for full distance tri’s and 5-6 hour rides, I’ve been really pleased with U-can (powder). The bars are ok, but have a low melting point (not good for Texas summers) and a fair amount of fiber (not good for a marathon)
I find that Maurten and Beta fuel both do not have enough sodium for me for long rides, so I’m thinking of adding some saltstick caps, so I would double the amount of sodium to about 500 mg/hr.
I would be adding four satchels of Beta fuel with four saltstick caps into a hydration bladder for a 4-hr mtn bike ride.
Anybody have any experience with this mixture? Would it be better to just eat one caplet per hour separately and not mixed in?
Thanks.
Try mixing it more. It takes awhile to mix the powder in. Like a couple minutes. Or maybe I’m wrong and you just go a bad packet
So, you just add 3-4 scoops of SiS Go to a 20oz water bottle? No stomach issues? I have used Beta Fuel numerous times and its awesome, but definitely looking for more cost effective alternative for indoor rides or shorter (1-2hr) training sessions.
How much electrolytes are you adding?
the electrolyte mix came with a small scoop that is about 800mg, so add one of those when adding to the carb mix, if doing just a hydration bottle, will do 2 scoops as i sweat a lot.
Its started the be recognises the we can absorb and use more than 90g or carbs per hour. For MTB Marathons I use 1 x Beta Fuel + 1 x Torq Gel per hour and that works very well for me as the gel has lots of electrolytes. I do throw down 200mg SIS caffeine tablet before the race.
Fructose takes longer to metabolize than glucose. For short events, once the fructose is completely metabolized (converted to glucose) the workout/race will be over.
There is a lot more information that can be added but that’s a very slimmed down answer to your question.
Fructose metabolism in humans – what isotopic tracer studies tell us - PMC.
The mean oxidation rate of dietary fructose was 45.0% ± 10.7 (mean ± SD) in non-exercising subjects within 3–6 hours and 45.8% ± 7.3 in exercising subjects within 2–3 hours. When fructose was ingested together with glucose, the mean oxidation rate of the mixed sugars increased to 66.0% ± 8.2 in exercising subjects. The mean conversion rate from fructose to glucose was 41% ± 10.5 (mean ± SD) in 3–6 hours after ingestion.
1 Like
I’ve ordered some beta fuel to try out (40% discount on the SIS website during the Tour), and have been using it in my TR workouts (1 to 1,5 hours - 3x a week). I’ve been feeling much better, specially in VO2 max workouts, compared to the mix I was using before, which contained only about 34g of carbs (Aptonia ISO+).
Should I continue to take it. or save it to longer rides?
Based on the price I tend to use Beta Fuel for racing but defer to SIS Electrolyte energy for training. As I tend to train carb low anyway, Carb Loading first with BF on board gives me a feeling like a turbo boost on race day.
1 Like
You can use something like SIS GO or any mix energy source that is glucose or maltodextrin based and save the Beta Fuel for workouts where the fructose has time to release. But if it’s working and you feel good, you can always come back to it if you don’t like the alternative.
1 Like
I did a 9h long effort yesterday, was extremely exhausting. A lot of extra weight due to weather, wind was crazy - I was standing and pushing in sweet spot range - and could only go around 20 km/h. It was a real opportunity for testing Beta fuel. I started with 3 x turbo divided into 2 bottles (90g/bottle) and then gels and finally i switched to Beta fuel. 234 km ride with 2000 m climb i was able to stand and push on the climbs. This is seriously like you are cheating