By Nolan Karlitz
If there’s anyone to take an opinion on good gel flavors, it’s me. I obsess over stupid things. I like gadgets, and things of that nature. While a GU is not a gadget, it’s something that you don’t necessarily need, but is marketed to the point where you think you need it.
For example, I’ve seen people walking in the State Park taking GU’s, giving them the benefit of the doubt that maybe they had been running for the past 10 miles. However, nothing’s worse than when you open your mid exercise snack and it tastes like an abomination made in a mad scientist’s sock.
My opinion is based solely on my experience with these products, and I declare the abomination of the flavors is the chocolate outrage. If some chocolate loving narcissist says that it’s a good flavor, they’d be lying to themselves.
While it may have a decent taste, the overall intense viscosity of it is a nightmare to consume. During exercising, it is by far the thickest, most crude oil I have ever tasted.
That statement is not against GU in any matter. For the most part I think their gels are some of my favorites out of the entire exercise focused nutritional industry, but their chocolate outrage is just not for me.
For me, I have consumed a lot of energy gels and blocks throughout my racing career. Throughout training and races, I’ve consumed many many different brands, but some of my favorites have been within the GU brand.
Although, some of these gels hold a different level of love in my heart, there’s something about reaching down into your jersey or your pack and not realizing you put one of your favorite gels into the position of being your riding snack.
It also depends on the mood of the exercise. For me, my exercise typically comes from riding bikes, and there’s even subscripts in between them that emerge.
For example, if it’s a hot day out, I don’t want Salted Caramel because in my mind that’s an early morning flavor, which is supposed to be consumed while it’s 65° or less.
On the other side of that, the Cherry Lime is a race flavor for me because it’s a light flavor, like tiger’s blood shaved ice that you would have gotten when you were 5 years old going to double rainbow, which takes my mind off the fact that my legs are covered in mud and blood.
In addition to that it makes me forget that I still have 15 miles left in my race and my legs are giving out. But there’s also flavors that I wouldn’t mind in any situation, for example birthday cake. The one situation I wouldn’t want it in is where I don’t want something sweet.
For example, if the only liquid I have is an electrolyte mix I don’t want birthday cake because then I will have to wash this sweet substance down with something that is already sweet.
So here is my list of the best GU flavors along with why I chose to include that flavor.
- Cherry Lime, when there is a flavor as versatile as Cherry Lime you know it has to be in the top five flavors. There is no time I have been disappointed with a Cherry Lime and during a race it always seems to blend nicely with my electrolytes of choice. Also it’s in the Roctane family so you’re also gaining the added benefits from the 35mg of caffeine, 125mg of sodium, and 1425mg of Amino acids.
- Birthday Cake, while it’s not the most versatile flavor when it comes to when my legs cramp, it will always be my GU of choice. It’s an overpowering amount of sweetness but when you’re dying on the course nothing seems better than the thought of sugar. I definitely wouldn’t want to have this flavor with a sweet electrolyte powder but with water it’s exquisite.
- Pineapple, a great option for a hot summer ride especially paired up with fresh cold water from a Bivo bottle. It’s a mild pineapple taste and when it comes to temperature in your pocket it’s not a shock of flavor when you take your first squeeze. It is also in the Roctane family however it does not contain 35mg of caffeine.
- Salted Caramel, a very bold flavor with a strong flavor of sweetness but never a miss on a cold ride. Something about the caramel on a cold morning ride is something I will never oppose, it is almost like a warm hot chocolate at a ski resort. While not having a taste of chocolate it provides the same source of pick me up as a hot chocolate. Also not being in the Roctane family but it contains 125 mg of sodium, with a little less amino acids at around 450mg, and lastly 20mg of caffeine.
- Raspberry Lemonade is an upcoming flavor for me because it’s not an overpowering flavor. I’ve also found it to have a nice pairing with my Watermelon Tailwind balancing out the sodium taste. But I will need to have Raspberry Lemonade on more rides to give it a full review.
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