Multipower Fruit Power energy bar

Multipower may be better known in the world of gyms and bodybuilding, but this brand produces a wide range of products for many sports, including these Fruit Power bars, which are have been promoted by some professional cycling teams in the Tours of France and Italy. With a great taste and easy-to-eat texture, they're very handy source of energy for the rest of us.

As you might expect of a bar called Fruit Power, the main ingredients are - wait for it - fruit. Specifically, according to the Multipower website, this includes apple, pineapple, apricot and mango, albeit in various candied and concentrated juice forms. There's also cane sugar, oat flakes, rice crispies, sugar, maltodextrin and soya oil.

All in all, this creates a very tasty bar, with the mix of grains and fruit giving a moist texture. Despite the high fruit content, the flavour is not too sweet, and the bar's easy to eat on the bike – although on very hot days they can get a bit sticky inside the wrapper.

On the energy front, each bar (40g) provides 589 kJ or 138 kcal, with just under 30g of carb, per bar, plus a couple of grams each of fat and protein. Under test on long bike rides, I found one of these babies easily provides enough energy for about half-an-hour's decent pedalling.

A box of 24 bars costs £35 from the Multipower website, or a few quid less from the usual on-line stores. This works out at around £1.50 each; perhaps because of the high fruit content this is a bit more expensive than similar carb-based energy bars from other manufacturers like SIS, MuleBar and High5 which tend to cost around a pound - although weights and fruit content varies so it's a very rough comparison. On the Multipower website a box of 24 Fruit Power bars is currently reduced to £26.24 – which puts them on par.

Of course, you can buy 'normal' fruit and cereal bars in supermarkets for even less, but these sometimes have high proportions of unrefined sugar or saturated fat, which is not helpful on a long bike ride (because energy is delivered in a 'spike', after which you fall) as well as being less healthy.

Based on my experience, these Multipower Fruit Power bars are well worth trying. As with all energy products, it's best to try them when training, to make sure they agree with you, rather than using them for the first time in a race or important sportive. If they work for you, stick with them. If they don't, try something else.

Verdict

Fruit and cereal bars with a good supply of carb, ideal for long bike rides; nice texture and taste, but slightly expensive