After some bad gastric experiences with gels a few years ago, I switched to Cliffbloks, which have worked well for me. I can dose a package over an hour with no stomach upset and supplement with some carbs in my bottles to get what I need. On 3+ hour rides, however, the Cliffbloks start tasting too sweet. I’m looking for something less sweet, but similarly easy to dose over time. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Have you tried any of their sour flavors? I find that interspersing a sleeve of the Sour Apple really helps to stave off any of the “too sweet” sensations.
I second this. I have the same issue. I find it helps just to have a variety, so I ride with Clif Bloks, Skratch chews, and what’s left of the discontinued Clif shots (RIP). I’ve also used Gu’s chews, but the taste was a little too medicinal for me.
Sounds like you are just asking about foods. But if it’d help for drinks, I recommend LMNT. It’s salts only, no sweeteners.
Best gels and drinking mix I have used is Pure. Easy on the guts and does what it says on the label.
I find that mint or sour flavors tend to minimize sweetness.
The best options for savory flavors I’ve found have all been homemade. Can be something as simple as roasted potato chunks with salt and rosemary or thyme. You can make oat & dried fruit bars or balls with a high proportion of cocoa or coffee to cut the perceived sweetness. I’ve made Pad Thai-inspired sticky rice bars with garlic, ginger, peanut butter and lime juice.
Skratch also makes an unsweetened mix, and the Nuun tablets are unsweetened.
There is a startup in Germany selling non sweet gels and stuff https://www.rabbit-fuel.com/
in the past I was relying mostly on bars and also couldn’t handle the sweetness after 3hrs. Now I mix in selfmade sugar gel in a running flask and try to shoot it directly into the throat. That doesn’t work with gels which you have to squeeze out. This way it’s touching less my mouth and teeth. I then flush with water. It’s a game changer for me.
Thanks for all the replies and ideas. I’ll try those sour flavors as a first step.
You can save money and achieve what you are looking to do by using maple syrup.
To cut down on the sweetness, I add in a healthy pinch of pink Himalayan salt and a dash of concentrated coffee extract. I use a 5oz collapsible flask, which actually holds closer to 6. That gets me ~150g of carbs in the flask.
For reference
Table sugar is GOAT for cheap on-bike nutrition.
I’m not sure table sugar qualifies as less sweet though.
I find Maurten gels easy to knock down, neutral on flavour and the consistency doesn’t make a mess. They’re insanely expensive though and I’m amazed noone does a copy of them..
I mix up my own maltodextrin/fructose/electrolyte blend
I add citric acid to cancel out some of the sweetness but it’s really not bad to begin with, cirtic acid also acts as a preservative so it lives in the fridge longer
Less sweet than maple syrup though, according to the googles.
Agree that Maurten gels and drink mix are pretty neutral and appear to (for me at least) have solved the GI distress issue.
No one copies them because the (seemingly innovative) hydrogel delivery system is patented.
The Feed has a new house brand called the Feed Lab and their high carb mix is very similar to Maurten in taste at a fraction of the cost. From their collateral it seems like gels are coming soon and I’d expect a similar cost / flavor benefit. They’ve also come out with a regular electrolyte mix with multiple flavors … I have that on order and am curious how it will compare for every day.
It sounds like you are looking for something that delivers a good amount of carbs without tasting overly sweet. I’ve found that the flavour of the gel/chew/high-carb drink has a huge influence on my perception of sweet. The Maurten High Carb mix doesn’t taste really sweet. The strawberry lime SIS Beta Fuel tastes much less sweet than the red berry version. Same with the Lemon Lime Skratch High-carb mix. The Amacx gels are excellent and the raspberry, citrus, orange and cola are less sweet. Same for the cassis and citrus Amax chews. If you went the bar route, the Styrkr Bar50 has 50 grams of carbs and all of the flavours are not overly sweet tasting.
I would suggest buying a bunch of stuff from The Feed and trying them out. The newer thinner gels tend not to cause gastric issues. Stuff like Gu, Cliff etc all had gelling agents to thicken them and if you didn’t drink water with them right away to thin it out you would have problems. Companies are moving away from that and going to thinner drink style gels that don’t require you to drink with them. Maurten, SIS, AMACX, Styrkr, SantaMadre and the Enervit 2:1 Carbo gels are all this style.
I’ve got on really well with Precision Fuel gummies which are basically Turkish Delight in a convenient size. I’ve done 400/600k rides with those supplemented by on the road shop fuel and not got bored of the taste. They’re pretty neutral in taste and there’s a mint option too, which people seem to think helps.
They’re also absolute rocket fuel, if I ever get a hint of a bonk I get one straight down me and feel right as rain within five minutes.
Veloforte do basically the same thing but with funkier flavours and slightly cheaper, just ordered some to try out.
My other go-to is home made fruit leather which is much less sweet, also helped by salt and citric acid. It’s basically boiled up and dried fruit jerky. It’s an apple base which is pretty neutral and I usually add some cherries or similar for a little perk. You could get creative with that and add tea for caffeine whilst boiling it down.
Buy bulk Maltodextrin powder, dissolve in water in your bottle and add flavour (i.e juice or flavour concentrate) and/or electrolytes (i.e. Salt, Magnesium).