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April 11, 2005
Hammer Gel tests 
To try to provide a service is what we at Brave Athena are all about. And, yes, there is only one of us, why do you ask?
The last time I was at the triathete store, they had a crazy cheap price for Hammer Gel. Now, I'm a Gu girl, and I have no reason to change, but I did pick a couple up, and try them while I was out on the road. Here are the results:
Espresso: easily the best of the lot. Not unpleasant taste or texture, though a little thick.
Orange: entirely unedible. Like eating tang-flavored sand set in grease.
Chocolate: not as good as Espresso, but at least it's edible. You need a lot of water to cut it, though.
End results: I think I'll stay with my Gu, though if it isn't available and I'm in hell, and Hammer Gel is my only choice, I will use Espresso or Chocolate. I'd rather have the horrible all-body cramps than have Orange again, though.
Posted at April 11, 2005
Comments
"Like eating tang-flavored sand set in grease"
hahahahaha...
i used to be a devoted Gu user, too. then i discovered vanilla HammerGel. yum. AC Eileen swears by the Espresso, too. Doesn't upset my stomach AND it's dilutable (er? dilutable? did i just make that up?) in water. plus since they sell it in large bottles (26 servings, which you can get for about $12 at PRC with your AC discount), you can dole out however much you want into a flask. that works great for me cuz 1. no sticky annoying wrapper to tote around until a trash can appears and 2. i can take in as much as i actually need. with the Gu pouch i felt obligated to take it all at once, which i think was part of what caused my stomach woes.
my goodness. i'm a comment-postin' fool these days.
Posted by: AC Hollumns at April 11, 2005 2:41 PM
Hey, funny post and good topic. I use Hammer Gel almost exclusively (a few Clif Shots here and there). I like to mix Espresso and Vanilla in a flask; makes the espresso a little less strong.
Here's a good story--I buy my Hammer Gel online and buy three large bottles at a time for a discount. I usually get two Espresso and one Vanilla. Recently I noticed the gel didn't taste the same--it had a strange consistency and a funny taste. The next time I filled my flask I noticed that I was using Banana, not Vanilla! I can tell you that Espresso-Banana is not a winning combo.
I've tried some of the other fruit flavors and I thought they tasted good, but I couldn't imagine eating very many servings. I think I'd get nauseous.
Take care and enjoy the experimenting.
Posted by: Marshall at April 11, 2005 2:46 PM
I find gels taste completely different when I'm taking them in the middle of a long-long run. I usually use Tangerine caffeinated Powergel which peps me up and usually doesn't make me gag. Raspberry Hammergel is pretty good too if you like raspberry jam. Most of the mocha or espresso flavors taste like crap to me when I'm running long - even though I usually like coffee a lot. Go figure.
Posted by: Nancy Toby at April 11, 2005 7:26 PM
dude what is the deal with that foul stuff??? I 'm a gu girl too. Chocolate all the way...why do they always hand out mocha mocha at runs!! I don't need caffeine people I"m going to be regular for the next two days....plain cleaned out anyway!!!
Posted by: brit at April 11, 2005 10:07 PM
haven't tried any gels at all yet. they dont sound too good. i'm sure i'll give it a shot eventually. though. thanks for teh recommendations
Posted by: brent at April 15, 2005 10:56 PM
Oh Wow! I can't believe it, Do you know how long I've been waiting for a gel that tastes like "tang flavored sand set in grease"! Where can I buy some of that! LOL!!
Posted by: runr53 at April 21, 2005 4:54 PM