Which energy drink?

adammarlow85

What energy drink powder do you use if you use any on your longer rides?

diamonddog

Just water for me, tried the Hi Five variety tasted ok but they did nothing for me.

adammarlow85

diamonddog said:

Just water for me, tried the Hi Five variety tasted ok but they did nothing for me.

So if you was to do a long ride what do you take with you nutrition wise?

joe2019

First Endurance EFS is by far the best I've ever used.

Sutton_Rider

Water with a pinch of salt and sometimes a banana as well.

ktuludays

i make my own, water, splash of honey/juice and a bit of sugar and salt. i used o use the SIS ones but found i'd get gut ache after a while using them.

for other nutrition, soreen, bananas, cereal bars, jam sandwiches

schlepcycling

I use SIS energy drinks, specifically the citrus flavour and I find it very palatable and I've never suffered from any stomach issues. Obviously YMMV.

Mad_Malx

Agree with almost all the above responses.

Love the way the purveyors have managed to persuade some people that salts, sugar and synthetic flavouring plus ££££ constitutes nutrition.

Defblade

I use Skratch these days.

Turns out, I'm a poor absorber of fructose and if I drink just a little bit to much of most energy drinks, that fructose sugar heads down further in my guts than sugar would normally reach and the bugs that aren't used to pure energy arriving have an absolute riot on it... so a day or so after using it, I get really nasty cramps and runs

Gatorade used to make one with no fructose, but the Skratch make the only ones I can find these days with no added fructose.

joe_totale-2

Watery squash with a tiny bit of salt in works well for me. Don't waste your money on some fancy nonsense.

diamonddog

adammarlow85 said:

diamonddog said:

Just water for me, tried the Hi Five variety tasted ok but they did nothing for me.

So if you was to do a long ride what do you take with you nutrition wise?

I took a couple of Belvita Nuts & Honey variety, take something you would normally eat it has less chance of upsetting your digestive system. As mentioned above you can make your own drink using cordial with a bit of salt added.

singleton

I have used a few but hi-five was the best on my stomach.
Don't use any now though - just water, bananas, soreen, fig rolls.

mrb123

Half apple juice, half water, pinch of salt.

In terms of food, I carry mini malt loaves, dried apricots, Eat Natural bars, Mars/Snickers, sometimes Jelly Babies.

fenix

High Five for me on my long rides.

rik.j.rayner

Lord not this one again! (Awaits ludicrous tales of imperial centuries completed sucking on a wine gum with ditch water)

adammarlow85

mrb123 said:

Half apple juice, half water, pinch of salt.

In terms of food, I carry mini malt loaves, dried apricots, Eat Natural bars, Mars/Snickers, sometimes Jelly Babies.

Love to see how a mars bar or snickers would be after an hour or more in your back pocket!

Cargobike

Water, orange cordial and a pinch of salt. Sorted.
Food? Soreen malt loaf, maybe a banana too.

pblakeney

Well that was good timing!
My usual SIS tablets had ran out so I went on a challenging 57 mile hilly bike ride with nothing more than 2x 750ml bidons filled with weak squash and a pinch of salt.
Noticed zero difference. Money saved for other goodies. 😀😎🚴

mrb123

adammarlow85 said:

mrb123 said:

Half apple juice, half water, pinch of salt.

In terms of food, I carry mini malt loaves, dried apricots, Eat Natural bars, Mars/Snickers, sometimes Jelly Babies.

Love to see how a mars bar or snickers would be after an hour or more in your back pocket!

I put chocolate bars in my middle back pocket with my phone in a freezer bag in between them and my back. Keeps them from melting in all but the warmest weather.

navrig2

Water and whatever decent cereal bar is on offer in ASDA or a banana although banana's don't do well in a jersey pocket.

imposter2.0

pblakeney said:

Well that was good timing!
My usual SIS tablets had ran out so I went on a challenging 57 mile hilly bike ride with nothing more than 2x 750ml bisons filled with weak squash and a pinch of salt.
Noticed zero difference. Money saved for other goodies. 😀😎🚴

Well done on carry two bisons on your ride. That's impressive...

pblakeney

imposter2.0 said:

pblakeney said:

Well that was good timing!
My usual SIS tablets had ran out so I went on a challenging 57 mile hilly bike ride with nothing more than 2x 750ml bisons filled with weak squash and a pinch of salt.
Noticed zero difference. Money saved for other goodies. 😀😎🚴

Well done on carry two bisons on your ride. That's impressive...

😂😂😂 Bloody spell check! 😂😂😂
Will correct....

cruff

Anyone riding with just water for more than two hours is either riding at a snail's pace or heading towards bonksville very, very quickly. You don't just need to replace salts when you're riding - you also need carbohydrate simply to keep you functioning.

For any ride longer than two hours I use Berry High 5 - mixed with orange cordial (don't like the taste of it that much in its own, it always tastes 'gloopy' - with the cordial it tastes like those fruit salad chewy sweets you used to get when you were a kid)

webboo

This is just not true Cruff. If you train your body to burn your fat stores, you can still ride at more than a snails pace.
This has been established for years, I remember Mark Allen winning the Nice long distance triathlon several decades ago and only consuming water.

Charlie_Croker

cruff said:

Anyone riding with just water for more than two hours is either riding at a snail's pace or heading towards bonksville very, very quickly. You don't just need to replace salts when you're riding - you also need carbohydrate simply to keep you functioning.

For any ride longer than two hours I use Berry High 5 - mixed with orange cordial (don't like the taste of it that much in its own, it always tastes 'gloopy' - with the cordial it tastes like those fruit salad chewy sweets you used to get when you were a kid)

Do you recon these tablets from Tesco, Multivitamin and Mineral are any good for keeping you going?

I ask because when I take a drink it doesn’t seem to make any difference, but a few fig rolls...

webboo

As there are no calories in those tablets they are not going to help keep you going. Unless you are suffering from a Vitamin deficiency.

pblakeney

I get the impression that some are mixing hydration with nutrition.
I guess it can be done but I get my carbs from food.

Charlie_Croker

pblakeney said:

I get the impression that some are mixing hydration with nutrition.
I guess it can be done but I get my carbs from food.

I kinda think of them going together. The OP asked “Which energy drink?” referring to longer rides

pblakeney

Charlie_Croker said:

pblakeney said:

I get the impression that some are mixing hydration with nutrition.
I guess it can be done but I get my carbs from food.

I kinda think of them going together. The OP asked “Which energy drink?” referring to longer rides

In which case the best answer lies within a cafe. 😉

navrig2

I have a friend whose wife rides with a bottle of water fuelled with a Zero Cal tablet. She thinks she gets energy from it. He hasn't chosen not to tell her the truth.

We are not talking big distances BTW.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

I'm still learning how to "fuel pace" myself on 2+ hour rides, or at least that's my current theory on why I can come back from such rides and often feel so utterly fatigued within an hour getting home.

I generally always take 1.5l of water on such rides, but given how jelly babies have ~20g of carbs per four sweets, I simply don't eat enough of them regularly enough. I should be taking one every ~5mins after an hour of riding, so if a 225g bag holds ~40 sweets, that should last me no more than two ~3 hour rides.

Problem is, I often forget to eat them regularly and so might only eat ~10 over the course of a three hour ride!