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review
Enervit Liquid Gel£2.85
VERDICT:
Very easy to swallow and gentle on the stomach
Weight:
77g
Contact:
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 meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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Enervit's Liquid Gel sits somewhere in between a gel and an energy drink, making it more versatile than a lot of products, helped by the resealable pouch.
- Pros: Easy to swallow and digest
- Cons: Tastes quite sweet
The three flavours I tried – Black Cherry with Caffeine, Orange, and Lemon – taste quite sweet and a little 'manufactured', but I found they sat easy on the stomach. The ingredients are gluten-free too.
> Find your nearest dealer here
A single pouch delivers 112kcal and 28g of carbohydrate, which I found enough to get me out of trouble if the dreaded bonk reared its head for around 45 minutes to an hour of riding.
The Black Cherry with Caffeine contains what Enervit says are high caffeine levels (42mg/100ml), and recommends sticking to just two pouches a ride, or four if it is a really long, drawn out effort.
I suppose it all comes down to how you react to caffeine in the first place. As a big coffee drinker, I could feel the hit if I was running out of fuel but not to the point where it had any adverse effects, even taking two pouches one after the other.
With water being the main ingredient, the gel is really easy to swallow – ideal if you need to fuel in the middle of a race or time-trial and don't have the time to ease off the power.
The screw cap might not be ideal in those competition scenarios, though, rather than just tearing the corner off a sachet with your teeth like most gels, but for more sedate riding it is actually a big bonus. You can take just half the gel, for instance, before replacing the cap and sticking it back in your pocket.
> How to fuel right for sportives and long rides
For a 60ml pouch the £2.85 rrp doesn't seem too extreme, considering that most gel sachets at half that size come in around the £1.50 mark. Torq's 47g Energy Gel is £1.85, for instance.
On the whole, the Liquid Gel pouches are handy to keep in your pocket, and thanks to how easy they are to drink and digest I'd imagine they'll work for most people no matter how hard you are riding.
Verdict
Very easy to swallow and gentle on the stomach
road.cc test report
Make and model: Enervit Liquid Gel Competition with Caffeine
Size tested: 60ml
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?
Enervit says, "Enervit Sport Liquid Gel Competition is a carbohydrate-based product for use during sports. It is a source of thiamine that contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism."
I found the Liquid Gel pleasurable to use and it delivered the energy needed.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
INGREDIENTS (Black Cherry with Caffeine)
Water, Maltodextrin (22,8%), Fructose (17%), Acid: citric acid, Flavourings, Caffeine (0,035%), Thiamin hydrochloride. Percentages indicated in g/100g (100g = 85ml).
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
Per 100ml, Per 2 cheer packs (120ml)
Energy: 799Kj, 952Kj, 188Kcal, 224kcal
Fat: 0g, 0g
of which Saturates: 0g, 0g
Carbohydrate: 47g, 56g
of which Sugars: 22g, 26g
Protein: 0g, 0g
Salt: 0.013g, 0.015g
Thiamine: 0.33mg, 0.4mg
Caffeine: 42mg, 50mg
Rate the product for performance:
8/10
Rate the product for value:
5/10
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
It delivers a decent punch of fuel to flagging legs.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Easy to swallow.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Slightly sweet flavouring.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
For a 60ml serving the price is on a par with many others on the market.
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 overall score
The slightly manufactured taste aside, these Liquid Gel pouches are really good, delivering an extra hit of fuel when you need it.
About the tester
Age: 40
I usually ride: This month's test bike My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed
Since writing his first bike review for road.cc back in early 2009 senior product reviewer Stu has tested more than a thousand pieces of kit, and hundreds of bikes.
With an HND in mechanical engineering and previous roles as a CNC programmer/machinist, draughtsman and development engineer (working in new product design) Stu understands what it takes to bring a product to market. A mix of that knowledge combined with his love of road and gravel cycling puts him in the ideal position to put the latest kit through its paces.
He first made the switch to road cycling in 1999, primarily for fitness, but it didn’t take long for his competitive side to take over which led to around ten years as a time triallist and some pretty decent results. These days though riding is more about escapism, keeping the weight off and just enjoying the fact that he gets to ride the latest technology as part of his day job.
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7 comments
Bought some energy gels by this brand from a supermarket. Terrible! Made me feel sick and it felt like acid in my stomach. Steer clear.
If you're bonking after 45 mins to an hour of riding then you should be looking at your diet in more detail!
That's not what the review was saying. It was when you've hit the bonk, this will stave off more bonk for 45 minutes to an hour. ie. it's an emergency "get me home" fix when you've been out for 5 hours already and it's another 1 hour to home but you've ran out of puff.
Personally, that's when I reach for the SIS Double Espresso gel. 150mg of caffeine. Tastes like cold coffee and has the consistancy of er, frogspawn. It's lovely.
Or make your own energy drink which takes seconds, as above all this plastic shit for cycling is disgusting, how much can be recycled, pretty much none of it even if it isn't chucked at the side of the road!
I really think that packaging really should start to become a part of the review of these unnecessary products. I've started making my own "energy snacks" blend dates and nuts and roll in to balls. Cost much less and much less packaging. A bottle of sugary squash with a pinch of salt for shorter rides, an electrolyte tablet (plastic packaging, need to find one that isn't, or learn to make my own) to prevent cramp on longer rides. Even packaging that can be recycled might not be, and then there is a limit on what it can be recycled into. As a group us cyclists could do better, these guys are just selling expensive sugar.
That is a lot of plastic packaging for a small amount of sugary calories.
Glad you only gave it 5/10 for value, £2.85 is pretty bad for 28g carbs