I was curious what type of sports drink (supplement) most in here use? I realize climate probably makes a big difference in one's choice but with so many on the market, i.e., Cytomax, Gatoraide, Acceleraide, Hammer Heed, etc which do you prefer and why?

I’ve discovered something new and because of it I now drink nothing but water. Almost all my rides are between 60 to 90 miles with an occasional 100 plus ride thrown in. Summertime here in Houston, (Actually just North in the Conroe area) is hot and humid with highs in the mid to upper 90’s and very high humidity.

A month ago I discovered Sport Beans. I was skeptical at first but I gotta tell ya, these things are wonderful! I pop a couple in my mouth every 30 minutes to an hour and the planets stay aligned. The biggest benefit I get from these is I don’t suffer any side effects like I did with the sport drinks like gas, upset stomach, etc.

If you haven’t tried Sport Beans give them a try. I’ll never go back to sport drinks. Just trying to pass along something good I found by accident.

H.R.

Looks like an interesting product. Might be worth a try if they are being sampled during a major event ride.

Today I did an 80 mile ride in rolling terrain and in the heat. I packed one bottle of weak gatorade, one bottle of Nuun and took my hydration pack full of water. I also had a few trail mix bars and a stick of beef jerky as well as 1/2 a flask of hammer gel. At the half way point I reloaded and drank as much as I could, used up almost a full gallon of water for that stop - had to through out about a pint. I take Gatoraide powder and Nuun tablets to replenish the bottles. This has been working for me for a few seasons now - don't see any real reason to change.

Hammer Heed

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.

As cyclist we are always looking for a tail wind

My conclusion on power bars and cliff bars are that they look the same going in as coming out and they taste the same as well

That's why I like the Kashi trailmix bars, they look and taste like real food.

I wouldn't bring just water on anything longer than a 15 mile ride, but I don't use anything fancy, just Gatorade. There's one flavor at my local grocery that's clear so that's what I buy. I did look at trying EFS powder, which is like liquid PowerBar, but it's not sold anywhere around me.

Oh and for PowerBars I like the Harvest, Recovery and Triple Threat (any of them with chocolate). The Performance bars are much more compact for carrying with you and don't fall apart when you eat them on a ride.

What works for me is water in my hydration pack, and a bottle of Hammer Heed for rides < 2 hours, and an additional bottle of Accelerade for rides > 2 hours. My body tolerates it just fine and with a little something to nibble on from time to time the planets align correctly and I am able to ride as long as I need/want to. I don't change what works

One bottle Cytomax Go Grape mixed using one scoop. The second bottle is water and for energy, Hammer Gel, Raspberry. For solids I eat an all natural fruit and grain bar very much like a fig bar.

Two years ago I discovered Accelerade and thought it was the best thing ever, after 2 yrs. of using Cytomax and Gu.

I've tried Sport Beans and they're OK; I let them dissolve in my mouth. I use them to supplement long rides.

Lately I've found that using 1/2 a scoop of Accelerade makes it less sweet (thus I don't need to drink more water to wash it down) and so a bottle of that + a bottle of water (refilling as needed) are all I need for a 3 hr. 17-ish mph avg. ride.

YMMV.

I use Gatorade powder at about 80% of recommended concentration. I've tried others, and this seems to work about as good as anything else for me. Now that I'm on a diuretic, I use Hammer Endurlytes to keep the electrolytes up during rides > 30 miles. For extra energy prior to big hills, I use honey in 9-gram pouches about a half hour prior to the climb.

I use a bottle of Camelback Elixir and a bottle of diluted Gatorade (1/2 strength). Plus on the hot days, I carry Hammer Endurolytes. I carry Hammer gel in a squeeze bottle (I hated stuffing those used gel packets back into my jersey).

The problem for me with Sports Beans is I had to take Sports Beano

I like Clif Bars .... now they'll never taste the same to me again.

I saw some Kashi bars and wondered about them... I may try them sometime.

I prefer the light blue Gatorade Frost, or the original Powerade. Power Gels and hammer Gel are good choices for me, too. Gu, Accel Gel, and the specialty bars are a waste. If I want a bar, or something similar, Rice Krispy Treats and PayDay bars serve as well as anything.

Use the extra thrust (rocket power) to your advantage on hills

I do actually use a cliff bar - their High Protein bar, usually the chocolate one. It does taste good and I like the 18g of Protein as an after ride recovery bar. The problem is it is about 300 cal. It is the only Cliff product I like. I tend to buy the chocolate & peanut butter high protein body builder bars to use after hill climb workouts. Usually one of these and I can skip dinner.

Powered gatorade, mixed about 1/2 strength; because it's cheap & it works. On rides 40 miles or more 1 or 2 cliff bars. a little hard to get down, but not too bad and they hit the spot.

I've been using raspberry GU Brew. I find its just sweet enough and doesn't have a strong aftertaste like some other mixes.

Kind of off topic but has anyone tried Mix 1?

Its been on sale here and I have used it as a breakfast substitute before a couple rides.

I have a hard time eating some mornings.

Also it is lactose free so another benifit to me.

water

Cytomax Citrus. It works for me. I add Endurolytes on hot days.

I rather like Clif bars ... I dunno how anyone can not like the chocolate flavors.

Water, E-Load, Perpetuem (over 2 hours). Sports Beans by Jelly Belly are too good. I would overdose.

Never heard that one before. I take GatorAde on all my rides.

Sport Beans are great. When I worked at the bike shop I'd pop a few in my mouth in the afternoons. Tastes like candy but does a great job as an afternoon pick-me-up.

Water and real food. I take a homemade trail mix composed of peanuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, almonds, dried apricots and banana chips. On longer rides I also take a peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole grain bread. And it's always fun to have a few fig newtons along, too. I'm feeling hungry just thinking about all that food.

I use Cytomax Citrus on hot days or rides longer than 25 miles. On these rides I carry a bottle of water and another of the Cytomax. On real long rides I carry packets of the powder to mix with water when I run out. Generally, three bottles of Cytomax & three bottles of water will get me through a 50 mile ride in hot weather.