Zym Catapult electrolyte drink tablets

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.