Gel shot things

[LBmtb]

What's your favorite gel shot thingy?

I bought a rasberry cream flavored powerbar one at Jax last week to try it on the holy jim/trabuco ride and kinda liked it. Are the PowerBar ones the tastiest or most effective? What do you use and like (or don't like)? Where do you buy em?

[Epic_Mtn_Biker]

My favorite: GU Chocolate gel

I've used the GU & Powerbar gels, flavors: chocolate and banana. they've seem to work pretty good for me on the harder rides that i do. i don't use them on the lower intensity rides. in my opinion, they are good to use if you going to do some long hard rides without much or no stopping, since they are very easy to consume while riding. if i know im going to be cranking out a lot of miles without stopping i'll take one every 20-30 miunutes depending on what i'm doing or going to be doing in the ride. taking them in that interval has helped me keep a good pace for a long while without cramping. doing my 50-62 mile fun rides is where this practice really comes into play. other than that, i rather have a regular snack(trail mix, banana or PBJ sandwich) while out on our mountain bike rides.

[jruiz]

Gu Chocalate for me also. I've experimented with other flavors and they usually make me gag because of the awful taste.

[ocrider]

my faverite is hammer gels. Their all natural they don't gove you a sugar spike and they don't have anything unhealthy like caffeine. With gels i ussually buy vanila or expresso because you can't go wrong with those flavors.

[CalEpic]

Power Gel has the best taste in my opinion. I'm using the strawberry/banana with a nice hit of "unhealthy" caffeine. I also like the tangerine flavor. To me, Gu tastes like ass. None of the Clif shot flavors does anything for me either. Every 45 minutes while riding with a Clif bar mixed in midway and I feel like I can ride for much longer distances without feeling too fatigued. I'm sure all brands will accomplish the same thing. In the end, it's up to your individual taste.

C

I think I'll pick some of these up. After talking to Aldo today he said Performance has a pretty good deal on them if you buy them by the box. I've never really tried the Gel-Shots, but after hearing you guys talk about them, having some extra energy could be nice.

[PHAT TIRE]

Gu's the best for me. Key is to get something that goes well with your stomcah and stick with it. Great for anything beyond 30 miles. Keeps me from bonking and can help sustain energy levels. If I ride 3 hours, I eat one at 2 1/2 hours and then every 30-45 minutes until done with the ride. Takes a lot of water to digest.

[Schecky]

I use Clif shots and have been trying GU lately - the plain flavor, as I don't like flavored burps.

[trmcnulty]

Originally Posted by DINO

I think I'll pick some of these up. After talking to Aldo today he said Performance has a pretty good deal on them if you buy them by the box. I've never really tried the Gel-Shots, but after hearing you guys talk about them, having some extra energy could be nice.

Make sure you try the flavor before you go for the box buys. I bought a box of strawberry clif shots at performance without trying them and at the time I thought, "Even if they aren't good, I should still be able to finish the box". Needless to say, they are horrible. Just thinking about them makes me nauseous...choking them down on the trail is worse.

I have had the vanilla bean and orange burst gu's, and they are actually pretty good. Now that plain has been mentioned, I think I might want to try that.

[ECOdork]

I dig the "jello-shot"/"gummy-bear" things that the Cliff company came out with. The flavs that I've tried arn't bad either.

I feel your pain trmcnulty, even the thought of the "Tropical fruit" Gel makes me want to vomit!

[LBmtb]

Originally Posted by texlepomis

I dig the "jello-shot"/"gummy-bear" things that the Cliff company came out with. The flavs that I've tried arn't bad either.

I feel your pain trmcnulty, even the thought of the "Tropical fruit" Gel makes me want to vomit!

I kinda like that little cube that you had (thanks for sharing). What flavor was it?

[ECOdork]

Originally Posted by LBmtb

I kinda like that little cube that you had (thanks for sharing). What flavor was it?

It was the Lemon-Lime flavor but the Cran-Razz one is tasty too...just checked the website and they are called Cliff-"Bloks"

[trmcnulty]

Texlepomis, are you referring to the clif "shot bloks"? I have never seen these before, I just checked them out on the clif website. Seems like a good form to get some energy, no mess, no choking down a gel. I am going to try these out this weekend (that is if weather allows a ride ), thanks for mentioning them. Any flavor recommendations?

[pshloss]

1) GU Chocolate, 2) Carboom Apple/Cinnamon and 3) Carboom Orange Cream

I also tried mixing up some instant pudding one time and put it in a GU dispenser. Worked pretty good, but not all that dense compared to the real thing.

[Epic_Mtn_Biker]

no wonder you're always in a good mood!! i wish i was having some pudding when i ride!!

[ECOdork]

Yep, those are the ones. I haven't tried the strawberry yet, but the other two flavors I mentioned are tasty.

And if you don't finish the pack in one ride they'll keep well in the fridge for your next long ride.

I guess Jelly Belly has made some jellybean-stylee ones, but I haven't seen those.

Originally Posted by trmcnulty

Texlepomis, are you referring to the clif "shot bloks"? I have never seen these before, I just checked them out on the clif website. Seems like a good form to get some energy, no mess, no choking down a gel. I am going to try these out this weekend (that is if weather allows a ride ), thanks for mentioning them. Any flavor recommendations?

[silentak1]

I've tried many gels so here's my opinion:

1) Hammer Gel: It's the 'healthiest' of all and there is a constant but somewhat subtle energy release. I have the banana, vanilla, and tropical flavors.
2) Gu: Not as healthy as it contains caffeine, but it works for me! IMO vanilla and banana taste great. Do not get this on your hands, it's very sticky.
3) PowerGel: The taste is similar to Gu, but for some reason they don't seem to last as long as Gu to me. I've tried the vanilla and some other fruity one (which didn't taste so good)
4) ClifShot: Eww, avoid at all costs. Very nasty concentrated taste
5) Honeybee (?): There is a Gold bee or something gel, made with pure natural honey. It was OKAY, except that the honey crystalizes over time and its extremelyyy sweet! Eventhough this has excellent reviews on mtbr, i don't recommend it.

My Bottom line: Hammer Gel #1 followed by Gu #2 and last choice PowerGel #3.

I also usually get vanilla which is almost always a safe bet!

[silentak1]

I just tried Carboom(?) and this stuff tastes great! Almost like yogurt!

Good stuff

[ocrider]

the ctyomax gulp and gos work awsome to. Almost as good as the hammer gels.

[Pain Freak]

I'm a big fan of the Hammer Nutrition products. Out of all their products though, Hammer Gel is the best! I've had this stuff save me on a number of rides. It really really works!

Why am I giving away my secret weapon???