Do you put a gel/water mix in an aero bottle on the downtube for long course?
I’ve been thinking about going double BTA and double BTS for an IM with nothing on the down tube. But then I was thinking about the Profile Design aero downtube bottle and maybe putting a gel/water combo for some of my nutrition. The bottle is only 14 oz, is that worth it to put some gels and mix with water to make sure it comes out of the bottle?
What is a usual gel to water mixture?
I’ve never understood why someone would choose mixing gels with water over something like a custom Infinit formula. What advantage do you believe a gel has over a custom powder mix?
I’ve never understood why someone would choose mixing gels with water over something like a custom Infinit formula. What advantage do you believe a gel has over a custom powder mix?
I’ve done it both ways, and, while I don’t have a preference, I can think of a few reasons to go the gel/water route.
One is that you’re used to taking gels. Another is that if you want a lot of calories in one bottle, a super concentrated powder mix can taste pretty strong, compared to a gel mix that is diluted.
Wait, what?
If you use powder, your body will be used to…powder…the same way it would be for gels. And, you add whatever amount you want to make whatever concentration amount you want so it can be concentrated at a comparable amount to gel.
Different gels have different thicknesses. Chocolate GU is the consistency of hot fudge and doesn’t mix well, while Powergel straw/ban is quite runny and mixes well (so does Hammer). SiS is so thin you really don’t need to add any water. You can probably get 8-10gels in that bottle with reasonable flow. For me that’s not enough for an IM, but YMMV. Could have a second one at special needs if the race has that. Personally my calorie bottle is a standard 21oz round bottle BTS.
Controlled dosing. That’s why.
How is a custom formula not controlled??? It’s far more controllable than being wedded to pre-determined calorie/electrolyte mixes picked by the gel manufacturer.
I have done that before but it gets kind of expensive if you’re practicing it and using gels a lot. I now use maltodextrin powder mixed with an electrolyte mix of some sort, EFS now but have used OSMO and Gatorade too. But if you want to do the gels just put as many as you want in the bottle then fill rest with water. Nothing special about the mixture really.
Different gels have different thicknesses. Chocolate GU is the consistency of hot fudge and doesn’t mix well, while Powergel straw/ban is quite runny and mixes well (so does Hammer). SiS is so thin you really don’t need to add any water. You can probably get 8-10gels in that bottle with reasonable flow. For me that’s not enough for an IM, but YMMV. Could have a second one at special needs if the race has that. Personally my calorie bottle is a standard 21oz round bottle BTS.
I learned that the hard way! First 70.3 I put, I think Hammer Apple Cinnamon, in a fuel belt flask…never came out haha!
I think 8-10 would be enough for me because I also like eating waffles. So the gel would really be more to supplement my waffles.
I did this with a 16oz aero bottle. I put 46g Gatorade powder, 150g maltodextrin, and 3 salt stick capsules in there. Pre mix it in a shaker bottle and then dump it in the aero bottle the morning of. It’s a little syrup-y but that’s all of my bike calories (for a 70.3) and so I just run water on the rest of the bottles.
For me the appeal is just price. Bulk Gatorade powder and maltodextrin is pretty cheap per serving. Cheaper than the gels and the premade mixes.
I also really like the simplicity of drinking water to thirst and can gauge the calories vs the distance remaining. Once I settle in, sipping the calories every 5 miles works out really well. I always wash down the calories with some extra water.
Wait, what?
If you use powder, your body will be used to…powder…the same way it would be for gels. And, you add whatever amount you want to make whatever concentration amount you want so it can be concentrated at a comparable amount to gel.
I’ll say it the other way: your body doesn’t like powder for whatever reason but is fine with gels. So use gels.
Almost all gels are made from powder mixed with water…
Do you put a gel/water mix in an aero bottle on the downtube for long course?
I’ve been thinking about going double BTA and double BTS for an IM with nothing on the down tube. But then I was thinking about the Profile Design aero downtube bottle and maybe putting a gel/water combo for some of my nutrition. The bottle is only 14 oz, is that worth it to put some gels and mix with water to make sure it comes out of the bottle?
What is a usual gel to water mixture?
I have always put a gel/water mixture into my Arundel aero bottle. Easily enough for a full IM. It’s much easier having a thinner mixture to take as you have to have water with gel anyway. I preferred PowerGels because they were already pretty thin, and now that I can’t get them I am with Hammer (until I get proficient at making and using my own ala Cody Beals) although even that is getting a bit thick for me.
Just calculate how many you need for your bike leg and top it up with water. Don’t wait until race day to test drive.
How is a custom formula not controlled??? It’s far more controllable than being wedded to pre-determined calorie/electrolyte mixes picked by the gel manufacturer.
If it’s really hot and I need more fluids with electrolyte I don’t necessarily need more carb/sugar/fat/whatever just because I need more fluids. Body won’t process more of each thing for power, per unit time. So combining your fluids and your “food” IMO cripples your flexibility to do what you need to do.
If I can take in XXg of carb per hour but I need XX liters fluids per hour, why am I going to consume twice my carb just because I thought it a good idea to pre-mix it all together? That’s silly.
If you are going to do that, carry separate bottles. Mix and plain water. Even then, that’s more complicated than it has to be.
If this was “such a thing” then the guys riding for 3 weeks in the heat of summer in July in France and summer in Spain wouldn’t get mussette bags and still eat gels and constantly use domestiques to ferry fluids to riders. The limitation in tri being you don’t get mussette bags and breaks to “sit up and eat” due to losing time and no outside help I think creates a problem nobody needed a solution to. The guise of saving time by throwing all of it into one bottle doesn’t really fit the model of taking in the right combo of fluid replenishment for maintaining body temperature and salts/electrolyte and replenishing energy stores.
For something like a sprint tri or a duathlon bike leg, sure. Combine it. You only need one bottle on the bike anyway so why not have it in the same single bottle. But as soon as the heat outside is more than a bottle an hour, what are you going to do? Mix up more of your “all in one” junk at every water station after you run out?
In one hot over-100 mi and over 12k feet ride I went through probably 10 bottles. Over two bottles an hour. Still lost a lot of weight too. I’m expected to carry and mix up my crap after the first bottles are gone? Lol, no. I carried my gel arsenal in the leg grippers of my kit, had a pair of bananas in my kit pockets with a couple Cliff bars.
On a tri bike you can have a bento box, bta bottle, and bts bottles…use it. And I’d rather eat a known gel than depend on taking the right amount of sips from some bottle I made. What is it? 1/3 bottle per hour? 1/2? One?
Single sport folks might be given crap by long course triathletes…but we’ve got a good grip on “challenge” events where you’re on-course for around 8 hours and have to manage nutrition for that long.
How is a custom formula not controlled??? It’s far more controllable than being wedded to pre-determined calorie/electrolyte mixes picked by the gel manufacturer.
If it’s really hot and I need more fluids with electrolyte I don’t necessarily need more carb/sugar/fat/whatever just because I need more fluids. Body won’t process more of each thing for power, per unit time. So combining your fluids and your “food” IMO cripples your flexibility to do what you need to do.
If I can take in XXg of carb per hour but I need XX liters fluids per hour, why am I going to consume twice my carb just because I thought it a good idea to pre-mix it all together? That’s silly.
If you are going to do that, carry separate bottles. Mix and plain water. Even then, that’s more complicated than it has to be.
If this was “such a thing” then the guys riding for 3 weeks in the heat of summer in July in France and summer in Spain wouldn’t get mussette bags and still eat gels and constantly use domestiques to ferry fluids to riders. The limitation in tri being you don’t get mussette bags and breaks to “sit up and eat” due to losing time and no outside help I think creates a problem nobody needed a solution to. The guise of saving time by throwing all of it into one bottle doesn’t really fit the model of taking in the right combo of fluid replenishment for maintaining body temperature and salts/electrolyte and replenishing energy stores.
For something like a sprint tri or a duathlon bike leg, sure. Combine it. You only need one bottle on the bike anyway so why not have it in the same single bottle. But as soon as the heat outside is more than a bottle an hour, what are you going to do? Mix up more of your “all in one” junk at every water station after you run out?
In one hot over-100 mi and over 12k feet ride I went through probably 10 bottles. Over two bottles an hour. Still lost a lot of weight too. I’m expected to carry and mix up my crap after the first bottles are gone? Lol, no. I carried my gel arsenal in the leg grippers of my kit, had a pair of bananas in my kit pockets with a couple Cliff bars.
On a tri bike you can have a bento box, bta bottle, and bts bottles…use it. And I’d rather eat a known gel than depend on taking the right amount of sips from some bottle I made. What is it? 1/3 bottle per hour? 1/2? One?
Single sport folks might be given crap by long course triathletes…but we’ve got a good grip on “challenge” events where you’re on-course for around 8 hours and have to manage nutrition for that long.
Not sure what you are saying here, all pro tour teams mix nutrition in some of their bottles in combination with gels. SIS beta fuel that won froome the giro was mixed in a bottle. Its not actually that hard to keep track even for long events. Start with one bottle with concentrated 2-3x and water or 1x mix in the other. Drink part of the bottle and refill and/or swap out and then supplement further with gels/solid food etc. Easier to get plain water out on the road. I’ve gone through at least a dozen bottles with this combo on hot double century rides. Beats trying to carry like 15 gels