PowerBar Performance Smoothie

PowerBar is well-known sports nutrition brand, with a wide range of bars, gels, drinks and other products – including Performance Smoothies. Fairly unusual as energy products go, but as you'd expect, smoothies sit halfway between gels and drinks. They're a tasty and a reliable source of carbohydrate – especially handy if you find 'normal' food difficult to absorb on a long bike ride, or if you don't like the texture of traditional gels.

The main ingredients of Performance Smoothies include various fruit purees, maltodextrin (or glucose) and fructose. The combination of glucose and fructose is not uncommon in energy products; according to PowerBar (and other manufacturers) the glucose and fructose combo is a more effective way to provide energy, compared with glucose alone.

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The type of fruit puree in the mix depends on the flavour of the smoothie. There are three favours available: banana and blueberry, mango and apple, apricot and peach. We're testing the latter. It's a very pleasant flavour, with a definite fruit pulp texture, not quite the same as a proper smoothie drink, but pretty close. And while it's not as glutinous as a gel, it is still quite sweet, which might not suit everyone, but the more liquid consistency makes it more refreshing.

I've used the Performance Smoothies on a few long rides, and they definitely provide some energy, and make a welcome addition to my usual selection of bars and gels. Particularly useful is the screw-top which means you don't have to consume the smoothie all in one go. You can enjoy a few squirts, put the top back on and then enjoy a few more squirts a little farther down the road. On the downside, most riders will need two hands to hold the smoothie pouch and unscrew the top, which will mean stopping or riding no-handed, depending on your skills.

Each pouch weighs 90g (quite a size compared to most gels) which provides around 500kJ (120 kcal) of energy, consisting of 28g of carbohydrate plus a tiny dash of protein and no fat. This means there's around 60g of water in each pouch. This ratio will be fine for some riders – it means the smoothie is refreshing, and helps keep you hydrated – but other cyclists will be happy getting their liquid from their drink bottles and wanting a greater proportion of carbs from their gels. For example, a High5 gel weighs 38g and provides 28g of carb, while a ZipVit 7 gel weighs 60g and provides around 50g of carb. But this is a personal thing.

On price, a single Performance Smoothie pouch retails for around £1.50 to £1.75. If you buy in bulk, a box of 16 packets is around £20, or a few quid less at the usual on-line retailers.

On a blunt carbs-per-quid basis, PowerBar Performance Smoothies are an expensive way to take on carbs (the aforementioned ZipVit 7, providing almost double the carbs, sells at about the same price). But PowerBar Performance Smoothies is more than just a supply of carb for long bike rides. It's tasty and refreshing as well, and for many riders that will be the major plus.

As with all nutrition products, you should try Performance Smoothies when you're not training hard, just to make sure the ingredients agree with you on a personal basis. If you like them, stick with them. If you don't, then try something else.

Verdict

Unusual and effective source of energy that's also tasty and refreshing; not cheap, but will be worth the money for some