I accidentally had to use Gatorade on a long ride. It was perfect as far as palatability and it seems to fit my sodium and carb needs. Why should I use Scratch instead? Why don’t more people use it?
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Thank you. I was literally going to start a thread today called, “What’s so bad about Gatorade?” but I’ll just piggyback here. Let’s do it.
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Been using Gatorade powder almost exclusively for the past 2-3 years. It works for me, so I have no reason to spend more on specialty mixes.
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I have also been using Gatorade mix exclusively for a couple of years now. Keeps me fueled just fine and at $11-13 a big container it’s hard to beat.
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Have a look at the “make your own” thread and you’ll see lots of people mixing other sugars in with a scoop of Gatorade.
Personally, I can’t stomach it in heat. I don’t know why, but it makes me sick to my stomach. I make my own Malto/Fructose mix instead.
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I’ve been using Gatorade as the base for the Saturday app mixes for a while now (year plus, I think?) and it’s been great. The Gatorade is some basic carbs and good flavor (I use Lemon-Line), then the app tells you how much sugar and salt to add for a given ride based on intensity and duration.
It’s a fraction of the cost of Skratch and comparable mixes, but also much easier to balance flavor and convenience for longer rides. It’s also a lot easier than trial-and-error from using things like sodium citrate or Kool-Aid mixes (which I know works for some people). Pure Gatorade in the necessary carb amounts gets super intense and kind of cloying, but the sugar and salt cut the flavor a bit and mellow it out.
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just replying to the thread
I don’t think there is anything wrong with Gatorade … I use the powder frequently and it works great.
However - if you are trying to boost your carbs - a heavy carb mix will require some additional sugar sources (malto/fructo).
Some people can’t stomach Gatorade, makes them sick.
Also Gatorade Endurance (Used to be used in IM Triathlon) had a terrible flavor profile (especially the orange/mango flavor) and would stain your bottles.
like anything, find what you like the taste of and use it.
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Count me in as a Gatorade plus salt plus malto user for years. Other than dying early from blue food coloring, it’s pretty much perfect
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Gatorade, especially the endurance, can go toe to toe with speciality brands IMO
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I’m one that just can’t do it. There is a ‘mouth feel’, and the taste, and aftertaste (and burping) that I’d rather pass on. (I can’t stomach Gu stuff either, but that’s because of cramping stomach)
The flavors are ‘off’ too, and yeah, now with so many strange colors, I’d rather pass just because of that. Anything with red in it that’s not ‘natural’ is suspect to me. Most (all?) of the red dyes are cancerous at some level.
One thing that peeked my curiosity was Tang, like a big hit when I was a kid (those with Space Food Sticks: and if that combo didn’t upset your stomach, nothing would) but had some a few months ago, and it was better back then, like most things I guess… 
It’s good to have a selection for people. If it was all Gu stuff, I’d have to do without.
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Oh yeah, I have two dedicated bottles that I use just for Gatorade Endurance, they both look like a spaghetti tupperware 
I always wished Gatorade sold a version without the food coloring, it’s impossible to get the stains out.
I’ve been doing gatorade powder + sucrose + sodium citrate for a while now, works great for me.
The only issue I have with it is taste/palatability when the drink is warm, as happens on hot days when I refill bottles somewhere along the way.
Can’t beat the cost, and IMHO (at least for me) sucrose is fine up to 80ish grams/hour. I haven’t tried more, but I’m keeping it very simple until I have a reason to change.
Generic lemonade powder is a good base for drinks too. About 1/2 the cost of gatorade and roughly the same sugar.
If you have sodium citrate on hand, along with malto (or table sugar) can make whatever mix you desire in terms of salt and sugar.
Lots of ways to make salty sugar water 
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Glacier cherry doesn’t have coloring, it’s what I use for flavor in my sugar-sodium citrate mix.
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I used Gatorade Endurance for a good chunk of this year, mostly because it was cheap. The Cherry flavor has a hint of cinnamon to it and is not overly sweet.
That said, once I started upping my carbs, to get the quantity of carbs I needed, it became too sweet (or I had to drink too much liquid). Now that I am past all my races, I’ll switch back to it for the fall and winter and save some bucks.
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I’ve not seen it (Gatorade) widely on sale in powder form or at a good price in the UK. I use High 5 but you maybe don’t get that in the states.
Gatorade is a great alternative that I use often when I’m doing endurance training rides. For me however, it is inadequate for hard interval or race days. There simply aren’t enough carbs.
As an example, I push 110 grams of carbohydrate per hour when I’m racing. With the specialty mix I can fit that in one 24oz bottle. To get the same effect with Gatorade I would need to be drinking 60oz an hour.
That simply isn’t going to work. I wouldn’t have enough room in my stomach bladder, bike, etc.
Could you buy it in powder form and put the same amount in a bottle? Sure. But good luck stomaching it.
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I used gatorade powder for flavoring before I started using LMNT. However, flavor is about all I could get out of it alone. I had to add both sugar and sodium citrate to it to make it potent enough for 3-4 hours outside.
And ironically, Saturday I had an 80 mile ride on tap. Left the parking lot with a bottle of gatorade by mistake instead of my usual sugar + LMNT mix. That loop comes back to the car after 1 hour to join a group ride where I picked up my normal two bottles. Not having that third sugar + LMNT bottle and having the gatorade instead and I bonked hard 70 miles in. really sucked.
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I get it for free from the athletic trainer at school. Works fine for me. But full disclaimer, I also eat fruit snacks and gummy bears at 10 cents a pack over $2 gels. “Fueling the ride” adds up and gets expensive quickly.
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Fruit snacks from costco are hard to beat $/kcal
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