Gu Energy Gel

Price Paid:  $1.00 at LBS or on-line

Summary:
Nearly all flavors I've tried have consistant good taste. Satisfies without being too thick. Easy to swallow.

IMO, second only to HammerGel.

Strengths:
Easy to find in stores. Many varieties to choose from.

Weaknesses:
Packaging tab is often discarded on trails or roads.

Similar Products Used:
Hammer Gel, Enervit, PowerGel, etc.

Price Paid:  $19.00 at Amazon - 24 pack cas

Favorite Ride:
Chileno Valley

Bike Setup:
Marin Racing modified

Summary:
This is a great product. A great way to prevent bonking on endurance rides.

Strengths:
Great taste, not too thick or sweet.

Price Paid:  $19.00 at Amazon - 24 pack cas

Favorite Ride:
Chileno Valley

Bike Setup:
Maring Racing modified

Summary:
This is a great product. A great way to prevent bonking on endurance rides.

Strengths:
Great taste, not too thick or sweet.

Price Paid:  $1.00 at forward motion sport

Favorite Ride:
mt diablo

Bike Setup:
Giant TCR with 7800 DA and at least one pack of GU each ride =)

Summary:
Tastes good. Easy to manage.

Strengths:
Light and easy to carry, providing 100 quick calories (with or without the added caffeine fix) so you don't bonk.

Weaknesses:
I wish they cost 0.25 instead of a dollar. Other than that, I do like to follow with a little water although they are not what I would describe as thick.

Similar Products Used:
None. Can't imagine switching from what works perfectly!

Price Paid:  $0.00 at Cycle Science Mitcha

Favorite Ride:
Old Healsville Rd

Bike Setup:
irrelevant

Summary:
There's a lot of nonsense mentioned about energy sources. The bottom line is for a quick hit of energy when you're low and trying to stave off glycogen depletion, you need simple carbs, and quickly. Serious cyclists burn a lot of energy (2hour+ rides
in aerobic heartrate zones). The GU packs have 100kcals and weigh bugger-all. They're easy to eat on the move, and apart from the disposal of the packs, are generally easy to handle (I prefer these to the powerbar powergel packs for ease of consumption). If fat was easy metabolised, it'd be the best source of energy, but it's not .. so scoff sugar .. when you're burning it off, you don't get an insulin induced low (that's just you using up the energy, duh).

Personally, I like the chocolate flavour too, but taste is a very personal thing.

Strengths:
100kcal, light weight, easy to eat, tastes as good as you could want from concentrated carbohydrates.

Weaknesses:
Disposal of pack. The dispensers probably deal with this, but I haven't used one yet.
Expensive in Australia.

Similar Products Used:
Powerbars, powergel, muashi(sp?) bars.