i think they're a bargin

SBezza

I only use gels for racing, where eating solid food is impossible, but I have used both SiS and Torq with good effect.

To be honest if you feel they give you a big kick, you have left it too late, and you have seriously depleted your glycogen stores. Gels ideally should be used as a last resort, or get me home type product for endurance rides, food is more than adequate, and alot cheaper.

If you took the right amount of carbs in per hour on just gels, you would be having 2 or 3 an hour. Now that would be an expensive ride after 5 hours or so.