Beta Fuel Reviews

I use Beta Fuel for 70.3 Triathlons and think it works pretty well for me, but I do supplement with extra electrolytes, usually in the form of pickle juice shots in transition before/after the bike. I’m not a huge fan of the texture/flavor of Beta Fuel, but I can drink it just fine when I’m working hard. That said, my GI system can only handle it for biking, it makes me nauseous to have it in my stomach when running. So for a 70.3 bike course I’ll usually take 2x 24oz bottles of Beta Fuel out with me and drink them during the first 2 hours, then for the last 45 minutes or so I pickup water from Aid stations and drink that. Then I switch to a small bottle of Gatorade Endurance that I carry with me for the first 3-4 miles of the run, then grab various stuff from aid stations depending on how I feel for the rest of the run.

Overall I mostly drink Gatorade Endurance at various concentrations for training and shorter races, but I do think I feel better towards the end of a long high intensity ride when I’m drinking Beta Fuel. Most of my training rides aren’t really at an intensity and duration that I feel like Beta Fuel would really help, plus its insanely expensive to use for training. I’ll usually only use it for a few key training rides leading up to a race to make sure that my gut is still handling it pretty well.

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Interesting. Your observation makes perfect sense. So why did they discourage me from using their product? :joy::man_shrugging:

But how does it make you feel? I’m going on Beta for my upcoming races and was wondering if it’s easy on the system, every review I have read has said that because of it’s isotonic nature that it agrees with them very well.

Totally agree with this. Not to mention you’re paying $3 each time you do that workout…that adds up for some.

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I think it’s still something you’ll have to try for yourself. Especially if you’re not accustomed to consuming that many carbs during a ride.

Unfortunately it is relatively expensive, but I’d definitely recommend trying it out prior to race day to ensure it agrees with you. Whether that’s a two hour trainer ride or something longer outdoors, give it a shot a few times and see what you think.

One general tip with the Beta Fuel (Maurten doesn’t seem to have this problem) is make sure you give it like 30 minutes to mix and dissolve before your race or else you just end up with clumps. Maybe the hard water I have in AZ is the issue so caveat there, but with the same hard water Maurten hasn’t given me issues. 17 oz of water for each.

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Yeah I find Beta Fuel mixes much better if you mix it up the night before and leave it in the fridge.

I use 2 bottles of Beta-Fuel or Maurten for all my 3+ hour hard group/training rides - think 200+ TSS rides. With that, I still need to supplement with gels/chews/bars/rice cakes etc. Also, one needs to factor in intensity and calories burned to ensure you stay on top of your nutrition game…there is gene signaling that occurs when you supplement adequately while training and racing. So keep everything in context.

Pro tip: I blend my mix, then pour it into my bottles to avoid clumping.

I was never a fan of expensive gels or drink mixes beyond Skratch and having recently switched, I’m really sorry I didn’t switch sooner. 1 bottle of Beta Fuel and 1 Go gel per hour is like taking EPO compared to a bottle of skratch & a cliff bar during very long hard efforts.

Your body can absorb more carbs when it’s beta fuel and go gels vs other types of nutrition.

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My go to has been Skratch and Clif Bars! I just received some beta fuel and anxious to see if I get the same energy.

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huge fan, especially for really long gravel, as you can put it in a camel bak and not worry about tons of bottles.

Really easy to drink, not too sweet, and they have sales all the time on their site so the price isn’t as bad as MSRP.

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have you tried Tailwind Nutrition? Cost effective, has the correct glucose/fructose ratio, and isn’t sticky sweet. I typically use one scoop of flavored mix, and one scoop of unflavored to keep the sweetness down.
I have used Maurten for races, and do not mind it that much, but for the price I can’t justify it for daily training.

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I did look into it once but decided not to purchase. I can’t remember why. I’ll look again. Thanks for the push.

How did you find it from a hydration point of view? I’ve always found Skratch to be excellent for hydration but obviously does not contain enough carbs to sustain longer efforts.

It’s not crazy hot in TN, yet, so, it was fine. It’s one packet per 550ml (small) bottle. I drink a bottle of water before I leave, one during the first hour and then switch to one bottle of Beta per hour. I’m sure drinking a bottle of water during extreme heat as well would be acceptable.

Just had my first experience with Beta Fuel on a hard 3 hr ride this weekend. I rode z2 for the first hour and then started hitting it. It’s a bit thick, but tasted good (lemon lime) and went down easy. I had no GI issues after consuming one bottle within an hour. So far so good. Can’t comment on performance as the ride wasn’t long enough.

Hmmm, I’ve never had a problem with Beta Fuel clumping.

I generally start my long (3+ hr) rides with two bottles of GO FAR (Infinit Nutrition), and then when those bottles are empty I refill with SIS Beta Fuel from sachets. I tend to drink ~ 1 large bottle every 60-90 minutes, and I take in 1 SIS Gel or Honey Stinger Waffle in that same time frame.

The Beta Fuel mixes up straight away and works for me (note: I DO NOT have stomach issues). When I am over 3 hrs I use take an SIS caffeine gel as my last gel.

As for taste, the Beta Fuel is much sweeter than the Go Far. Not surprisingly, Go Far is 280 cal per bottle and Beta Fuel is 320. More sugar in the Beta Fuel and therefore sweeter.

Am about to start experimenting with Beta Fuel from the start for races in the 3 1/2 - 6 hr range …

Typo previously in my post above, the Rapha Podcast discount code is SISCP25.

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Haven’t used Beta Fuel yet. I’m a bit puzzled though what all the rave is about it. Well, truth be told there isn’t really that much rave. Because it’s known for quite a bit of time that the digestive system seems to be able to absorb carbs a bit better or more of them per unit of time if you mix Glucose with Fructose around 2:1. While every SIS product up to now simply had Fructose in it they now hyped it with that Chris Froome story of that Giro stage. Well… Team sky could have such “sucesses” for many years already if they had just used one of the not so few (I guess) products which use this “formula” already for quite some time. Take e.g. Powerbar with their C2max. That’s “Beta Fuel” right here and there since… forever?

Am I missing something? Or do I just miss the commercial buzz? :wink:

And for comparing Beta Fuel with Maurten or rather not comparing but throwing them in the same context: I guess both can work very well. But one is a “traditional” energy mix with a traditional 2:1 ration fructose/glucose and the other is - well, the same - but toting that Hydrogel Technology which they claim will help reducing GI distress.

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I’ve expressed the same sentiment in this thread before. This is really like Nesté & co selling tap water in bottles as “premium spring water”. Just spin a nice story around it and sell it to a premium-premium-premium price. Must be good at this price point.

Really, the only difference to competitor products like Powerbar’s C2max or Maxims offerings is the fairly low water recommendation. But apart from this the composition is really identical.

I guess you can sell anything with the right marketing.

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Isn’t the selling point (at least for me) is that it’s an isotonic solution? Yes there are plenty of other products using the 2:1 ratio but I haven’t seen many that push 80g of carbs/300kcal and still claim isotonic and thus good osmolality to prevent GI issues.

I’m happy to be corrected on this btw as it’s not cheap! And for sure they’re pushing a premium through marketing.

The low water content is perfect for me, it allows me to be self sufficient for long course nutrition taking away the gamble with event supplied feeds.