Drink, bar, or gel?
 

I've been going on long rides fortified with all three of the above. For several reasons, I'm seriously considering dropping the commerical varieties of bars and gels, and sticking with a commercial drink mix (I'm partial to Accelerade) and using real food instead of the bars/gels.

Which of the three would you most be likely to keep "commercial"?

Gary

This is pretty much a personal choice. Thats like asking someone McDonalds or Burger King? (I prefer BK btw).

Use what works for you. I use all three at different times. Less then 2 hours, gels only. Over 2 hours, gels and Clif bars. Either of the two but at max effort I will mix up something in my bottles.

I can see though where it can / does get cost prohibitive to use this much commercial stuff.

I prefer a solid meal 2 hours before my ride then fruits, like bananas and oranges, and gels. Lately, I have a gel for every 45 minutes or ever 10-12 miles of riding time. So I will ingest 3 gels on a 40 mile ride.

If you had to give me a choice I would pick the drink.

What I usually do is eat a banana and a piece of toast for breakfast on the days I'm doing shorter rides, ~30miles, then i take a bottle or two of Cytomax. On longer rides, 40+miles, I break out the clif bars and GU. Of course I still eat the banana, I love bananas, can't get enough of 'em:)