RSS

Tag Archives: hydration

CamelBak Performance 22-Ounce Water Bottle

Last night I cleaned out the kitchen cabinet where I keep the sports bottles I use for cycling. After throwing out several bottles that looked pretty ragged I am now down to just 24 bottles (so I went to Amazon.com and ordered a few more). Many of the bottles I own are “special use” bottles—some are insulated for winter use, while others have domed covers to protect the spout when I ride in the mud. One of the more unusual bottles I own is the CamelBak Performance 22-Ounce Water Bottle.

CamelBak Performance 22-Ounce Water Bottle

The CamelBak Performance Water Bottle is made of 100% BPA-free polypropylene and the bite valve is made from medical grade silicone. The cap on this bottle toggles to open and close and it is totally leak-proof—I mean not a single drop is going to escape. This bottle also has a Fuel Gauge—a clear strip up the side of the bottle that makes it easy to see how much water you have left.

Outdoor Research Water Bottle Parka On The Front Fork Of My Necromancer

From the outside the CamelBak Performance Water Bottle looks like most other bottles, but the straw inside the bottle means you don’t have to tilt your head back to get a drink—so you never have to take your eyes off the road while drinking! However, that is not the reason I bought these bottles. My Surly Necromancer has the same front fork as a Surly Moonlander, which means it has a lot of braze-ons so you can attach a Salsa Anything Cage to the fork. I mount an Outdoor Research Water Bottle Parka in the cage and that allows me to carry almost any standard bicycle water bottle in it all winter long without fear of my drinks freezing. The only problem with the parka is getting you water bottle out of it—but since the CamelBak Performance water bottle has a hook on the lid it pulls right out of the parka.

The CamelBak Performance 22-Ounce Water Bottle retails for $9 and is available in three colors (Blue, Red, and Silver). I doubt if many bike shops stock this item, but most of then can easily order it for you. The bottle is also available online from Amazon.com and from the CamelBak Website. This product comes with a limited lifetime manufacturer’s warranty.

21 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on February 8, 2013 in Product Reviews

Tags: bicycle, bike, camelbak, cycling, exercise, hydration

Klean Kanteen Wide Mouth Insulated Water Bottle with Loop Cap

24 Dec

While riding your bike in freezing weather can be extremely enjoyable, it can also be a challenge. Not only do you have to figure out how to keep your hands and feet warm, but you also need to make sure that whatever you have in your water bottle doesn’t turn into a solid block of ice before you get home. This is not really a problem on short rides when the ambient temperature is just a little below freezing—a regular bicycle water bottle with double-wall construction is usually good enough for rides like this. However, the colder it gets outside the faster your water bottle is going to freeze. The problem is not confined to your water freezing—before that happens the valve on your water bottle is probably going to freeze shut, so even if you have 18 ounces of liquid in your bottle you still won’t be able to get a drink. One solution to this problem is to use a Klean Kanteen Wide Mouth Insulated Water Bottle instead of the water bottle you use during the warmer months.

Klean Kanteen Wide Mouth Insulated Water Bottle

The Klean Kanteen Wide Mouth Insulated Water Bottle is a 100% food-grade stainless steel bottle with high performance vacuum insulation. The folks at Klean Kanteen claim this bottle with insulate hot beverages for up to six hours, and iced drinks up to twenty-four hours. The six-hour time frame for hot beverages is accurate if the bottle is stored at room temperature, but outside in near zero degree weather it is not going to last that long. However, if will keep you liquids drinkable for at least four hours. Since this is a wide mouth bottle you never have to worry about a small valve freezing shut in the winter. However, you will need to stop your bike in order take off the cap and get a drink (that’s not uncommon in winter cycling).

Klean Kanteen Bottles With A Composite Cage

The Klean Kanteen bottle will fit in most bicycle water bottle cages. However, these bottles are a bit wider than normal bicycle water bottles, and if your water bottle cage is made of aluminum it will scratch the Klean Kanteen bottle to pieces in no time at all. To keep from scratching my bottles I replaced the aluminum bottle cages on my winter bikes with a flexible composite cage (I used the Bontrager RL Cage). Since most composite cages have a small “lip” to keep the water bottle in place, I took a Dremel tool and removed the “lip” so the bottle would slide in easier.

The 20-ounce Klean Kanteen Wide Mouth Insulated Water Bottle retails for $28 and is available in several colors, including Black, White, Wild Raspberry, Blue, Gray and Brushed Stainless. This product comes with a lifetime warranty (see the Klean Kanteen Website for complete details).

20 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on December 24, 2012 in Product Reviews, Winter Cycling

Tags: bicycle, bike, cycling, hydration, winter

JetFlow Hydration System

19 Nov

One of the first purchases I made after I took up cycling was a Camelbak Hydration Pack. At the time I was mainly riding on off-road trails and water was hard to find. A few weeks after buying the Camelbak I had to go back to the sporting goods store to buy a cleaning brush kit and some cleaning tablets. Then I had to go back to buy a reservoir dryer—a plastic device allows you to hang the bladder of the Camelbak upside down so it will dry faster. After a year of messing around with two different Camelbak Hydration Packs I finally gave up on them and just started carrying my drinks in the water bottle cages on my bike. A few weeks ago the folks at JetFlow Hydration Systems sent me one of their new Tomahawk Hydration Packs to try. If you are tired of messing around with Camelbak packs, but still need a way to keep yourself hydrated, then the JetFlow products are going to be of great interest to you! This product is not only for cyclists—runners and hikers will also find it to be a great addition to their normal gear.

JetFlow Hydration System

JetFlow’s Tomahawk Hydration Pack is similar in shape and function to Camelbak products, but in terms of functionality there is no comparison. Instead of relying on an internal bladder (water reservoir) like the Camelbak, JetFlow allows you to use almost any plastic bottle instead. JetFlow has a complete list of compatible bottles on their Website, but the list includes almost everything you will find at a convenience store from a 16-ounce bottle of Pepsi to a 24-ounce bottle of Aquafina or Dasani water, or even a two-liter bottle of Mountain Dew! The advantage is that you never have to worry about a moldy bladder or bad tasting water again!

Use your favorite bottle instead of a moldy bladder!

If you’ve ever used a Camelbak Hydration Pack before you are familiar with the two major parts: an expanding bladder holds the liquid inside the pack and a long hose leads out of it and ends with a bite valve (the business end of the system). JetFlow eliminates the hydration bladder and lets you use disposable water bottles (or Gatorade bottles, soft drink bottles, etc.). When you get home from your run, bike ride or hike you can simply throw the disposable bottles away. Since the JetFlow system also works with many insulated bottles or Nalgene bottles you can just put these items in your dishwasher for easy cleanup.

A thermos bottle connected to the JetFlow manifold

You attach a bottle to the JetFlow system using what they call a manifold—a piece of plastic where the water hose and bottle adapter meet. The manifold also has a second hose that lets air into your bottle to release vacuum pressure. The manifold is built to accept a standard 16 to 24-ounce water bottles—if the bottle you want to use has a larger opening (like a Gatorade bottle) you can use one of the two included adapters to connect the bottle to the manifold. Once connected to the manifold you just place the bottle upside down in the backpack and you’re good to go. I tested the JetFlow Hydration System on several occasions. The first time was with a 24-ounce Aquafina bottle, then I switched to a 20-ounce thermos bottle I had. The water delivery was smooth and the product never leaked.

Two adapters for different size bottles

JetFlow makes several different hydration packs. The Drone can hold one bottle up to 1.5 liter bottles (48 oz.) and has 250 cubic inches of storage space. The Tomahawk (featured in this review) has a maximum capacity of two 1.0 liter bottles with 250 cubic inches of storage space. The Raptor has a maximum capacity of two 1.5 liter bottles with 600 cubic inches of gear storage. The Warthog is the biggest pack they offer—it has a maximum capacity of two 1.5 liter bottles with a whopping 1350 cubic inches of storage space and 14 organizational pockets.

Earphone / headphone port on the backpack

The important thing to remember when looking at these hydration packs is not the design of the pack, but the way the water is stored inside the pack! This product has two big (and very important) selling points: ease of use and ease of cleanup. However, I do want to mention a couple of things about the backpacks anyway. These packs all come with an earphone / headphone access port on the top of the pack. You can keep your iPhone or MP3 player inside the pack and still listen to your tunes. All of these packs also have active harness suspension, an adjustable sternum strap, and reflective piping.

JetFlow hydration system products are new to the market, so they are not yet available at your local bike shop. The Tomahawk retails for around $55. The best way to buy these products is from the JetFlow Online Store. You can also find their products on Amazon.com and at your local Cabela’s store (but not their online store).

30 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on November 19, 2012 in Product Reviews

Tags: bicycle, bike, camelbak, cycling, exercise, fitness, hydration, mtb

Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix

08 Jun

Late last year I started using Gatorade’s G2 low-calorie sports drink for most of my rides—they sold a container of eight individual packages of drink mix and it suited my needs perfectly. However, I’ve noticed that in the last few weeks the pre-packaged power mix has been on “clearance” at several stores and no longer available at other stores. I don’t know if the folks at Gatorade are ready to drop this product or just come up with a better marketing plan for their products (it would be hard for them to devise a worse marketing plan than the one they are using). As a result, I have looked for a new drink mix powder for my rides and decided to try Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix.

Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix

Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix was developed by Allen Lim, PhD, a sport scientist and coach for a professional cycling team (Garmin). He created this product “from scratch” because he thought he could improve on the usual pre-packaged hydration products that were already on the market.

A 16-ounce serving of this mix has 80 calories and provides 20 grams of carbohydrates, along with 60mg of calcium, 45mg of magnesium, 310mg of sodium and 40mg of potassium. The ingredients list is fairly simple: Sucrose, glucose, sodium citrate, potassium citrate, calcium citrate, magnesium, and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). As you can see, the mix from Skratch Labs provides less sugar and more electrolytes than other sports drinks.

Back when I was in high school (when the earth was still cooling and dinosaurs roamed the earth) the coaches would pass out both salt and potassium tablets to the athletes on hot days. Any coach that does this today needs to be fired on the spot! Sodium and potassium need to be taken in the right proportions or you can cause a great deal of harm.

The Exercise Hydration Mix comes in several flavors, including: Lemon & Limes, Raspberries, Oranges, and Pineapple. I bought a variety pack that included all the flavors except Pineapple. While I liked all of them, the Raspberry was my favorite—the flavor is not overpowering, but it is a very crisp and refreshing drink.

You can buy the Exercise Hydration Mix in either one or two-pound packages, or as single-serving individual packages. A package of 20 single serving sticks retails for $19.50, which is considerably more expensive than single-serving packages of Gatorade.

While I really like the flavor the Exercise Hydration Mix I am not sure I can recommend it for cyclists. The problem is not the ingredients or the price, but rather the packaging! The single-serving individual packages are designed for 16-ounce bottles, and nearly every water bottle in the world that fits in a bicycle water bottle cage is 20-ounces. In addition, if you buy bottled water at a convenience store it is probably going to come in a 20-ounce bottle. For the life of me I can’t figure out why Skratch Labs is marketing such a fine product in such a horrible size!

I am a distance cyclist and often have trouble making two 20-ounce bottles last between opportunities to refill them, and there is no way on earth I want to go out for a ride with 16-ounce bottles. It is normally recommended that cyclists drink 16 to 20 ounces of fluid per hour while riding. On hot and humid days when the heat index is over 110 degrees I’ve been known to drink twice that amount. I could just dilute the powder with more water, but that ruins the taste.

Here is the bottom line: If you can survive with 16-ounce bottles then the Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix is worth trying. Buying this product by the pound will allow you to leave home with two full bottles in whatever size you want, but if you want to refill 20-ounce bottles while on the road you should to look for another product.

20 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on June 8, 2012 in Health And Hygiene, Product Reviews, Sports Nutrition

Tags: bicycle, bike, cycling, exercise, gatorade, hydration, nutrition

Zefal WIIZ Side Mount Bicycle Water Bottle Cage

02 May

Last year I bought an insulated thermos that would fit in a bicycle water bottle cage. This thermos (which is not longer in production) kept my drinks warm on long rides even when the temperature dropped to well below zero (Fahrenheit). Unfortunately, the geometry of the bike frame I wanted to use it on was rather tight—since the thermos was so long it was impossible to put it in the bottle cage. The folks at the local bike shop suggested I try the Zefal WIIZ Side Mount Bicycle Water Bottle Cage and I am happy to report it works great!

Zefal WIIZ Side Mount Bicycle Water Bottle Cage

Since most WSD (Women’s Specific Design) bikes have limited space on both the down tube and seat tube, the Zefal WIIZ is a great product for these bikes as well. And, unlike most side mount water bottle cages, the Zefal WIIZ is a can be mounted for either right or left access. The height of the cage can be adjusted quickly—this is handy if you have a short bottle and want to bring it up closer to your hands.

Owners of full suspension bikes will also appreciate this water bottle holder since it not only fits small frame bikes, but it holds bottles very securely on rough trails. The Zefal WIIZ is very lightweight (only 65g each), which should make every triathlete and Weight Weenie very happy.

The Zefal WIIZ Side Mount Bicycle Water Bottle Cage is made of thermoplastic resin and is available in either black or white. The WIIZ retails for around $8.00 at your local bike shop—if for some strange reason they are not able to get this bottle for you it is also available at Amazon.com.

8 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on May 2, 2012 in Product Reviews

Tags: bicycle, bike, cycling, hydration, triathlete, triathlon

Nalgene ATB All-Terrain Bottle With Domed Lid

02 Mar

I love cycling in all sorts of weather and since I bought a Surly Necromancer Pugs a few months ago I even enjoy riding in the mud. Unfortunately, the aggressive knobby tread pattern on Surly Nate tires kicks up more mud than a Chicago politician in a close election! The worst part about cycling in the mud (or muddin’ as the Southerners call it) is finding a way to keep the spout on your water bottle clean. It’s not that I am scared of drinking a bit of mud—I am not that picky. However, a few weeks ago I was riding off-road and saw a horse emptying his bladder on the trail when it dawned in me that mud was not the only thing clinging to my bottles! The next day I stopped at the local bike shop and they showed me the Nalgene ATB All-Terrain Bottle and it solved all of my problems.

Nalgene ATB All-Terrain Bottle

The Nalgene ATB All-Terrain Bottle is made of Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and is BPA-Free. The best part of the bottle is the hinged Polycarbonate mud-cap that keeps the drinking spout clean. When you push the dome down it automatically causes the nozzle to retract to prevent spilling. The body of this flexible bottle is textured and provides a good non-slip grip.

This bottle is easy to clean and is dishwasher safe, but keep it away from the heating element. The temperature range on this bottle is incredible (-148 to 176°F) and it is even microwaveable (just take the lid off the container). And, believe it or not, they are made in the USA.

Nalgene ATB All-Terrain Bottle While Out Muddin'

These bottles are available in several colors: Blue, Natural, Pink, and Yellow. The 22-ounce bottle will easily fit in the bottle cages of most bicycles. A 32-ounce bottle is also available, but you are going to need something like the Salsa Anything Cage to carry it.

The 22-ounce Nalgene ATB All-Terrain Bottle retails for around $8 and if your local bike shop does not have them in stock they can easily order them for you. These bottle are also available on Amazon.com, but unless your order is large enough to get free shipping it is not really a very good deal.

Gatorade G-Series 02 Perform Low Cal Sport Drink

23 Jan

In the years I’ve been cycling I have changed my primary sports drink several times. When I started riding I drank Gatorade but I stopped after the first year because it contained high fructose corn syrup (it doesn’t anymore). Then I switched to Clif Shot Electrolyte Drink, but stopped using it because it had too many calories. Then I started drinking Propel because the plastic bottles had a sports cap that was perfect for cyclists, but when they stopped selling it with a sports cap I started buying Propel powder.

Gatorade G-Series 02 Perform Low Cal Sport Drink

Gatorade G-Series Sport Drinks

Last year Gatorade launched the G Series of sports products. I delayed trying any of the G Series sport drinks for several months mainly because I thought the product line was confusing. A months ago the folks at Gatorade were kind enough to send me an assorted box of G Series drinks for review purposes and, unless they change the formula, I plan on using Gatorade G-Series 02 Perform Sport Drinks on all of my rides from now on.

Gatorade’s G-Series 02 Perform sport drinks come in both the original Gatorade and the G2 low-calorie version. While the original Gatorade has 50 calories per 8-ounce serving, the low-calorie version has only 10. Both versions offer the sodium and potassium you need to keep you hydrated and refreshed on long rides. The original version is available in nearly 20 different flavors, though I don’t know of any store that carries all the flavors at the same time. The low-calorie version is available in six flavors (Grape, Orange, Lemon-Lime, Glacier Freeze, Fruit Punch, and Blueberry-Pomegranate).

The G-Series of sport drinks are available in several different sizes, including a 32-ounce bottle, a 16-ounce bottle with a sports cap, and as a powder so you can mix your own. Since the water bottle cage on every bicycle in the United States is designed to hold a 20-ounce bottle, cyclists are best served by buying the G-Series products in powder form and mixing them in their own bottles—it keeps the cost way down. A container that holds eight individual packages of drink mix costs around $3.50 at grocery stores in the Chicago area. This comes out to only .44¢ for a 20-ounce bottle. Unfortunately, the low-calorie powder only comes in two flavors, Grape and Fruit Punch. This is not a problem for me since Grape is my favorite flavor anyway.

It is normally recommended that cyclists drink 16 to 20 ounces of fluid per hour while riding. On hot and humid days when the heat index is over 110 degrees I’ve been known to drink almost twice that amount per hour. Every cyclist is different, but based upon my size and average speed I burn around 1050 calories an hour while riding and so I try to consume between 250 and 300 calories per hour. The low-calorie G-Series products give me a lot of flexibility—I get the sodium and potassium I need in the drinks and then get the rest of my calories from food. Since I am a distance cyclist I am often out for extended periods of time and I prefer to get most of my calories from actual food products (it is a personal preference and not one I would recommend for everyone). However, on short rides of 30 miles or less I have started drinking the original Gatorade—since it has 130 calories and 32 grams of carbohydrates in a 20-ounce bottle I don’t have to carry any food products with me.

Until this year I’ve always had a problem drinking enough liquid during winter rides. When the temperature is hovering around zero I find it rather difficult to drink anything—mainly because anything in your water bottle turns to slush rather quickly. However, this year I bought a two Outdoor Research Water Bottle Parkas for my winter bikes and they keep my drinks at room temperature even after several hours on the trails. I have found that I drink a lot more on winter rides when my drinks haven’t turned to ice.

Nearly everyone in the world is familiar with the original Gatorade. I am not exaggerating one bit when I say that Gatorade has saved my life a couple of times when I’ve gotten sick in Third World countries. A few years ago I got ill on a trip to eastern Turkey (right on the border with Iran), and the most comforting feeling in the world was walking into a small “convenience store” (about the size of a closest) and finding cold Gatorade!

7 Comments

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on January 23, 2012 in Health And Hygiene, Product Reviews, Sports Nutrition

Tags: bicycle, bike, carbohydrates, cycling, exercise, gatorade, hydration

Outdoor Research Water Bottle Parka For Winter Biking

16 Jan

One of the many challenges winter cyclists face is trying to keep their water bottles from freezing on long rides. Riding three or four hours in freezing temperatures is not all that difficult, but having to drink slushy cold Gatorade doesn’t exactly make you feel warm inside! While there are several good ways to keep the contents of your water bottle warm, the Outdoor Research Water Bottle Parka is one of the best I’ve tried.

Outdoor Research #2 Water Bottle Parka

The Outdoor Research Water Bottle Parka is a container made of a water-resistant, coated nylon fabric with a polyester knit lining. The closed-cell foam insulation in this parka does a tremendous job at keeping the temperature of the liquid in your bottles steady. I know I’ve not tested this product to its limits, but after five hours outside with the temperature in the single digits my drinks were still plenty warm. I have not tried this product in hot weather, but all indications are that it will excel.

The Water Bottle Parka comes in three sizes. Size #1 is for water bottles like the 1L Nalgene. Size #2 fits a .5L Nalgene or 21-ounce Camelbak Podium Chill bottle (like the one you probably use in the water bottle cage on your bike). Size #3 fits bottles like the 40-ounce Klean Kanteen, the 40-ounce CamelBak or the 1L Sigg. I use the Size #2 and it is 12.25 inches tall and 3.75 inches wide (exterior dimensions).

Water Bottle Parka with a 20-ounce Camelbak

The biggest challenge to using the Water Bottle Parka for winter biking is finding a good way to attach it to your bike. The Water Bottle Parka comes with a reinforced nylon strap with a hook and loop closure, so you could just attach it to your handlebars. However, if you ride in the winter you probably already have a rack of some sort on your bike that you could use. I use two Salsa Anything Cages mounted to the front forks of my Surly Necromancer Pugs.

Outdoor Research makes gear and clothing for a variety of outdoor sports, including rock climbing, ice climbing, hiking, backpacking, paddling and skiing. While none of their products are cycling-specific, they do have a lot of products that should be of interest to any winter cyclist.

The Outdoor Research #2 Water Bottle Parka is available in two colors (Red or Dark Grey), and retails for $24. This is not the type of product you are likely to find at your local bike shop, but you can order them from Amazon.com if you can’t find them at a local sporting goods store.

1 Comment

Posted by All Seasons Cyclist on January 16, 2012 in Fat Bikes, Product Reviews, Winter Cycling

Tags: bicycle, bike, cycling, hydration, winter

Planet Bike Carbon Fiber Bicycle Water Bottle Cage

12 Sep

Planet Bike Carbon Fiber Bicycle Water Bottle Cage

Let’s get this straight: you don’t need a carbon fiber water bottle cage, not even if you are one of those disgustingly skinny cyclists with only 3% body fat. A carbon fiber water bottle cage might save you an ounce (or less) of weight on your bike, but it will cost you at least four times more than a stainless steel bottle cage. However, putting a stainless steel water bottle cage on a carbon fiber bike ought to be banned by international law! The psychological damage to your prized carbon fiber bike would be tremendous and probably keep it from reaching maximum speed—it’s like putting a set of Walmart hub caps on a brand new Mercedes-Benz. So, since you don’t need a carbon fiber water bottle cage, but your carbon fiber bike does, I would suggest you buy a Planet Bike Carbon Fiber Water Bottle Cage.

The Planet Bike Carbon Fiber Water Bottle Cage is incredibly lightweight (only 22 grams) and, compared to other brands, is reasonably priced. I purchased a pair of these cages a couple of months ago and they have worked flawlessly with both 21-ounce Camelbak Podium Chill Bottles and 22-ounce Clean Bottles. They have a very clean design and will serve you well for many years to come.

Earlier this year one of the “carbon fiber” bottle cages on my Trek Madone road bike broke. I had purchased a pair of “carbon fiber” cages when I originally bought the bike a few years ago, but the bottle cages had no markings to identify the manufacturer. While inspecting the broken cage I realized that my “carbon fiber” bottle cage was really made of fiberglass! Since the bottle cage don’t even have a manufacturer’s name on them I don’t even know who to complain to!

My main reason for recommending the Planet Bike Carbon Fiber Water Bottle Cage is simply this: Five or six years from now if you somehow manage to break one of these cages you will find out two things. First, the Planet Bike bottle cage was actually made of carbon fiber, not fiberglass. Second, the Planet Bike bottle cage comes with a limited lifetime warranty against defects in workmanship and material. They put their name on their products and their reputation behind them.

The Planet Bike Carbon Fiber Water Bottle Cage retails for $50, but you can usually find it a bit cheaper online (I bought mine from Amazon.com). These cages are not cheap, but they are still better priced than most of the other bottle cages on the market.

Gatorade vs. Clif Shot Electrolyte Replacement Drink

10 Aug

About ten years ago I quit consuming any product that contained high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and as a result I had to give up products like Gatorade. Since I couldn’t drink Gatorade I started drinking Clif Shot Electrolyte Replacement Drink while cycling and was very happy with it. Last year Gatorade dropped the use of HFCS and is now sweetened with a sucrose-dextrose combination. Since Gatorade is a lot cheaper than the Clif Shot Electrolyte Drink I decided to do a little comparison shopping and thought you might like to know the results.

Gatorade vs. Clif Shot Electrolyte Replacement Drink

In this post I am going to compare Gatorade powder mix (not the far more expensive bottles) against Clif Shot Electrolyte powder. Since I do not work in a laboratory I am going to have to round off a few numbers, but I think I’ll be close enough for you to draw some reasonable conclusions on your own. Gatorade powder sells for $4 for an 18.4-ounce tub and will make about thirteen 20-ounce bottles. Clif Shot Electrolyte powder comes in 2-pound containers and will make about fourteen 20-ounce bottles.

A 20-ounce bottle of Gatorade has 130 calories and 34 grams of carbohydrates. Each bottle also has 270mg of sodium and 80mg of potassium. When made from powder Gatorade costs only .31¢ for a 20-ounce bottle.

A 20-ounce bottle of Clif Shot Electrolyte has 260 calories and 62 grams of carbohydrates. Each bottle also has 650mg of sodium and 162mg of potassium. The cost for this 20-ounce bottle is $1.57.

Aside from the differences in price, there are a couple other things to consider. Every cyclist is different, but based upon my size and average speed I burn around 1050 calories an hour while riding and I like to consume between 250 and 300 calories per hour. If I drink a 20-ounce bottle of Clif Shot Electrolyte every hour while cycling I would not need to consume anything else to meet my needed intake of calories. This is not a bad thing, but I like to consume a bit of food while on the bike. However, on days when the heat index is over 100 I don’t usually feel like eating anyway and the extra sodium and potassium in Clif Shot Electrolyte is really needed.

In my opinion Gatorade and Clif Shot Electrolyte taste a lot alike. In fact, I don’t think I could tell the difference between them in a blind taste test. I like both of these products (and both companies) so I will probably continue to use both of them.

All Seasons Cyclist

Tag Archives: hydration

CamelBak Performance 22-Ounce Water Bottle

Klean Kanteen Wide Mouth Insulated Water Bottle with Loop Cap

JetFlow Hydration System

Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix

Zefal WIIZ Side Mount Bicycle Water Bottle Cage

Nalgene ATB All-Terrain Bottle With Domed Lid

Gatorade G-Series 02 Perform Low Cal Sport Drink

Outdoor Research Water Bottle Parka For Winter Biking

Planet Bike Carbon Fiber Bicycle Water Bottle Cage

Gatorade vs. Clif Shot Electrolyte Replacement Drink

Search This Site

Categories

Email Subscription

Top Posts & Pages

Archives

Blogs I Follow

Blogroll

Follow “All Seasons Cyclist”

Tag Archives: hydration

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Search This Site

Categories

Email Subscription

Top Posts & Pages

Archives

Blogs I Follow

Blogroll

Follow “All Seasons Cyclist”