Push Express Clean Energy Gel (20 pack)

Along with Torq gels, Push Clean Energy Gels are among a small number I'd consider using. They don't give me stomach cramps, possibly because they're dairy free. They're not freighted with preservatives, which may or may not make any difference but makes me feel better about eating them. They don't taste like a sweetened sachet of shampoo. And they tick the right nutritional boxes, providing a balance of maltodextrin and fructose for a mix of fast and slow release energy.

These gels were the first I'd used for ages. I've pretty much given up on energy products because, like most cyclists, I don't really need them. When you're racing for less than about 90 minutes, your body's glycogen stores are good for that. And when you're not racing, eating actual food - such as a banana - is more cost effective and more pleasant. (A banana gives you about 25g of carbohydrate, the same as a gel.)

This isn't to say that gels aren't useful. If you race for longer than an hour and a half, gels are easy to carry and are a very efficient way to get sugar into your body. They're also handy for long non-competitive rides where you get your feeding strategy wrong and hit the wall, because an emergency gel won't bulk out a pocket or seatpack like a banana or a bag of Haribo.

Any gel has to be palatable and not give you stomach ache, as well as dumping sugar into your body. These cherry-flavoured Push Clean Energy gels are sweeter than I'd like but the tartness of the fruit juice offsets that, so I could eat them without gagging. As I said, they didn't make my stomach cramp up either. The 25g of carbohydrate that each 50g gel delivered - a mix of the aforementioned maltodextrin and fructose, plus maize starch - was therefore useful.

There isn't any caffeine in the Cherry gel. For that, you need the Blackcurrant Plus, which is £2.50 dearer for a box of 20. Each Blackcurrant Plus has 75mg of caffeine, about the same as a cup of coffee. Given the additional mental and physical kick that caffeine provides, I'd choose Blackcurrant Plus over Cherry if I were planning to carry a gel or two for an what I'd consider an unusually long race. (I'm a short-distance time triallist and cross-country mountain bike racer.)

The main way that these Push gels could be improved would be by having easier-to-bite-off corners. Otherwise, as gels go, they're very good.

Verdict

Effective natural ingredients - and vegan too; no caffeine, though