Man, I can’t even fathom gulping down that many gels in an hour…especially from a $$ perspective.
One gel every 45 min or so, plus a carb drink and I’ll be right at 90-100g / hour.
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The running industry is just as bad or worse. I know and see a lot of recreational “runners” who have drank the kool-aid so to speak with expensive nutrition belts full of carbs who are running 5-6km at 8-10 minute kilometre pace.
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I guess I never thought it was much of a hassle. And at less than $1/gel I personally don’t think it’s that much money but I understand that for many that might be considered too much. I’m paying for the laziness. It’s why I stopped making my own drink. It’s just easier to grab a bunch of gels than to mix or make my own carb drink. I used to prep out like 8-10 bottles at a time but grabbing a gel is just easier. Reaching for a gel every 30 minutes has become second nature by now.
Crazy how we would go off in the forest for 2-3 hour long runs with nothing but a timex watch and maybe some toilet paper. 
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But these fuzzy leaves look comfy…
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Before I switched to straight maple, I did many years of 2-4 gels an hour and riding ~15 hours a week during the season. Cliff shots were my go-to because you could buy them in bulk for under $1 per gel (Loved the razz and chocolate cherry w/100mg caffein). But it still added up. When Cliff stopped making gels, I was forced to find something cheaper. I buy a bunch of maple and it’s not cheap, but it’s a fraction of the price of any gel and fueling from a flask (holds the equivalent of 12 gels) is so much better than dealing with gel wrappers. Just can’t drop that flask…
This year, I finally kicked my Skratch habit and doing a home brew. Last summer in the Texas heat, my monthly Skratch bill was basically a car payment. I’m retired these days, so getting cheaper by the moment. I think The Feed had to lay off a couple people when I stopped buying Skratch…
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That’s a lot of bottles! What size are these bottles & how long are you on the bike for to finish off 8 of them? Today I had two 800mL water-electrolyte bottles & one not-quite-full carbs bottle: 400g of sugar & 200mL of water. I was on the bike for 3h15 & had finished them all with about 10 mins left.
Well yeah, most people envy a lifestyle funded by a trust fund where you effectively spend your entire life on a cycling holiday.
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Yup, that is what I do now, too. Well, I bought a bunch of the SIS gels last year when they were $1 / gel, but still use maple syrup for my long rides / races. I add in a pinch of Himalayan pink sea salt and a small splash of Jot concentrated coffee for flavor, caffeine and to cut down on the sweetness.
Sounds like I use a smaller flask than you and just have the 150ml / 5 oz. flask….but it holds closer to 6 oz. For a long ride, I’ll use that and a hydration bladder w/ 270g of carbs. The flask is about 125g and that combo is good for me for ~4 hours and is ~100g / hour.
No wrappers, very easy to access when needed….grab the flask from either a cargo pocket or bento box, twist the cap, squeeze, replace. Fast and efficient.
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I meant that I meal prepped them. Meaning I would prep a bunch at once and then throw them in the fridge and use them over the week.
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Oh mate I just tried one of those triple berry ones for the first time the other day. Totally tastes like a red Freezy from back in the day to me. I was flying after that puppy 
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bicyclerollingresistance.com is irrelevant until they update the wheel they use to test tires. For example, just because I was just on the website, the new Rene Herse Corkscrew Climb(44mm) tire they tested measured out to 41.7mm. On a 25ID wheel, the tire measures out to 45.7. Literally no one runs gravel tires on a wheel with a 17.8ID like they use for their tests…or even road tires at this point.
So how relevant can these results be when every tire they test is most likely significantly more narrow than what they’ll be out on the road on a modern wheelset?
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There isn’t much difference test-wise.
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Thank you for sharing. Does this imply that rim width doesn’t mean anything? At least in terms of rolling resistance?
It implies that potential rim width differences are [partially] within the error bound for the BRR test machine. Both SRAM/ZIPP and Silverstone have found larger differences than BRR for rim width, and rim type.
I was under the impression that wider tires absorb vibrations and conform to surface imperfections thus providing a lower rolling resistance. So what SRAM/ZIPP have found makes more sense. Do you happen to have a link to that? @crandallGA
I think BRR is more concern to test the rubber itself. Confort, aerodynamics, etc aren’t really a portion of “rolling resistance”. But that’s a pure “internet guess”.
I could see that. There are obviously a lot of nuances when it comes to tires. Rolling resistance is just a piece of the puzzle.
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