Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Lucho Dillitos Bocadillos Energy Bar

8
£16.99

VERDICT:

8
10
Amazing tasting bars, though the packaging could be more robust
Weight: 
480g
Contact: 
www.luchodillitos.co.uk

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

What the road.cc scores mean

Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.

  • Exceptional
  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
  • Quite good
  • Average
  • Not so good
  • Poor
  • Bad
  • Appalling

The Lucho Dillitos Bocadillos are the most delicious energy bars I have used. They don't provide the same kind of energy as others on the market, and the natural packaging can be a little frustrating at times, but for what's inside it's worth it.

Most energy bars today look like they were made in a lab. The packaging also tends to focus on the amount of carbs, sugars or other magical ingredient that will give you the slight edge. The Lucho Dillitos Bocadillos buck this trend, giving little detail of scientific benefits, and the packaging is just a dried leaf.

> Find your nearest dealer here

> Buy these online here

The 40g bars – or blocks – come in a pack of 12 in a balsa wood box held together with twine, and each block is wrapped in a dried leaf. They are as far away from traditional energy bars as you can get.

Lucho Dillitos Bocadillos Energy Bar pack.jpg

In nutritional terms the Bocadillo bars don't pack the same kind of punch as more complex 'traditional' energy bars. Compare it with a 40g SiS GO Energy Bar banana fudge flavour bar, for instance, and the Bocadillo has 368kj compared with 587kj, and 22.5g of carbs against the SiS's 26. That said, I found that I still got more than enough energy boost from a bar, and didn't come close to bonking when using them. It is perhaps worth noting that the labelling on the packet is incorrect – it says 189kj and 11g of carbs, but according to the founder of the company this is due to the wrong information being conveyed to him; subsequent tests and more recent packaging reflect the more accurate nutritional value.

I much prefer these to normal bars, and though on longer rides I would also take a regular bar, I would still take a couple of these. The reason I am such a fan is that these are, hands down, the best energy bars I have ever tasted. They have a fruity, sugary taste that reminded me of a fruit pastille or jelly baby, but without the artificial tinge; they taste natural, and have no artificial ingredients, something I like when eating normally, so it was nice to have on the bike too.

Using the bars is easy enough, but I would like to see a more robust wrapping. I found that when they came out of my jersey pocket the leaf wrapping would be a bit tatty and by the end of the ride the used wrappers would be totally broken up, leaving bits of leaf in my pocket. Given that they are leaves, you'd be fine throwing them to the side of the road, but, I dunno, it just didn't feel right.

> Find more road.cc reviews of energy bars and gels here

A box of 12 will set you back £16.99, equating to around £1.42 per bar. That's cheaper than some – Etixx Sports Energy Bars, also 40g, are £1.99 each – but more than others: a box of 30x40g SiS Go Energy bars is £32.99, so £1.10 each.

Overall I really liked these energy bars. They have some flaws, such as lower nutritional amounts and the leaf packaging, but given how good they taste I still loved using them. Reviews aren't always about tech and numbers – sometimes not even about performance – and if you are after the 'best' in terms of performance then 'better' products are on the market. But I actually looked forward to feeds on rides while using these – which I don't normally – which is saying something.

Verdict

Amazing tasting bars, though the packaging could be more robust

If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website

road.cc test report

Make and model: Lucho Dillitos Bocadillos Energy Bar

Size tested: 1 Box containing 12 Bocadillos

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

' Lucho Dillitos bocadillo are the natural, tasty alternative to modern sports nutrition!'

I agree – they are very tasty and certainly natural. They might not pack as much of a punch as modern energy bars, but they still taste great and give you a boost.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

- Made from Guava fruit and natural sugars

- 368kj of energy per bar

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
7/10

Bar itself has a good flavour and holds together well, but dried leaf packaging did sometimes crumble in my pocket.

Rate the product for performance:
 
7/10

It's hard to put a number on performance here... they may not have as many carbs etc as more complex energy bars, but they still managed to stave off the bonk while riding.

Rate the product for durability:
 
7/10

Hard to say given that they are a perishable, but at the same time they age like jam, so won't go off, more just harden, but still be edible...

Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

They are cheaper per bar than others, but at the same time don't pack the same energy.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

I really liked them. Each 40g bar may not pack the same kind of punch as other energy bars, but I still actively enjoyed eating them on the road.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The taste – the best energy bar I have ever had, honestly amazing.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

The leaf wrappers crumbling in your pockets, not ideal.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your score

They may not pack the same punch as others, but we aren't sports nutritionists, and I tend to go with what I like, and I really like these. Perhaps it would be good to have more hardy packaging, but it is worth the sacrifice.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 27  Height: 6 ft  Weight:

I usually ride: Cannondale Supersix Evo 6  My best bike is:

I've been riding for: 5-10 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mountain biking

George is the host of the road.cc podcast and has been writing for road.cc since 2014. He has reviewed everything from a saddle with a shark fin through to a set of glasses with a HUD and everything in between. 

Although, ironically, spending more time writing and talking about cycling than on the bike nowadays, he still manages to do a couple of decent rides every week on his ever changing number of bikes.

Add new comment

10 comments

Avatar
rnick | 7 years ago
1 like

Blimey...a little pricey even for a present.  I shall stick making flap jack, I'd manage to make at least 10kg of my luxury version for the price of these.  Stupid question, but can you eat the leaf wrapper as well, or does it have unwanted side affects - perhaps similar to other Colombian leaf wrapped products?  I scared myself last winter whilst attempting to unwrap and eat my alternative anti bonking product, a pork pie, whilst heading down Park Rash in the dales....lesson learned.

Avatar
Peowpeowpeowlasers | 7 years ago
0 likes

A 200g bag of mixed dried fruit and nuts might not be the kind of thing you can eat while on the move, but they certainly pack a punch in terms of protein, fat and carbs. Much cheaper than the above, too.

Avatar
DoctorFish | 7 years ago
0 likes

I've given up buying energy bars/gels, they are just a very expensive way of buying sugar. As per the above post - make your own. I normally just take snack bars (supermarket own brand version of snickers or mars) and/or cereal bars and/or squish up some dates into some balls for easy consumption, perhaps adding some ground almonds.
For something really simple to make look here:
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-easy-3-ingredient-energy-bars-at-ho...

Avatar
dubtap | 7 years ago
0 likes

You can buy bocadillo identical to this for £3.99/12 pieces in any continental shop with a Colombian food section on near enough every London high street. This is a p*ss-take!

Avatar
boardmanrider replied to dubtap | 7 years ago
0 likes
dubtap wrote:

You can buy bocadillo identical to this for £3.99/12 pieces in any continental shop with a Colombian food section on near enough every London high street. This is a p*ss-take!

 

And I though the yanks were arrogant! Really, you have supermarkets (note the plural) that have a 'Colombian' section. Give a break. Supermarkets of the highstreet variety do not have a Colombian section, may something in their world section. Have I been away from the UK that long?

Dublin supermarkets have a Polish section, a smattering of world products and everything else that's normal. Colombian section? may be where you buy coffee.

 

Avatar
allgearnoidea replied to boardmanrider | 7 years ago
0 likes
boardmanrider wrote:
dubtap wrote:

You can buy bocadillo identical to this for £3.99/12 pieces in any continental shop with a Colombian food section on near enough every London high street. This is a p*ss-take!

 

And I though the yanks were arrogant! Really, you have supermarkets (note the plural) that have a 'Colombian' section. Give a break. Supermarkets of the highstreet variety do not have a Colombian section, may something in their world section. Have I been away from the UK that long?

Dublin supermarkets have a Polish section, a smattering of world products and everything else that's normal. Colombian section? may be where you buy coffee.

 

no mention of supermarkets??  Think some of the more posher supermarkets like waitraose might stretch to a south american section in selected stores - there are a few shops on the high street in London that stock columbian produce, 'La Bodeguita' is one where you can pick these bocadillos up at half the price, but if you live outside of London and buy online their postage is ridiculous and you don't have many other options other than the over priced lucho dollitos (like most things in cycling your paying for marketing - it's all smoke and mirrors).

Avatar
lushmiester | 7 years ago
0 likes

Is just me who still makes their own anti bonking bars?

Avatar
LankyEdinburgh replied to lushmiester | 7 years ago
0 likes
lushmiester wrote:

Is just me who still makes their own anti bonking bars?

Care to share the recipe?

Avatar
CyberTonTo72 | 7 years ago
0 likes

Sound like a really good idea, bio packaging and a lower calorie intake, great for a person like me that rides to lose weight 

Avatar
steviemarco | 7 years ago
1 like

Isn't a leaf bio-degradable, therefore, no need to store the emty wrappers in your jersey pocket as there are millions of them scattered all over UK in Autumn 

Latest Comments