What is the worst cycling food you’ve ever tasted?

I swallowed a protein snack once that was rank; you know, the kind with wings :fly:

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The old Cytomax formula was the worst. Felt like it was burning a hole in my gut. Could never drink it.

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I recently had a “recovery” protein bar by Enervit - it was terrible. Bad taste, was hard, and gave me gas. Never again.

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GU Vanilla. It was fairly warm from being in my pocket for a ride and it tasted like someone puked in mouth.

I actually like Powerbars…the peanut butter was good. They were a key element to my SAR pack when I was doing more wilderness medic stuff.

I’ve also liked every flavor of GU gel I’ve had - including warm vanilla :slight_smile:

The only sports-related thing I just could not stomach was a collagen powder I got at cost-co. Tasted like vomit. Gave it to my sister who…also thought it tasted like vomit and threw it out.

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I’ll add my vote for Hammer HEED.

When I started tri’s 15 years ago it seems like every local tri had this at their aid stations and the finish line. I naively thought at the time that all these cycling specific drink mixes were this terrible

ketones!

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I used a race tube of Flow formulas caffeine lemon flavored about 6 hours into a gravel race. tasted like what i would assume battery acid is like. Burned everything in my mouth and my stomach. I had planned it for my main nutrition for the last 90 minutes of the race. only took a few sips and just couldn’t do it.

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+1. That stuff is truly, positively, unbelievably vile!

Different strokes. I used to love the old Cytomax :thinking::grinning:

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Just tried one of those HVMN ketone shots. Holy moly. It tasted like $2 tequila, and had an aftertaste that wouldn’t go away. Had to be one of the first times I’ve nearly puked from the taste. The stuff had better be amazing for what it tastes like.

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In the 90’s I raced a lil’ XC MTB and the only energy food available was those super hard cardboard tasting Power Bar’s. Apple was my poison of choice. Anyway, at some point Cliff Bar came out to Australia and they were handing them out at all the races. No one wanted to eat them because they tasted too good. It was hardwired into us that in order to be good for us it had to taste like s**t. :joy:

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Literally anything made by Hammer. Taste, consistency, mix ability. Its a shame they suck so bad becauase I imagine they are a lot of peoples introduction to sport fuel.

But on a side note, I generally love SiS products but their Turbo Powder (can’t remember name) that has menthol in it is absolutely disturbing.
I also HATE lemon-lime beta fuel NooTropic. The apple is great though.

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I came here to post about how gross those powerbars were. Either teeth-cracking hard or like chewing thick glue haha.

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Hammer Heed. Tastes slightly worse coming up vs going down. My stomach can not accept it at any dose.

Distant second, Margarita Cliff Blocks.

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Lemon Lime SIS gel. bonus points for taking it in after its been sitting on your back on a summer ride.

ketones, of course.

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Actually one of my favorite gels out there.

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This is in a world all it’s own. Deep down, I think there is a marketing guy somewhere cracking up that they can make athletes drink piss if they were shown a graph that it increased their FTP by 1W.

haha, calling it piss is generous. it’s worse.
but definitely more than 1w!

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