EFuel by CrankSports
#NotASponsor but willing to accept
Background I’ve tried everything as fuel for long runs, Clif, Gu, Stinger, Huma, Hammer, UCann, a couple of more brands I can’t remember the name of and in all the forms each brand offers, gels, waffles, chews, bloks etc. I’ve DIY’d my own fuel of various recipes. Honey based, Brown Rice based, Malto based, Chia based. I’ve done ‘real’ foods like Picky bars, DIY energy bars, Lara bars, Clif bars, pretzels with PB, Oreos, Trail Mix, Nutter Butters, PBandJ, Bananas, Candied Ginger, some others.
Drink mixes I’ve used Skratch, Tailwind and one other brand I forget.
Long story slightly shorter is I have a ‘little’ bit of experience with a pretty good chunk of what’s available and in common usage.
So in Q4 2017 I picked up a couple of “eGel” gels. They were being offered as freebies by someone at a race. I took a couple and used one on a long run to validate no ‘issues’ but so far I can eat, drink anything without a problem. After all the crap I’ve put in my belly over the last few decades both natural and unnatural I would be surprised, barring an infection, to find something I couldn’t digest.
But still they sat easy on me.
I can say that after 20 months as of right now of fueling for running that eGel by CrankSports and their drink mix eFuel has made a very apparent difference in me in my ability to stay energetic over the course of long runs. I don’t know if their science is real or not, I’m not a food anthropologist as they say. But I can say that I’m willing to given them the benefit of the doubt. And valid or not they make a good argument for their stuff.
So I didn’t need to check the local shoe stores because I know exactly what they sell and this isn’t one of them. I popped over to Amazon and nothing. A google later and I found out their website and then found out they don’t sell on amazon preferring to bypass the fee amazon charges as savings to direct customers. There is one store in the state that sells them but it’s a 4 hour round trip to do it and just not worth it.
I ordered a sampler pack of gel and drink mix. And got a shipped notice same day I place the order. Each time I’ve placed an order it ships same day. Today it literally shipped 34 minutes after I placed the order at 5:30 p.m. on a Friday. This just put them over the top in my book s and prompted me to finally write this review. And after using them for 4 months give or take with the same results every time is also another reason to review them.
On long runs I take a gel 30 to 45 minutes pre run and then one gel every hour or so after that. I also alternate water and sips of the eFuel on the run.
And I have no highs or lows during our long runs, just steady sustained energy. Last Saturday we did a pretty long 30K trail run and energy level I was up and level for the entire 19.5 miles.
Flavor wise for the gels, honestly they’re all pretty close to the same to me. I can taste slight differences but not enough to have a favorite, they’re all acceptable. They’re also not as thick as Gu’s which I find hard to ingest as a result but not as thin as Huma. To me the Huma’s texture is just a bit offputting, not bad, just not preferred by me.
For the drink mix, Citrus Punch is hands down my favorite. The orange is just awful to me. No offense to Crank Sports or anyone who likes it but it’s just blech. The Raspberry is not bad, if you like raspberry as a drink. I don’t but I can say it’s okay. The Mountain flavor which might be supposed to be kind of like Mountain Dew maybe but it’s… I’m not sure. I got a sampler pack of the four flavors and the only one I enjoyed is the Citrus Punch. It’s super tart which I like and citrus punchy.
So now I carry 3 or 4 eGels with me on long Sunday’s and 2 500ml bottles of eFuel and then a bladder of water. I don’t use it all but I’d rather have it and not use it than vice versa. If it’s more than 2 hours I will also typically swap one of the eGel’s out with a Vanilla or Chocolate Gu or Huma just to have the variety of flavor. The eGels, again to me, you might have a different experience, are just too similar so having something that’s completely different in flavor is nice to have.
Lately I’ve also been bringing a vacuum sealed pack with some pb filled pretzels from Costco, a individual pack of oreos with 6 oreos in it and some candied ginger. Me and Bunny share those typically.