Hammer gel info
A typical 33-gram serving of Hammer Gel contains approximately 0.5-0.7 grams of fructose from the natural sweetener “Energy Smart,” made from 50% fruit juice and 50% grain dextrins via proprietary process. Fruit juice contains natural fructose of 3-10% by weight. For every serving of Hammer Gel consumed, (at most) 1-2 grams of natural fructose is consumed. The natural fructose content in Hammer Gel for a 9-serving/3-hour workout is no higher than 18-20 grams, well under half of the 50 grams necessary to induce fructose intolerance symptoms. When compared to natural, organic whole foods, Hammer Gel generates very small amounts of natural fructose.
Guess my point is I’m not seeing a huge benefit with any of these gels vs maple syrup…
My n=1 is that maple syrup sucks and was a horrible experience.
Never again, much prefer gels.
Cranksports E-gels also good for 37g per gel packet, plus some electrolytes.
Fair. I guess I need to do my own N=1 testing. Probably won’t duplicate my 12 hour ride prior to it but a decent 6 hour session with syrup vs different gels could be a good test before deciding for sure. Sounds like either way I’m taking a bunch of flasks/gels though which I’m was hoping to avoid.
I find the Maurten gels to open really easily.
My only issue with the cranksports gels is because they’re thicker they’re harder to consume compared to maple syrup or stuff like Maurten
I’ll expand, I did 6 hours in the heat and humidity with a specialized purist about 3/4 full with maple syrup. I loved the idea going in, felt like I was going to vomit by the end. The sweetness was too much in that scenario.
Maurten and SIS for me are like an oyster - Down the hatch! (No, not advocating fueling with Oysters no matter how much I love them 
)
I had this same issue with Gu in a flask. I solved this by doing a 4:1 “normal” thick Gu to 1 Gu liquid which made the consistency much easier to get down without watering down the density.
Combos I used
Gel / Liquid
Strawberry Banana (both)
Cola (both)
Lemonade Roctaine & Lemonade liquid
The tough part is that the liquid only comes in cola, strawberry banana and lemonade, but there are plenty of combos one could make that don’t end up in flavor combos that are just wrong.
Yep. Ben Delaney just happened to mention in one of his videos and it was sort of “why hadn’t I thought of that moment” for me.
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The problem is that the amount of sugar required is quite bulky. If you think of it this way - if you want to fuel a 5h ride with 100g carbs per hour, that is basically a pound bag of table sugar to lug around. Ok, the lose table sugar probably only has a packing density of about 50%, but on the other hand there is no liquid or additional ingredients taking up space.
“Portion-size” packed gels or chews will be even more bulky, and create more waste.
I’ve found a cheap and space-saving way of carrying a lot of carbs is packs of jelly sweets like Haribo - shop around to find something that agrees in taste and chewability to you. You can repack those to take up less space, but often they then become difficult to take out one by one.
Another option if you want to avoid carrying reusable flasks could be to make your own “gel packs” by using the type of plastic welder to seal food into plastic bags (forgot the name!). You could make your own bags with for example 100g of home made gel each, out of thin plastic, and just bite a hole into them to eat. I’m thinking a bit similar to how you use a plastic bag for icing to decorate a cake. It might be messy, and I haven’t tried it, but it could work. 
I just measured SIS Beta Fuel. It’s a pound every two hours to fuel at 120g/hour (235g / 3) so that’s 3# in fuel for a 6 hour training ride. No issues with pocket space carrying that much. For the same ride in the heat of summer I’m going out the door with almost 10# in water.
I just don’t see the fuss, especially if it’s a training ride. In terms of calorie density, space, weight of pretty much anything else, you’re not gaining much unless it’s 100% liquid fuel, which doesn’t work well as the weather gets colder.
SiS has a chew and if I remember correctly its 55 or 60g for the package. Its one whole piece with indents ever third. I believe its also slightly indented in half, width wise. So you theoretically could portion it 6 times for around 10g a square. I never did though. I would just inhale the whole thing most of the time. They were the…“oh shit I havent eaten enough” at hour 4 in a race. Its slightly more dense than Jell-o, but it dissolves quickly.
I stopped using their Gels. Too sweet. Precision Hydration gels are my go-to. They are only 30g a shot but I only supplement with those with a high-carb home-made glucose/fructose/sodium citrate mix that I portion in according to the demands of my workout in terms of length/intensity/hydration needs.
One thing to add when venturing into the 90-120g an hour territory is osmolarity. Having a solution too saturated in sugar WILL change the way your body processes that carb intake. The higher the saturation, the slower the digestion. Read: not good. You want your digestion to run like the fuel/spark system in your vehicle. Too rich and you’ll end up with unburnt/unusable fuel. Too lean, and you’ll end up with ‘knock’ (bonk).
I looked into this a bit myself when trying to find high carb gels for longer rides. The most concentrated I found was Decathlon’s own brand with 23g carbs in a 32g gel (0.72 carb / prod). Others that came close were SIS Beta Fuel with 40g in a 60g gel or Torq with 30g in 45g (0.67 carb / prod). Murten gel 160 has 40g in a 65g gel (0.62 carb / prod) , while Styrkr has 30g carbs in a 72g gel (0.42 carb / prod). Hammer Gel is 22g in a 33g serving (0.67 carb / prod).
Most brands use pectin or xanthan gum to thicken up the gel so I now make my own “gel” utilizing xanthan gum (can be found with baking powder and all the other baking stuff at the supermarket), along with maltodextrin, fructose, electrolyte tabs and a few drops of fruit juice concentrate. Put the sticky mess in a 500mL soft flask. Much cheaper and easier seeing that I have most of the ingredients for making my own drink.
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I come at this from a bit of a different place, although with a similar outcome. Doing ultra distance/bikepacking races, its not uncommon to need to carry 24hr or more of food/nutrition at a time. In training, I can easily hit 100g/hr, but obviously dial this back for longer multi-day efforts, but still aim for upwards of 70g/hr, as carbs just work as a fuel source for me, and eating solid food can get tough. By drinking a large portion of my calories, it just assures that I’m always taking something in. So with that I’m usually packing 2 or 3 kilograms of my DIY high carb powder, and using that to get me about halfway to my hourly goals. To supplement that, I’ll start the race with a ton of gels and a few chews. 20 Gels isn’t unrealistic for a 48hr race. My go to has been the SIS Beta Fuel Gels, as they pack a good number of carbs into one gel, at 40g. So one of these every two hours or so, stacked on top of liquid carbs and whatever else I might be craving will keep me moving quite well. I did just pick up a case of the new “Carbs” gels from TheFeed, and will pack a few of those for the next event. I don’t love the taste, but I’m not really eating any of this stuff for the enjoyment of it.
Some numbers:
SIS Chews 46g carbs / 61g overall
Clif Bloks 48g carbs / 62g overall
SIS Beta Gel 40g carbs / 78g overall
Carbs Gel 50g carbs / 76g overall
@Flamingo The SIS Chews I’ve used have all been two per package, but unfortunately they are two thin flat sheets stacked together that are the full length of the package, and as a result, just a pain to eat. You end up just biting a big chunk off of a slightly slimy block. I much prefer the Clif Bloks, both for their bite size pieces, but also the ability to just insert the bottom of the pack in your teeth, grabbing the first Blok, and just pull away, thereby opening the package and dispensing a Blok… Not sure everyone knows that technique, but its wonderful.
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