Im not a gel fan, but this works well when I need a quick sugar hit and can't stomach real food. Vanilla has a light, pleasant flavor with a small dose of caffeine. The resealable package allows small portions (or large ones if you want to fill a flask for long efforts). I just wish Gu offered more flavors in the 15-serving form factor.
I have the caramel flavor and I really like it. I carry a squeezable refillable flask with 5 servings and rarely use more than half even on my longest 3+ hour rides. I find eating solid food on a ride will sometimes upset my stomach but this never does. A quick hit every hour or so with a swig of water keeps my energy level steady and prevents me from bonking. The small amount of caffeine in the caramel flavor is nice too. Highly recommended.
This large bag size is great for filling a gu flask or an 8 ounce hydropak flask with the gu cap on it for longer rides. Tastes good and keeps the energy up. It is nice to not have a bunch of gel wrappers in your pockets after a ride.
Extremely easy to load and carry in a HydraPak, which makes it readily available to use to feed my cycling muscles and keep me rolling through to completing my planned rides. I keep some at my turbo trainer when I'm doing a virtual ride. Love the taste, the ease of use, and general overall quality that directly helps feed my cycling habit
This works incredibly well with the hammer gel flask and a ml of coconut water. This makes it easier to eat on the wing. The flavor is nothing to write home about, but it's not bad either. I have purchased it again and again but found it to be fun when you mix in a different flavor when mixing it into the flask, orange, lemon etc.
The Gu flask (and this energy gel) are excellent ways to keep up the calories. Convenient flask can easily be opened and closed on the fly (individual packs can be a pain). The only downside is they can get a bit sticky after a few gulps.
I'm a fan of GU for providing me everything I need from 2 hour rides to 8 hours. I get these bulk packs and squeeze 4 oz in to a Hammer 6 oz flask, add 2 oz of water, and shake. This gives me a much easier, less messy way to consume on the go. Best value, particularly when these are on sale.
I prefer GU energy, along with a water bottle. This combo allows me to adjust/respond to my energy level needs without having to commit to a full water bottle consumed. If I need more fluids I can adjust that too, without impacting my energy intake.
And GU makes it easy to dose, every 30 to 45 minutes on longer rides. Flavors are great, get them in single servings or in 15 serving pouches (more affordable), and load it into flask.
Love the salted caramel flavor. Has a small amount of caffeine in it, it gives you a pickup without the jitters, so it can be used multiple times for long rides. At the sale price it was less than $1 per serving.
Like the taste, used this on a Gran Fondo and it worked. While I used the refuel stops to fill water bottles I didn't need to get food. Spent less time at the restrefuel stops more time on bike, finished faster.
Stuff works, 'nuff said...but...
At $1serving (the regular price), I don't find particular value in buying bulk. A GU competitor sells their bulk bottles at $0.77serving. The premium GU Roctane is $1.66serving. That MSRP is too steep for me.
more cost and trash efficient than buying individual gels. I use a hammer flask and refill as I get near the bottom. these always taste great, sweet and salty available. also gives ability to ingest more than 1 serving worth from the flask at once when really needed
