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Zym Catapult electrolyte drink tablets

7
£5.99

VERDICT:

7
10
Not cheap but very handy for keeping hydrated
Weight: 
0g
Contact: 
www.cyclingparadise.com

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.

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You can get the tabs in either tubes of ten or singly in sachets, which is handy if you're out on a ride and need to refill your bottle. The berry flavour is sugar free and pleasant: it's best made up an hour or so before the ride to let the residual fizz from the dissolving tablet disperse. Each tablet only contains four calories, so you'll need to pack food or gels to keep you going, but the mix of salts (Sodium, Potassium, Calcium and Magnesium) are just what you need to keep a balance in your body and fight dehydration and muscle fatigue.

Personally I prefer to use a hydration drink and use more traditional forms of fuel - malt loaf is my staple - so i found the Zym tablets very useful. As I'm a big coffee drinker anyway the small amounts of caffeine didn't have that much effect on me but i did find that post ride aches (and headaches) were less common than when I was just drinking water. They're also good for a hangover, I'm reliably informed!

All in all, you get good performance and dosing and portability are made simple by the tablet format. You do pay more for the privilege: at about 60p each they're not cheap, but they are handy.

Verdict

The Catapult tabs have a pleasant taste and the science behind them is straightforward and well proven. You'll need to pack some fuel too, but they're a good way of keeping your body in balance, especially when it's hot out.

road.cc test report

Make and model: Zym Catapult electrolyte drink tablets

Size tested: n/a

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
7/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
7/10
Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 36  Height: 190cm  Weight: 100kg

I usually ride: Schwinn Moab, urbanised with 700cs  My best bike is: Trek 1.5 with upgrades

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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