Jonathan's comparaison on gels

It is amazing how much texture / consistency can influence our sense of taste. Flavors that I generally find acceptable can become gag-inducing with the wrong consistency.

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No one ever mentions my favorite; Clif Shots!

They are cheap, thick AF, and taste like the chemicals in cheap holloween candy! Sweet, sweet chemicals :crazy_face:

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Oh, interesting…I am the opposite. Warm chocolate flavors are instant gag reflex…and I LOVE chocolate!

Linking both these together, my first ever gel was a chocolate Clif Shot back when they came in the little toothpaste tubes. I immediately gagged on it!

That said, I am a fan of the Clif Shot Citrus pictured above. But my favorite gel is still the Powerbar Green Apple. Thin viscosity and great flavor. Love it. Untapped gels are right up there, as well.

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No, just not warm chocolate frosting on the bike. :grin:

I’m the same. I can’t stomach warm Skratch flavor at all. I love the Cliff salted watermelon chews in winter but have a hard time with it in summer. I switch to Stroopwafels for summer chewables instead.

I’ve been so happy with the homemade mix we’ve all been making. It is an absolute game changer for me in terms of what I can stomach in heat.

My problem with Maurten, is how expensive they are. Are there regular sales on them that make the price easier to justify? As it stands, they can’t be 3X better than SIS to me.

I saw an interesting thread on reddit about making your own gels.

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Its hard to buy maurten and precision when sis is half the price.

FWIW and completely specific to my gut which is fussy - I have a lot of trouble with both gels and drinks. After a lot of tries, Skratch and Heed products I found I can tolerate. Bc Heed products are maltodextrin only I add fructose to the bottle in the right proportion for planned total consumption

Hi. What is your home made mix?

Lots of us are making our own drink mix, which is what I’m referring to, based on podcast info. Tons of discussion on that here. Make SIS BETA fuel yourself just a few pence per bottle

My personal choice is 2:1 Maltodextrine to Fructose, with an SIS tab for flavor and electrolytes. I have a very sensitive stomach and live where it’s very hot, so I’ve battled stomach issues from commercial mixes for a long time. Maurten solved that, but is very expensive, so I now make my own.

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In the UK I’ve found Sigma often have the best price for Maurten but I’ve still never been convinced they’re worth that much extra.
Veloforte are my favourite brand at the minute for both bars and gels. Their caffeine (Doppio) gel is brilliant and I’ve just got a batch of Tempo (non caffeine) to try as an alternative.

In the US, buying direct from Maurten looks to be the cheapest. A Maurten gel is $3.6 USD from that website. There might be sales on them, I’m not sure. But conversely, you can very commonly find SiS gels for $1/gel most of the year. In an absolute sense, I just can’t find it in me to pay over $3 for a single gel, much less when the competition is significantly less, and in my eyes, just as good of quality.

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Have you tried going to 120g per hour with both? My understanding that the 1:0.8 should allow you to absorb more per hour than 2:1.