Does anyone still use hammer nutrition or any of these other older brands that have been around the block for quite some time? I remember cliff used to have a huge endurance following and people used gels and chews from them. Hammer I can still see those old shirts and kits in my memory people would have running and cycling in. Are these brands old news and have all been passed up by the up and coming ones like Maurten and precision fuel and hydration?
Well, I’m fortunate in that my stomach seems to work equally well with most sport drinks/chews/gels. For racing, I prefer the Maurten-type drinks. But for training, (almost) anything goes. FWIW, I buy nearly expired bars of all sorts and use those to fuel indoor riding (see meh.com and sidedeal.com). But to answer the OP…yeah, still on Hammer for drink mix and gels. Still prefer Clif for carb bars and protein bars. And I do go for the Gu Roctane gels for racing.
They probably maintain a customer base to be profitable but the ingredient list on HEED kinda sucks. Well at least the 2.0 mix finally has enough sodium but it still includes Xylitol.
I’m still a Hammer Perpetuem in Chocolate user. I use Dr. Harrison’s Saturday app and meet the carb requirements with Perpetuem, adding salt as needed. For me, it’s a “known product”. I can drink the stuff all day and can vary the concentration. For longer days/events, I fill small ziplock bags with the appropriate amount and grab water.
And I’m still a Cilf bar guy. Again, a “known product”. The ones I use are the carb ones for pre-fueling. I’ve never tried their protein bars. I use our local HEB protein bars post sessions.
And I use SIS gels in running events.
These all work for me, gut and energy wise, and they’re not expensive.
I still use GU
.
is that app free?
Back in the mid 90’s, Powerbar had a huge sale and I bought 5,000 Power Bars (Malt Nut flavor). I used the last of them a couple of years ago to repair the masonry between the bricks in our house. There may still be some Powerbar residue on the top tube of one of my bikes.
On a serious note, I still consume Clif Bars and GU gels on my rides and long hikes.
I think it’s $5/$6 a month.
Original gatorade powder and sodium citrate is all you need. Suckers paying $5 a gel these days.
Back in the mid 90’s, Powerbar had a huge sale and I bought 5,000 Power Bars (Malt Nut flavor). I used the last of them a couple of years ago to repair the masonry between the bricks in our house. There may still be some Powerbar residue on the top tube of one of my bikes.
.
Literal LOL. I remember wrapping half bars around the top tube for races. Negated the need for any of this bento box or in top tube storage nonsense.
I think one was nominally supposed to be apple flavour?
I also remember the lucazade tablets. They were awesome.
Photos below are from night before raceday making up all my infit powder into bottles and filling the Gu flasks with an entire 24 box of powerbar gels. Carried everything I ate/drank all day other than water on the run. Absolutely nailed the nutrition that day.
I remember those Powerbar gels and those flasks. You have a sh*t ton of the vanilla flavor empties on that cardboard box in that photo! Nice!!!
still use Hammer. Their stuff works for me, and I like the taste / texture of their gels. Cannot tolerate the fake sweeteners in maurten or SIS (sucralose & I don’t get along)
I was a devoted Hammer Nutrition customer from 1998 until 2022. In mid 2022 I tried Neversecond on a whim and never switched back.
I usually only buy gels/mixes when I see them on megaclearance because they’re short dated or whatever, so it’s usually one of the older brands.
I’m actually kind of preferential to stronger flavours rather than the ‘neutral’ stuff a la Maurten/PH, and I haven’t run into any GI issues *so far, *so there’s not much to justify the higher price tag of the newer brands for me, especially because they’re more of an occasional convenience than something I’m solely reliant on for higher intakes over multiple hours.
I still stand by yellow gatorade as the best on-course nutrition, ‘optimal’ or not.
At 5 $ / gel, I consumed $85.00 of gel on the bike at CDA last June, and $30.00 on the run.
Still didn’t break even though.
$100 to fuel a race!?! ðŸ˜ðŸ˜±ðŸ’€ðŸ’€
They are largely old news for three primary reasons:
Their marketing departments abjectly fail to compete with Maurten, PF&H, and the higher margin products that TheFeed promotes. They failed in two ways:
Lack of influencer marketing.Design style & brand relevance / image.
(listed in no particular order)
They failed to iterate product formulations as the market demand finally caught up with the science. Hammer, for example, has been using a formulation that the scientific community has known for 25-30 years was not optimal. The market is only just now catching up to this fact. (benefit from glucose *and *fructose, close to 1:1 ratio, more sodium less potassium)
Business / product market alignment choices haven’t aligned with the frothy market conditions. There is demand for $2-5/serving products. That’s high margin. High margin creates growth because of greater ability to spend on marketing per customer and per serving. I don’t think Hammer ever went that route.
PS. I am biased for all the reasons listed below in my signature. I also happen to think there are better ways to get glucose *and *fructose in close to a 1:1 ratio and higher sodium and less potassium using optimal ingredients, for <<<$2-5/serving. 
…Cannot tolerate the fake sweeteners in maurten or SIS (sucralose & I don’t get along)
What Maurten or SIS products contain fake sweeteners/sucralose?
…Cannot tolerate the fake sweeteners in maurten or SIS (sucralose & I don’t get along)
What Maurten or SIS products contain fake sweeteners/sucralose?
SIS GO has aspartame, an artificial sweetener similar to sucralose, off the top of my head.
“better ways to get glucose *and *fructose in close to a 1:1 ratio and higher sodium and less potassium using optimal ingredients, for <<<$2-5/serving. :)”
I know I am slow on the update (pun) . . . can you give a quick simple list of ingredients by brand and where to get them. I have basically used carbo pro + GA Endurance for decades with pretty good results. I would like to experiment with the evolving science based on your suggestions.
Thank you,