nutrition
 

What are some nutritional bars or electrolyte packets that everyone recommends? I buy protein bars and sorts, but idk if there is anything better that may even work better. I am just wondering what brands I should purchase.

Don't confuse yourself that these products offer any increment of performance improvement over things like food and salt. Go for taste and convenience. On long rides, I eat salted fig bars (carbs and salt) and salted mixed nuts at the break (protein and good quality fats). They taste good and work just as well as any sports nutrition product on the market. Cheaper too.

Nature Valley granola bars (peanut), potato chips, Coca Cola, and water....

Isn't there a training and NUTRITION forum?

Buy some nutrition and some protein bars. Also buy a Snickers. See how closely all the numbers are? Now take a bite of each. Which one do you want to finish, and which one(s) do you want use for practicing a jump shot into the garbage can?

P.S. Snickers are half the price of those "nutrition" bars.

I second the nomination for fig bars. Raced 10 years using them. Worked very well.

Just try out different bars of most anything. When you find what you prefer that's probably going to be it.

Bananas or other fruit whether fresh or dried works well if you prefer it over gels or other bars.

It's better you eat that Snickers bar while cycling than when sitting around doin nothing. But most anything that has most of it's Calories from carbohydrates is usually ideal. Protein is more important after the ride, but a little while riding certainly won't hurt.

Don't go overboard with electrolytes. If you aren't riding hard for a long distance you probably don't need any. And don't think more is better for electrolytes. Too much is worse than none many times. And most things you eat and even drink has them in it whether they advertise that or not.

While you are worried about nutrition while riding, don't forget to hydrate. And if you want you can put all your Calories in your bottles and not have to worry about eating Calories which to me is sometimes a chore on the bike. Drink something, even just water. A gulp or two every 10 - 15 minutes.

When someone replies with "try google", you can handily permanently ignore that user.
It's not helpful to the user or BF

Your local vitamin shop will have an assortment of electrolyte drops, tablets, and packets.
From, EmergenC, to Trace minerals, to other fancy name brands, and if your timing is right, they have free samples on the weekends.

Cashews.
I used to eat a cashew based bar but I think the company went dirtbag mode and went out of business.

Ya have to try a munch and rule out what doesn't work.

Don't try anything when you are hydrated and full. Try one when you're exhausted.

SIS is a good brand to try. They have a wide range of energy gels, bars and drink mix. Protein bars are better for post ride recovery. Carbs are what you need on the bike.

SIS is my go-to brand, their gels are very easy to digest and don't give me the issues that some other brands do.

My favorite energy bars are from Scratch Labs. They are made from real food, delicious, easy to digest and just the right size - not large like a Cliff bar. Also use SIS products.

Whey protein powder that comes in the large tubs. Good for lifting too.

Check out brands like Clif Bar, RXBAR, and Nuun for nutritional bars and electrolyte packets. They're widely recommended and offer various options to suit different preferences and needs.

I am pretty sure protein powder is useless on a ride---unless you are riding for body-building, which is better done with more load and fewer reps. While riding you need fuel, not rebuilding blocks, of course, each is free to follow his or her own path.

Lot of options, but how long are your rides? Miles per day? Do you have any dietary issues?

if your riding 30 miles on a Saturday, versus 3+ 60+ mile days will most definitely have substantial nutritional needs.

As others have noted, protein and fat are metabolically useless during exercise and protein actually requires calories and some excess blood flow to the gut to digest. They may taste good, but rarely do so in bar form. Stop for a nice sandwich or a slice of pizza if that's what you want.

Electrolytes are also pointless on the bike, except for sodium in the presence of multi-liter fluid loss and replacement on long, hot rides, but I don't expect anyone to believe that.

See if you can find your way out of this thread. Thanks!

One of the reasons I come to this forum is because real people can give better more direct answers than I noticed from bike blogs. Those help but they are more broad then specific! Google also has so much information that is kind of hard to find what you are exactly looking for.

+3. I get them while on tour, especially because they are pretty lite.

For hard days, Hammer Perpetuem.

I'm going to give those a try. I'm on my last box of the now-discontinued citrus flavor Clif Shot gels that have been my favorite for a long time.

For protein bars (which usually get used as "lunch" during gravel races/events), I like Power Bar Protein Plus peanut butter and chocolate flavor. For drink mix in my bottles, I like Skratch Labs High-Carb. I also like Skratch Labs raspberry chews, but I find them less convenient than gels or drink mix for on-bike fuel.

I was actually looking at the chews, so I am just going to try everything I guess and see what I like. I was looking for citrus, and the companies had orange but that's not the same as all the citrus flavors hitting the buds at one haha. Obviously they have to discontinue the good flavors. I have seen a bike blogs that Skratch is a very recommended brand, so I will also give some of there products a try. Just figuring out what works with me on the distance I normally travel.

If I may be so rude as to high jack this thread but it’s not a complete departure…….

Are there different nutrition approaches for different riding disciplines? I’m preparing for The Death Ride in July which is climbing followed by coasting 😁. Would any of you fuel yourselves differently for that than any other event?

Finding what works for you (flavors and format) is important. So is finding out how your body reacts to those products during hard efforts. There are a lot of options out there.

For local rides of less than 2 hours, I'll take a gel about an hour into the ride, and probably have just plain water in my bottles. For rides of 2-3 hours, I figure a gel every hour (one of those might get subbed for a pack of chews), plus high-carb mix in my bottles. For rides longer than that, I plan for a gel/chews every hour, 2 big bottles of high-carb mix, a hydro pack of plain water, and a protein bar. I also have my bike computer set to notify me every 30 minutes to "EAT!", which means either a gel or a big drink off my bottle. Somewhere in the middle-ish of a long day, I'll stop to eat a protein bar. This plan has worked well for me, and I'll be putting it to use again this Sunday at a gravel race, which I expect to be 5-6 hours of ride time.

My approach would be the same as any other long ride/event - to fuel myself well before the ride, and be armed with stuff for steady/regular input of fuel during the ride.