Sports drinks are fine providing they do not affect you. It is finding the ones you like and that like you that can be a problem. Many years ago I used "Isostar" as an isotonic drink but they changed the formula and I no longer liked the taste. Went onto a home made one of half pure orange juice and water with a good pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar. Then my LBS recommended one called "Lipin" and it works for me. I buy it in 5kg tubs and one lasts a season.

But one ride- our long one - and we missed our Back-up crew. At a checkin point a team we had been riding with offerred to fill our bottles with "Maxim" and gave us a "PowerBar" each. The drink was very synthetic in taste and I found out the side effect of Powerbars about an hour later. This was especially bad as I was the stoker on a Tandem. Besides the fact that the powerbar had the constituency of cardboard- It gave you wind.

Since then I have stayed with pure water or Lipin. Both work for me.

AND power bars are out.