Torq Explore Flapjacks (20)

The TORQ Explore Flapjacks are made with organic plant-based goodness and come in a wide variety of flavours. They taste pretty good, don't fall apart and suit long rides really well, though they're not the best option for racing types.

The Explore Flapjacks are vegan friendly and certified Soil Association Organic, which means the ingredients are of a very high quality, free of pesticides and chemicals. That's reassuring.

Nutritionally, they're pretty competent, with about 40g of carbs in each bar (depending on the flavour you choose), 1093-1108 KJ of energy, 8.1-8.9g fat, 2.9-3.8g fibre, and a useful 3.2-3.7g protein.

Performance

Torq says they're for more relaxed riding, where it's more about the taste and experience than out-and-out performance, but I feel that's underselling them – these taste good and perform well too.

They're not quite as potent as Torq's own Energy Bars (76g of carbs per 100g versus 61-66g), though energy (KJ) is higher at 1681-1704 per 100g, versus 1445. You also get better recovery with the Explore bars, with 4.9-5.7g of protein per 100g versus 3.7g. The Explore bars are a bit fattier at 12-14g per 100g versus the Energy bar's minuscule 1.8g, though.

For long rides – be that club rides, sportives, or multi-day bike packing adventures – they certainly do the trick of keeping you energised for an hour or so, as they did when I tested them on a couple of four-hour rides.

The best possible taste?

While for me these don't quite match the Veloforte Plant Powered bars in terms of taste, they're still pretty great. The ingredients are all natural, with some real fruit in there, though overall the bars are probably just a touch too sweet – I found them ever so slightly sickly.

> How to eat right for sportives and long rides

Black Forest is an interesting flavour, with its blend of sour cherries and cocoa powder plus sugar and golden syrup creating a definite sweet/sour flavour. Some will love it, others I suspect less so. The rest are a bit more mainstream – favourites like apple strudel, carrot cake, ginger cake, bakewell slice and banana cake – and decent interpretations of the real thing.

The bars are square and fit easily into a jersey pocket, plus they're quite solid and won't fall apart in your pocket during a long ride.

Value

While Torq says the box of 20 has an SRP of £37, it also says there's a 10% discount for buying one box. That makes it actually £33.30. To confuse matters further, resellers such as Wiggle do them cheaper – at the time of writing the Apple Strudel box was £24.75 – but one advantage of buying direct is you can spec your own box up to five flavours.

The Build A Box option (the same £33.30) works out at £1.67 per bar. For comparison, the Veloforte Plant Powered bars which are £2.25 per bar in bulk, while the classic Clif Bar is £1.69 (£20.28 for 12).

Overall

The Explore flapjacks are some of the better, more natural tasting bars I've come across, and there's good reason for that – they're made with natural, organic ingredients. The macros are good for keeping you fuelled on your rides, and they travel well too.

Verdict

Tasty and effective energy for long rides, if a tiny bit sweet