It’s taken me a few years of experimenting with nutrition and hydration on the bike. As someone who struggled with cramp Precision Hydration has helped no end, pair that with the Zipvit Zv7 gel (51g and 200kc ) and that was 70g carb per hour.
Unfortunately now I can’t get hold of the gels anywhere and they seem to be discontinued, I struggle to eat on the bike, even chews, so this combination has been perfectly for me now for a year or so. Does anybody know of a similar gel to Zipvit anywhere? Maurten seem crazy expensive and I’ve only got 4 Zipvit gels left. And yes I know I could have 2-3 standard gels an hour but I’d prefer not to for many various reasons.
Cheers
I used to use Zipvit gels and mourn their demise! They were a cracking product that really delivered. After struggling to find any for sale anywhere, I emailed the company and they confirmed that they were discontinuing them. Since that sad day I’ve experimented with all sorts of energy products and have settled on Tailwind. I tried all their flavours and the caffeine and non-caffeine versions before settling on the neutral non-caffeine version. I usually use 2-3 scoops per hour of riding, depending on the intensity of the ride, and top up with a gel if required (I quite like Torq gels - 30g carbs, easy on the stomach and great flavours). I’ve been really impressed with Tailwind’s energy drink - it’s easy on the stomach, fuels me well, and the electrolyte formula they use is also effective in keeping me hydrated. I’ll often supplement it with their recovery drink after hard efforts. Both products - individually and together - contribute to my recovery. I still miss Zipvit gels though.
Thanks for your reply, yeah taking 1 gel an hour was the clincher for me, I’m rubbish at remembering to eat more often. I’ll have a look at tailwind stuff now too , never heard of it. I don’t mind torq and other gels, zipvit was so convenient too, 1 per hour paired with my skratch\ precision hydration drinks and sorted. Back to jelly babies is on the cards…
I hear you! I love those ZipVit gels. They are great in bunch racing as you don’t need them as often as other gels due to their size, so less time digging around in the back pocket. Plus, they taste great and work well. I have searched long and hard on the internet for them and can’t find them anywhere
Are you looking specifically for gels or would you consider drink mix? I use a custom mix from Infinit Nutrition. I don’t think it is as expensive as Maurten but I honestly haven’t done a side-by-side comparison. They have many pre-made formulas but they’ll also give a free phone consult to setup a custom mix - price is nearly the same ($60 / 25 servings). (I only use it for 2+ hour interval workouts, though. I use watered-down Gatorade, gels, and Precision Hydration for shorter duration and / or less intense rides.)
My custom mix is below and has 72g of total carbs. Mine was setup for a Gran Fondo / Century, and I’m a medium-heavy sweater with a medium-high amount of salt loss. It worked perfectly - I didn’t need any other nutrition or salt during the 5-hour event.
Curious that you have the Electrolyte slider set toward the low side. Seems like it should be set slightly higher than normal to account for your extra salt loss. Did you do a phone consult?
Yes, I did a free phone consult. I’m fine with sodium anywhere from 250-500 mg per 750 ml (24 oz) of water. Unless it’s really hot (Florida in the summer) more sodium than that bothers my stomach.
Not sure if this falls under the 2-3 standard gels category, but could you buy one of those 30-serving bottles and portion them as needed into a reusable gel flask? I’ve always preferred that because there’s less waste/fiddling involved and it’s usually a lot cheaper than buying individually packaged gels.
You could always do a DIY mix as well- it’s pretty simple/affordable and you can customize it to your needs. I’m mostly on the jelly baby train though, unless i’m racing
I’m pretty sure that there are gels with 50g of carbs in the 226ers lineup, though they have a lot of variations so can’t remember the exact one… another mourner of Zipvit gels over here though!
Edit - Yes, their High Energy Gels fit the bill! Not as nice tasting as Zipvit but get the job done.
