Allsports International is one of the UK's longest established suppliers of performance enhancing energy products, with a range of products designed to speed up recovery, provide energy and help build and repair muscle.
One of its products which perked some interest in the RCUK team was its 'Winter Training Formula', described as having been developed specifically for the demands of riding/training through the winter months.
Allsports say this product 'saves having to eat solids during rides and to eliminate cafe stops,' which is great news to me - I don't like stopping at cafes as is tradition on club runs during chilly winter rides, preferring to keep pushing on. During testing I found it to keep energy levels nicely topped up during those long steady 4-6 hour rides, and I certainly noticed little discernable dip in performance towards the end of these rides. As you want from an energy drink.
However, the most pertinent part of the product was the flavour. There's four to choose from; Butterscotch, Strawberry, Peach and Belgian Chocolate. I tried the latter and found it wholeheartedly agreeable. The first thing note is the consistency, it's more akin to drinking a watered down milkshake which sounds odd compared to most typical energy drinks, and probably more like a recovery drink. However, the Belgian Chocolate is incredibly tasty and is infinitely more palatable than either plain water or normal energy drinks. Somehow the taste and the consistency is spot on for long slow rides.
It's a protein/carbohydrate mix with a load of vitamins in there for good measure. Two scoops using the provided scooper poured into a 750ml bottle is good for a 2-hour ride. I found 1 scoop was adequate on less demanding, or shorter rides. There's no added salt, sucrose, soya or preservatives and is fat free.
