Best value Gel?

90g/hour does not mean 90g every hour, but rather one gel every 15-20min. And then it gets really expensive, if you take 3-4 gels/hour

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Any that can be used as suppositories? Want to maintain aero position during a triathalon bike segment.

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maple syrup in a flask, not kidding. best $ is from CostCo
I’ve been using it for about 2y now (if memory serves correctly)

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Like many others have noted… you can save yourself a TON of $$$ with DIY recipes. Buy bulk powders and you’re good to go for 100’s of servings at a fraction of the price… The hardest part IMO is finding a recipe that works for you tastewise. I use this particular one and it works great for my cycling needs. I’m never short of energy for the harder TR workouts now!

For this recipe, I substitute the fresh strawberry juice (which i find hard to source without over spending) for strawberry-kiwi Juicy-Juice which is easy to find at any grocery store! Tastes awesome and doesn’t break the bank. One suggestion if you try this recipe is to add a little extra water to thin it a bit. As directed in the recipe, it gets quite thick as it cools in the fridge, so I add an extra 1/4 cup of water which thins it nicely!

To each their own, of course! Good luck finding what works for you!

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I have used pure maple syrup, that comes in at around 50 cents fro 25 g/carb, way cheaper than any gel on the market and I love the flavor

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If it works for you then great. Difference to gels is the much higher fructose content and a lot of it via sucrose, which is usually not contained in gels.

if you’ve followed @Dr_Alex_Harrison 's posts here, the extra fructose benefit is dubious. sucrose seems to be more than just a passable substitute and possibly a better choice.

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I hope to have Dr Alex join us here, although I’m sure it’s been said in other threads that I was loosely following. I do appreciate considering that I might be chasing the wrong thing though.

I’ll try some of the tricks I’ve seen suggested here.

This is too simple. And it sounds borderline enjoyable, therefore, it must be incorrect.

J/K, I’m going to try it…

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:100: Costco maple syrup is excellent; I put it on my oats and in my bottle with water, a squeeze of lime and a pinch of Pink Himalayan sea salt, also from Costco. On hard rides, I can literally feel my energy levels raising after taking a swig.

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Had some of the UnTapped Maple Syrup and it was the first time I had ever spit something out mid ride like that. I love Maple Syrup and especially the Costco stuff, but no way I will try it on a ride.

maple syrup is very low in fructose from what i understand. maybe wrong, but way more sucrose

Sucrose is one molecule glucose + one molecule fructose (but not as readily available as if it is already separated as in gels). Therefore the overall fructose content is rather high, likely 1:1 glucose to fructose.

Yes, sorry if I was not clear. I meant that the high fructose content is a disadvantage vs. gels (an sucrose is just glucost and fructose put together).

From the comments, it seems that the “best value gel” is the one with the taste you like. My favorite taste is Bargain

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Our hearts align. :two_hearts:

Hammer Apple Cinnamon is the best gel ever, fight me.

I don’t use gels anymore, but I kinda miss that one. Maybe I’ll get some just for a change of pace. Also straight maple syrup sounds awesome. Gonna try that.

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Oh! Good call, from memory it tastes distinctly like apple pie filling.

I’m also going to try straight up maple syrup…

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I also use maple syrup.
I used to mix in some apple sauce as well.
However, in some recent videos I was watching of Lionel Sanders, he just uses straight maple syrup (costco), some sodium citrate for the Na, and dilutes slightly with water, he swears by it.
I will likely simply to this in the Spring when I need gels again and try it.

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For context, can anyone give approx price per litre for Maple Syrup (costco or other places)

In France I can’t find it cheaper than 16€ per litre, and it’s normally more… assuming 68g of carbs per 100ml, if I’m putting about 100ml of maple syrup into a 500ml bottle then it’s around 1.60€ per bottle. This does not compare favourably to table sugar, which works out at around 0.20€ a bottle (including flavouring)

Edit… just found this … Costco Maple Syrup {Is it Real? Where Does it Come From?} - Shopping With Dave

At 12.49USD per l it’s going to be about 1.25 a bottle. That’s half the price of Maurten, but still way more than just sugar :cry:

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You could probably also use fruity baby food if apple isn’t your thing. :thinking: