The above picture is the top of my fridge which, in addition to serving as one of my cat Fausto's favorite perches from which he can survey the entire kingdom he jointly rules with his more couch-and-fuzzy-blanket oriented brother Dubs, has come to hold the collection of food I eat on rides. I carry a mixture of food with me on rides including those shown above, bananas, cookies or anything that can fit in my pockets. I like to carry cycling specific foods because they are just that, specific to bike racing. Most days around snack time, i.e., 4 pm, while I am hanging out or working at my desk, I do not find myself hungering for a Gu or a PowerBar as opposed to something more, shall we say ordinary like an apple or grapes. All of this leads me to a degree of confidence that the food I buy specifically for bike racing will be there when I go to grab it.
In addition to one or two time a year team orders, I sometimes supplement my bike racing food from places like the Energy Food Warehouse. I try to shop and compare when it comes to buying stuff in bulk, in doing so, I find that the folks there offer competitive prices and they ship quickly. Embarking on the following analysis I offer a caveat, that I am taking no position on the nutritional value of these items. We can all read labels and I chose them because they are available to me and do the job I want them to. All three of them seem to do exactly what they are advertised to do and I will continue to use them all as interchangeably as ever.
That being said, by virtue of long experience I would like to talk about each of them in the terms of useability while riding and thus their packaging. The three I typically use are GU Chomps, Clif Bar's Shot Bloks and PowerBar's Energy Bites. That of course is not to say that I do not eat other types of energy foods or that these are the only ones I am willing to try. Just behind or around what is displayed in the above picture and you'll see Nuun (which was introduced to me by a fellow bike racer and pro-MTBer for Scott), EFS, a host of other products from Gu, Clif and PowerBar plus from time-to-time other things I can get my hands to test out. However the Chomps, Shot Bloks and Energy Bites are similar products and can be more readily compared.
From my perspective, when it comes to useability of a nutrition product on a bike, it's about how quickly and readily the product can go from package to energy. Again, I am not commenting on digestibility or end-game functionality; rather, about how effectively I can get it from my back pocket into my stomach. We have likely been there in a race or an intense moment in training where we found ourselves in need of food and ended up fumbling around with things for far too long. For my part I try to consume around 200 calories per hour of riding after the first hour, so in the end I eat quite often. What I like about all three of these products is that they come in bite-sized pieces which can be parcelled out over time. As a result I can consume 50-60 calories every 15 minutes. Just try repackaging a banana while out riding, especially on a hot day, and you will see why that is important.
Of course, with any comparison I want to name a winner; but in this competition each product has its own pluses and minuses that makes it not practical. With the Shot Bloks I like the packaging the most. the Shot Bloks are laid out in a straight line in a packaging that can be easily opened on the move, with just your teeth (don't tell my dentist please). When I race I normally start the race with a package or two already open so that I can skip that step. In addition the packaging is laid out in such a way that you can squeeze each one out as you go a long which saves me from losing them to the occasional unanticipated pothole. However, the Shot Bloks do have a tendency of being tougher to chew especially if they are kept, even wrapped, for a long time. Not sure why or how; but sometimes they have the consistency of a jelly bean which does not make things easy. Another added bonus is that some of the flavors have caffeine which can be a nice pick me up through time.
GU Chomp's are consistent in texture throughout time even when you leave the package open for a while, i.e., day two of a stage race etc . . . . Further, there are typically more of them in a package than Clif so you can be even more judicious in how many you eat each time. Their packaging is a little bit of a let down. The tear point does not always open the rest of the package. And, since they lay loose in the package sometimes there is a little hide-and-seek that the pieces play. The package is compact so it is never a huge challenge but when you have thick gloves on sometimes it becomes a little more difficult.
I started using Energy Bites earlier this Fall when PowerBar set up a display at the outset of a group ride I was on. I tested them out that day and immediately went to buy some when I got back home. Energy Bites are like mini Harvest Bars, which is an excellent change of pace if, like me, all you were consuming before were gels and chomps. The Energy Bites lend a certain consistency to eating on the bike which is really welcome. The major drawback from these is the packaging, its unruly and large. It fits in the back pocket but when you take it out it's hard to get a hold of pieces especially when you start to get going fast or if there is a sufficient crosswind.
Like I said, I cannot pick a best or worst here. And I am going to continue to use all of them because I like them all. These are just my insights from extended use of each.
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