This works really well for me, so I thought that I’d share. I honest have no idea how anyone can afford gels (about 1 euro a pop here), so here is a much cheaper alternative. Per litre of finished drink: 150g maltodextrin 50g table sugar 3g electrolyte mix/sodium bicarbonate 20ml lemon juice co…

You might find this thread a good read: DIY Sports powder carb drinks - please share your recipe - #167 by WindWarrior Lots of opinions and then a generally accepted recipe quite similar to what you have sans creatine or caffeine. I personally use a crystal light packet for flavor in my mix instea…

Caster/superfine sugar, salt and lemon juice is the move. 120g of sucrose will readily dissolve in a bottle of water with a little shaking.

Isn’t that 175g of glucose and 25g of fructose? I thought the ideal ratio was 1:0.8 glucose to fructose.

This is another good one: [image] Make SIS BETA fuel yourself just a few pence per bottle Nutrition Hello people So I’ve been looking at upping my nutrition game for a while now and I think I’ve done it. SIS BETA fuel is a mix of 2 parts maltodextrin and 1 past fructose.…

It’s as much sweetness as my palette can take. Looking at the ingredients lists on gels, they seem to be mostly maltodextrin.

Sodium Citrate balances out that sweetness extremely well. You do need to watchout with over doing it but i’ve found i can get 120g of carbs in a bottle without too much sweetness fatigue. I hardly ever do that, i just wanted to experiment a bit. Lately on the trainer i’ve been doing a 80ish gram dr…

Good to know about the sodium citrate. I need a lot of carbs due to my size, so it becomes a question of carrying enough on a long ride. For example, I was out for a leisurely 8hr gravel ride last weekend, and 560g carbs in bottles, a good breakfast before heading out and a good lunch was only just…

Not sure if this will help, but my gravel bike carries 3 water bottles, so when I go really long, I mix a regular bottle and then make 2 high concentration bottles. Add in a hydration pack and you can mix the concentrate with the water into the first bottle.

If you’ll be able to find water on route then just bringing powder with you is another option to avoid having extra bottles in non ideal places. I’ve never used fork mounted bottles like you see on a lot of bikepacking setups.

TrainerRoad

Simple, cheap energy drink recipe

Nutrition

Pbase March 26, 2025, 11:00pm 5

This is another good one:

Topic		Replies	Views
My homemade rocket fuel Nutrition	5	3331	December 2, 2020
Make SIS BETA fuel yourself just a few pence per bottle Nutrition	834	109338	May 24, 2026
Carbohydrate Drink Powders Nutrition	13	2562	November 8, 2020
DIY Sports powder carb drinks - please share your recipe Nutrition	179	39309	May 29, 2026
Video of Jonathan making sports drink? Nutrition	8	2697	June 18, 2022

Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

This is the only podcast dedicated to making you a faster cyclist. Listen to the latest episode and more.

We Are Here to Help!

Browse hundreds of articles in our Support Center or contact our world-class support team to get back on track.

Privacy Policy Disclaimer Terms Cookie Settings

Simple, cheap energy drink recipe

Related topics

Get Faster with Adaptive Training

Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

We Are Here to Help!