Can’t I eat Jelly Babies instead of gels? They’re way tastier and cheaper and you can just stick them in your pocket and don’t need to open the top. In fact, I think the only reason I was motivated to get on the trainer this morning was so I could eat Jelly Babies!
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I concur
I use jelly babies or Haribo quite a bit, they’re great! Much tastier and a fraction of the price of sports nutrition.
I only really use sports nutrition for times when I’m pushing consistently high intensity and therefore easy calorie absorption is critical. E.g. TTs, crits, triathlons. For training sessions or races where you get periods at lower intensity then jelly babies or similar work great.
The only challenge is not eating the whole bag when not on the bike. Pretty sure no-one looks in their cupboard and thinks “ooh a gel that’s a tasty treat”.
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Oh good, I was thinking I was being a big old baby with my love of the jelly baby.
You don’t have to eat at all if you don’t want to, but gels vs sweets is just a question of how specific you want your on bike nutrition to be. Is glucose enough, or do you want sodium and fructose? What about fats and protein?
Some people who have been training and eating a lot of sugar for years might also be concerned about diabetes. So is it just performance you’re interested in or health as well?
I’ve started trialing them as part of my after workout recovery nutrition. This might sound daft but I’m simply following in the footsteps of one Mr. Sagan.
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The exact reason I can’t have Swedish Fish in the cupboard. Once opened, the discipline goes to exactly zero.
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How many little bears per hour to equal a Gel? (35-50 
)
I’d have to build a mini-catapult for the handlebar.
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Same problem I have. There’s no way a bag of Swedish Fish would make it a week in the pantry before I ate it all. On the other hand, I’ll starve myself till the next day before I willingly eat a SIS Gel off the bike.
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I think it’s about 5 jelly babies per gel.
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SIS gels can be disgusting can’t they. I quite like the Torq ones. I wonder if coach Chad cares to weigh in on the subject, I’m sure he’d have an interesting opinion.
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YES! Gels are like liquid gold (albeit sometimes awful tasting). But Swedish Fish… plentiful, and pure heaven 
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My mother in law bought me a 5 pound bag of Haribo bears for christmas and while this was certainly excessive, stuffing a handful in my face following a ride for carb replenishing is always a great time.
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Just a few weeks ago I went for a outdoor ride and wasn’t prepared with any gels since I’ve been on the trainer so much. So I grabbed a serving of Swedish Fish my wife had in the pantry and I thought they worked absolutely great during the ride. They gave me energy and a little joy all at once…
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Those of you having “taste” issues with gels … I actually look forward to my Hammer Nutrition Raspberry and Apple gels as a between-interval reward. For those of you with a liking for caffeine on your rides, I highly recommend mixing the Espresso with Raspberry. Mmm, mmmm. Plus you can buy large recyclable containers and put them in flasks saving a bit on the environment.
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I have never heard of Jelly Babies. Are these Gummy Bears? Jelly beans?
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At least here in Poland, Haribo sells a “roulette” containing I think 10 or 11 pieces (it works out to about 20gr of carb/90 total calories).
They’re almost always in my bento box or jersey pocket.
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I saw that, but it doesn’t really explain it. Are they gummy bears? “Soft jelly” makes them sound like those orange slice things my grandmother had.