I used to use the SIS gels until the price went up significantly over the past few years, also it seemed the UK site was originally shipping locally in AUS but now ships from UK, and now there’s a separate AUS-based site which seemed to charge more/have less variety.
I now shop at the local supermarket for the ‘Winners’ brand gels which unfortunately are not isotonic like the SIS gels so I need to remember to have sufficient water on hand.
I’ve used the SIS Beta Fuel a few times for longer Gran Fondo events, works great from a fuelling and energy perspective - however I have found repeatedly that the, ahem, “after effects” (and I’m not talking about the gut) are an issue for the next day or so - not sure if this is just needing to “train” the digestive system to get used to the higher level of carbs or whether I’m just unable to tolerate the mix of sugars
I’ve yet to find a caffeine gel that tastes anything less than horrible - I love strong coffee but caffeinated gels just taste nasty.
Hammer Montana Huckleberry and Apple Cinnamon are the best! I buy them by the jug. Honey Stinger are pretty good, Maurten gives me an upset stomach, but I like the Solid as a hiking snack.
The Tropical flavor, back when the packaging was gold and GU sized was my absolute favorite. It’s definitely different than the Tropical Fruit they have now, which just isn’t as good. I also really enjoyed the taste of the Apple Cinnamon or Nocciola hammer gels, but never sat great. Really gotta try out the untapped stuff, although we just re-upped our maple syrup supply so maybe should just try some of that in a flask.
Can’t say I like any gels, easier to put carbs in a bottle. This one - PowerGel Shots Energy Chews - was handed out at BWR AZ aid station #1 last weekend. Had caffeine in it, but I tried it anyways. Yuck.
Don’t see these mentioned very often on the forum but Crank Sports e-gels are my go-to…37 g of carbs plus electrolytes, and the vanilla strawberry ones are super tasty. I also like that 2 of them gets me close to 80 g of carbs. And on a price per gram of carb basis they are about the same price as Gu, and tons cheaper than neversecond etc. Beta fuel is a better value by about a penny per gram, but I am not crazy about the flavor, and not a lot of electrolyte in Beta.
Definitely comes down to personal preference. I like SIS and High 5, but detest Gu and Winners. Not a slur on the products, simply what works / doesn’t work for me.
Hmm, Endurance Tap is not Untapped, but looks like a better mix of flavors. Looking forward to trying Tap as I’ve been meaning to put some maple syrup into a flask.
I used to buy maple syrup from Costco and pour it into a 5oz Hammer flask or two. Before that, I was pouring honey into said flasks with a little warm water and lemon.
Any road, is the untapped packets a low-viscous maple syrup? How is it worth the extra cost (and extra landfill trash)?
The syrup in Untapped “gels” seems pretty similar to the Costco syrup in terms of viscosity and taste (the regular Untapped ones, not the ones infused with other flavors), although I have compared directly back to back at the same time. But definitely close.
The coffee infused Untapped are handy if you like to dose some caffeine. The shape of the packages is good as they are pretty easy to stuff in a back pocket or in a cargo bib pocket. But a good system with a flask is going to work pretty good too.
I know lots of people are dogging on Hammer, but I always really liked their espresso gel back in the day. I could put enough of it in a flask to do a century. I don’t use gels now that I put sugar in my bottles along with solid foods, but if I did, I would use it again.
I just fell in love with Coomb’s Family Maple syrup. Did a 5.5 hour ride today and I was golden with it. Very palatable and didn’t mess with my stomach.
I don’t mind my SiS gels, I just deal with the bad taste most of the time.
oops wrong thread!