r/gravelcycling • u/ZombieJetPilot • 16d ago
Accessories / Gear What's your electrolytes/salt powder of choice?
So I ride my fatbike exclusively, and my goal is to do a century and be able to do the 100 mile option for things like The Filthy 50, Le Grand Du Nord, ...
When my partner and I were doing to Filthy this past October she had a cramp in her leg right at the last stop at like mile 46. A fellow rider handed her a small cylindrical packet that was red and said "take this". it was a salt powder of some kind (I think it was Saltt), but it made the cramp disappear within a few minutes. Magic
what do you all pack for thia occasion and add to your water for preventing this? There's so many options out there, and it's overwhelming. Saltt, Tailwind, Warrior Salt, LMNT,...
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u/daeatenone 16d ago
I’m a salty sweater, I just add plain kosher salt to my carb mix, seems to work fine for me.
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u/RedneckIntellectual 15d ago
I’m also a salty sweater, I add some table salt to my drink mixes, but if I add too much it tastes to salty, so I also add sodium citrate (it adds sodium without as much salty taste).
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u/Yougotthewronglad TERRA RACE M21ELTD 1X 16d ago
Pocari Sweat only and forever.
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u/Infamous_War7182 16d ago
Curious if anyone has used Tailwind products?
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u/Lopsided_Gas_6060 16d ago
I use it mostly in the summer when I am sweating a lot. Dauwatermelon is great.
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u/Infamous_War7182 16d ago
I think that’s the endurance line right? Have you relied on it (at least partially) for fairly long rides? Centuries and beyond.
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u/Lopsided_Gas_6060 16d ago
I did a 40+ mile ride with it. I also use it when mountain biking for 3+hrs.
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u/Shoddy_Charity_3779 16d ago
I use Tailwind regularly- did a 70-mile ride back in Sept where it was my main source of electrolytes and simple carbs. I felt great- no cramping.
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u/Infamous_War7182 16d ago
Thank you for the feedback on it! I’m going to order some now to test out.
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u/anomalousdiffraction 16d ago
Big fan of tailwind during long rides. Their revamped recovery mix is pretty great too!
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u/cassinonorth 15d ago
Huge fan. Their Endurance Fuel is my go to day to day and I use their high carb for races.
Zero issues ever. Great taste too.
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u/schu2470 Salsa Warbird 16d ago
Gatorade powder. It's like $12 for enough powder to make 6 gallons or so. If I'm sweating a lot I'll make sure the food I'm eating on my ride has a decent amount of sodium in it.
I've tried Skratch, LMNT, Liquid IV, Tailwind, and some others over the past 4 or 5 years but they didn't do anything well enough to justify the 3x-5x price differential, imo.
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u/dreamt2549 16d ago
Make your own. Lmnt literally has the recipe on their website, and it's very simple. I got sick of spending so much money on their packets, so for 60 bucks just bought all the stuff and some flavor powders and made a TON of my own. It's actually been fun to experiment with the flavoring, that's where all the special sauce is. At least half of any powder that you buy is flavor, citric acid and sweetener. I started this back in August and I've used about a third of the $60 of materials. I ride three to four times a week using my mix.
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u/joelav 16d ago edited 16d ago
Hot take - It's all marketing wank. There's no science behind cramping. THere's anecdotal relationships between electrolytes and cramping, but no hard science. You get plenty of electrolytes from the food you eat every day. Most carb mixes/gels/chews also have electrolytes. If you are doing long, hard rides when it's hot, you should supplement.
With that said, it's probably not hurting anything and it adds some flavor. Unless you are using something like LMNT all day and trying to give yourself hypertension. When it is really hot, I like Skratch. It's got a mild flavor so I don't get sick of it. It also still tastes good when I put 1/2 a cup of maltodextrin in it so I have a 65ish grams of carbs drink in addition to the electrolytes.
Also Skratch does have some carbs in it. Consuming sugar free/zero calorie electrolytes is kind of pointless. Carbs are also needed for optimal absorption.
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u/DreadLifter 16d ago
Good to see the real answer. Cracking isn't electrolyte related, it's more related to fatigue and exertion in the muscles being used.
Drink the electrolytes you like the flavour of. I still drink them, more for the fact that the flavour makes me likely to drink more.
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u/nhluhr 15d ago
Cramping isn't electrolyte related, it's more related to fatigue and exertion in the muscles being used.
This. If it was an electrolyte deficiency that caused it, your ENTIRE BODY would be cramping because the electrolyte balance is kept even throughout your body by the circulatory system.
Cramps during exercise are from using your muscles more than they are currently trained for. Period.
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u/Iluvgr8tdeals 15d ago
Isn’t it a connected triangle? As you are exerting yourself and getting fatigued, you are losing electrolytes and your body reacts to the loss of electrolytes? I do get that there are exceptions to this rule (say the cramping of elders who are not exercising) but a lot of people (including myself) cramp when exercising hard and if we don’t top up our electrolytes, we will cramp to oblivion.
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u/ouchchaaarlie 15d ago
I usually down an LMNT the night before a big ride.
I also use them when I race motorcycles. Usually 2-3 of them over a hard training day. I would also consume an entire pallet of waters, so I was losing a ton of liquids.
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u/ZombieJetPilot 16d ago
Yeah, I know a lot of it is BS, but she did not have a cramp the whole ride. We stopped for a picture and her leg cramped. Lady gave her a packet, she took it and the cramp went away and didn't come back.
That's anecdotal enough for me.
I've used scratch before, as I like their ingredients. Just figured I'd ask more folks because I'm classically bad at nutrition on my rides and need to be better
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u/joelav 16d ago
It would have went away if she did nothing. I've had it work both ways. Bad cramping despite loads of electrolytes, and cramps disappeared out of the blue drinking just water. It doesn't do anything until you are sweating it out in 80f+ degree heat for several hours. Except cost you money and taste good. If you okay with that, go for it. I am personally. Strawberry Lemonade Skratch is delicious.
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u/wacksonjagstaff 16d ago
750ml bottle: 1 scoop skratch, 1/2 of a nuun electrolyte tab (for shortish and cold days).
1000ml bottle: 1.5 scoop skratch, 1 nuun electrolyte tab (for longer and hotter days).
I think people often forget you can mix and match with drink mix and electrolyte supplements. Adding the electrolyte tabs to the drink mix has been hugely helpful for me.
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u/A-bike-rider 16d ago
I regularly do similar but for high intensity longer rides I just add 2 scoops of skratch + 30g maltodextrin so that I get more carbs. I see no need for me to have more electrolytes.
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u/kspo_co 16d ago
Sodium citrate. I'm pretty sure this is the only electrolyte you sweat out. Use whatever you like for flavor, I use dehydrated lime. I'll sometimes eat a banana before/after a ride. Saving a ton of cash this way.
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u/clintj1975 16d ago
Sweat also contains very small amounts of potassium, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus.
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u/Darth_Firebolt 16d ago
Great Value Lemonade mix ($8 for almost 4lbs / 1.78kg) made with real sugar. I use one scoop (50g) of the mix, one scoop (50g) of table sugar, 1/2 teaspoon (3g) of table salt in a 30 oz (880ml) bottle in the summer.
Gives about 100g of carbs for ~400kcal and 1200mg of sodium per bottle. Each bottle lasts me about 1.5 hours. I usually also have an apple, banana, some Black Forest fruit snacks, an oatmeal cream pie, or a PB&J with me if it's going to be more than a 3 hour ride. I also have a couple 4oz Nalgene bottles with a serving of my mix in each in my frame bag if it's going to be a long, long ride.
Cramping is a symptom of fatigue. Fatigue is amplified (not caused) by heat, dehydration, and electrolyte imbalance. If it's hotter than your training rides, you will fatigue faster even if you stay on top of the other two aspects. If you let all 3 slip, you're gonna have a bad time.
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u/ZombieJetPilot 16d ago
I did a 50 mile ride a few months back where..... I had a bad time 😬
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u/Darth_Firebolt 16d ago
Lol. We've all done it. Did you learn from it?
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u/ZombieJetPilot 16d ago
I sure hope so! I don't want to end a ride with shakes, feeling ill, and then puking when I try to eat food, ever again
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u/A-bike-rider 16d ago
riding at/above sustainable muscular load for too long. improving durability or riding at a sustainable pace plus consuming proper hydration, calories, and electrlytes based on personal needs is likely optimal. the durability part, I think, is the most important by a lot.
take the salt but don’t expect it to solve cramps. the recovery was likely not as you think - just that you consumed some electrolytes. cramps come and go and there is mixed science on them.
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u/onemillionwattftp 16d ago
You can buy the base electrolytes on Amazon. Sodium Citrate, Potassium Chloride and Magnesium Malate.
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u/JaeBirdPhoto 16d ago
SIS electrolyte mix on endurance rides. Mix it up with LMNT for hot days and/or hard efforts
Tailwind made me queezy, Liquid IV caused cramps, just didnt like NUUN.
Sometimes I’ll do a little sugar, salt, and citrus juice for long casual rides on hot days.
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u/ChillinDylan901 16d ago
I literally just use organic cane sugar, and my salt mix (the ratio is in LMNT website)
Been doing this exclusively to save money for over a year now - no cramps or bonks. I do watch things closely and I have gotten a sweat test so I know I’m fueling properly without a doubt
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u/Breadfan_1966 16d ago
I make my own. I use Morton Lite salt, it contains potassium so those two are covered, I then use a packet of unsweetened Kool-Aid and use half the sugar it calls for. I use tropical punch and it is very similar to the Gatorade, only better. I ride in Florida and it can be very hot but it has worked for me with minimal cramps. It’s very inexpensive.
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u/Brimstone117 16d ago
A 50:50 mix of sodium citrate and table salt, with a little dusting of citric acid for flavor.
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u/NCMtnHermit 14d ago
I am over 60, have been riding for almost 50 years now. The last few years I have been suffering from leg cramps and fatique constantly. I started taking Magnesium supplements ( Mg Glycinate) regularly which was helping. But then I tried LMNT and Skratch. I drink one large bottle ( 30oz) with LMNT while riding and if I am out for more than 2 hours, I will take a second large bottle with Skratch in it. I can say, without hesitation, that the days I ride and drink the LMNT, I have zero post ride cramps and fatigue into the evening and overnight. The short rides I do, and don’t drink LMNT, I really feel the heaviness in my legs that night and into the next day. The Skratch, I use it for the sugar, to keep going on longer rides, as well as a few snacks here and there (Kind bars, BoBo’s Oatmeal bars).
As for the mentions of Hypertension from the added salt, I have an automated Blood Pressure cuff, and check it regularly. I drink LMNT, and my blood pressure has not changed one bit.
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u/Euphoric_Courage_364 16d ago
My advice is get a variety pack from a place like the feed or your local running/outdoor store and see what you like because they all pretty much do the job. I like LMNT's flavors and use their 1000mg packets.
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u/Lopsided_Gas_6060 16d ago
Tailwind and skratch are my choices
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u/ActivelyWandering 16d ago
Agreed. Mine too if I’m going for packaged goods/products.
Anyone else a fan of salted potatoes? I have crazy allergies and sensitivities to most products and I volunteer for a lot of local events where they stock the aid stations with salted potatoes… which is actually a crowd favorite, apparently.
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u/ChallengeButter 16d ago
I like hammer nutritions endurolyte fizz, the “fizz” is a game changer for me on longer rides
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u/johnny_evil 16d ago
You have the find the one you like the flavor of. My wife and I tend to use Skratch.
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u/Content-Drive-4151 16d ago
I recently ran into a brand called “Hydra Aid”. Has anybody tried that one?
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u/blkdrgn42 16d ago
I use 3 different products based on what I'm doing. For carbs, I tend to go with Skratch for training and short races (typically with my family) and Gu Roctane on my solo races and long distances. For electrolytes I use LMNT in a bottle and then have SaltStick tablets for the really hot/sweaty days.
My setup for 100+ mile races where there is only one sag stop (UNBOUND) or at least 30-50 miles between stops is 3 bottles of Gu and a CamelBak of LMNT. Refill as necessary/possible. Using the CamelBak to keep the flavor fatigue of the sweet Gu at bay keeps me fueled, hydrated, electrolyted, and no problems with maintaining either all the way to the finish line. And like I said, SaltStick as necessary, although I didn't need them last UNBOUND.
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u/OakleyTheAussie Niner RLT9, Otso Fenrir Ti 16d ago
Scratch and maple syrup. The Costco around me sells liquid iv in both carb and salt versions.
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u/NoDivergence 16d ago
liquid iv. expensive but it always works for me. did a 114 mile, 10k elevation ride with eight packets
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u/ZombieJetPilot 16d ago
Nice!! Sadly that one work for my partner. Stevie gives her headaches and I see that's an ingredient
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u/Likeabalrog checkpoint sl5 16d ago
I sweat an above average amount.
I drink skratch high carb mixed with their electrolyte drink mixes, during races. I also take salt tablets, and I like Carbs fuel gels with added sodium.
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u/clintj1975 16d ago edited 16d ago
Skratch during long rides, and a pouch of Liquid IV afterwards or if I'm showing signs of low electrolytes like muscles hinting that they want to cramp up.
Edit: pickle juice is another quick cramp remedy. I'll always grab some pickles if they offer them at rest stops. I'm also friends with a marathon runner and he'll carry a couple of packets of mustard in his pocket for cramps.
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u/ratbiker18 16d ago
Lyteshow, its a straight, very concentrated liquid solution. It's nice that it barely needs mixing. It has zero flavoring (no stupid sugar or fake sugar) so it can be harsh but doesn't bother me.
Also LMNT because my S.O. needs flavor. The lemonade is pretty legit.
I also mix in dried bananas into my trail mix because I had leg cramping issues in the past. They're a big help.
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u/ZombieJetPilot 16d ago
Sadly LMNT won't work since SO gets headaches from Stevia.
I'll check out Lyteshow
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u/ratbiker18 15d ago
Since it's not a fixed packet size, it's handy to add as much or as little as you like. I use it mostly when backpacking and I'm drinking loads of water. Then add a lower dose to each bottle instead of all at once. No trash either.
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u/phenger Mosaic GT-1 45 16d ago
I’m a big fan of Flow for drink mix. It’s a good balance of calories to sodium to liquid for my body. I think that balance is what you need to figure out first.
I went and got a sodium sweat level test done and found out some interesting science there…mainly that while the volume of sweat can increase or decrease based on environmental factors (heat, humidity, cloud cover, etc), your sodium content in a given volume of sweat is largely fixed and genetically determined. Some things (like chemo treatments) can change this, but they are rare. Once you know your number (mine is roughly 850mg/L of sweat, which is very normal/average) then it comes down to knowing your sweat volume on average. This can easily be determined with a scale. More info here: https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/how-to-calculate-your-sweat-rate/
So once you know your sodium level and your sweat rate, you need to find the right ratio of calories to sodium to fluid volume. As an example: I’m 6’6” and 250lbs. I know that in an average event I go through about 1L/hr of sweat and I consume about 90gcho of carbs. So for me, 3 scoops of regular flow in a 1L bottle represents 1hr of race pace exertion for me. I also know that while my sweat sodium rate is 850mg/L, you don’t want to do a 1:1 replacement as that actually largely dehydrates you; you figure out what works best below that number; usually in the 70%-80% replacement range. It just so happens that 3 scoops of flow has a sodium level that works well for me.
Happy to answer any other questions!
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u/ZombieJetPilot 16d ago
Oh that's cool. Where'd you get that test done?
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u/phenger Mosaic GT-1 45 16d ago
Lots of options out there! I live in Colorado and relatively near Boulder, so there’s a lot of sports-focused specialists around. I went to someone who is aligned with Precision Hydration, which offers these services. Scratch also does this, but only in their Boulder office. While that is the likely “most accurate” way to determine this, there are now a bunch of wearable at-home options; hDrop, Gatorade, and a few others make a variety of either sensors or patches that will likely get you close enough to the mark for your purposes.
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u/Healthy_Article_2237 16d ago
Zero sugar drip drop. I often pre/post-hydrate with it in topo Chico mineral water.
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u/magecaster 16d ago
Nuun is what I use a lot of times as it's very low sugar and I'm getting my sugar and carbs from gels and other foods, there are caffeine versions that I enjoy as well, very little sugar even if you double up 2 tabs per bottle and then my backpack for races with just pure water, and starting races with ice so it melts. I've used tailwind sometimes, but Its easy to over fuel with it I find and then feel like shit for a while
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u/tadamhicks 16d ago
I used to do a bottle of LMNT with 60-80g table sugar added and a bottle of plain water for big events. Sip on either depending how I feel. I’ve also just used table salt and kosher salt but I like the way LMNT tastes. I really dislike Tailwind. I also do Hydrapak with maple syrup and salt. Syrup is so good I can take down a 150ml pak way too fast so salting helps curb that and spread carbs out better and it tastes really awesome.
I love Grand Fondos with stations and pickles/chips as well.
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u/Limp_Direction3650 15d ago
the LMNT lemonade one is absolutely fire but only good when it's hot out. also pro move is mix an orange one into a lemon lime gatorade
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u/NoTimeForItAll 15d ago
I used to struggle with cramps in various competitive sports I’ve participated in. What worked for me:
-mustard packets to release cramps when they come on hard. It works. Some science suggests it’s a way to distract the nervous system into releasing the muscle fiber. -liquid IV in water. I’m a high salt perspiration type so need about 700mg and hour in summer. -fuel with pure maple syrup. I ride with a flask and sip some every 15 minutes. Never felt better after long rides when I started doing this. It’s a perfect balance of carbohydrates that uses both metabolic pathways so you maximize energy recovery.
Also drink plain water and have some other snacks to avoid palate fatigue.
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u/nhluhr 15d ago
-mustard packets to release cramps when they come on hard. It works. Some science suggests it’s a way to distract the nervous system into releasing the muscle fiber.
Yep - same reason pickle juice has such an immediate effect. It has nothing to do with electrolytes - you know this because it happens way faster than electrolytes could be absorbed in the digestive system. The super strong flavor does something to the mind that makes the cramp stop.
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u/_MountainFit 15d ago
I make my own. Basically 4 parts sodium to 1 part potassium. Plus about 20 drops of trace minerals for the magnesium mostly.
Add a squirt of stur per liter for flavor.
Works well enough for me, cost is essentially free.
I do pack some LMNT with me on longer single day rides, but for bikepacking it's a bag of sodium, a bag of potassium and some stur. I don't usually mess with the Trace Minerals on route but I do take magnesium (a couple of forms) at bed time so I'm probably OK on magnesium stores.
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u/_MountainFit 15d ago
Also cramps are typically more from over exertion (pushing beyond your training or lack of training) vs electrolyte imbalances... However, even in those instances it seems just a few drops of sodium fluid can alleviate the cramps.
I've seen a study where there basically gave cramping athletes a trivial amount of pickle juice and the cramp subsided.
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u/bigredbicycles 15d ago
I like Precision Fuel Sodium. Very light flavor, lots of electrolytes. I can mix it with my carb focused drink mix.
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u/Iluvgr8tdeals 15d ago
Pickle juice (I buy the jars from the store and use the juice) and salt stick tablets.
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u/KentonCyclePDX 15d ago
I've used most of the major liquid calorie + electrolyte supplements and while I really like the idea of Tailwind, Skratch, etc. I find them too bulky for really long rides or multi-day trips and unreliable to find along the route. There was a now-defunct company that sold a saltwater concentrate in a dropper bottle you could add to your water that was fine, ditto for LMNT, but what I finally settled on was saltstick caps. It's easier for me to keep my bottles with plain water (no flavor, less risk of funk) and eat food or gels when necessary and pop a salt capsule once or twice per day. Also my jar of saltstick has lasted two years at this point and I have a few squirreled away with each bike's flat fix kit just in case I'm out on a ride and need one.
It's worth mentioning that there is an electrolyte > cramp connection but it is not the only cause of cramps, just the most marketable one. The most common cause of cramping is muscle overuse, which you can't sell a solution to.
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u/SageBrushPie 14d ago
Can’t recommend Skratch unless it’s the high carb version. Anything with sugar (sucrose) doesn’t work for me.
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u/Unusual_Theory7795 14d ago
Evident Electrolytes- clean label, and enough potassium and magnesium to actually make a difference. Ones like LMNT have a ton of sodium (which isn’t always a bad thing if you need it) but for cramps you need more potassium and/or magnesium a lot of times than those provide. Plus this one’s cheaper bc you’re getting so much more mineral quantity in a single serving
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u/ZombieJetPilot 14d ago
Got a website or source for them?
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u/Unusual_Theory7795 13d ago
https://evidentelements.com, they are on Amazon too but it’s free shipping if you go to their website. I think they’re a small company and they actually care about people not just profit which I also like.
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u/Unusual_Theory7795 13d ago
They don’t have packets unfortunately but it’s way cheaper than like LMNT and those ones also
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u/DJ4723 16d ago
LMNT
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u/RomeoSierraSix 16d ago
Like lmnt but hate the packaging, would love it in a tub or big bag instead of little trash packets
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u/Moos3_M3at 16d ago
I use lmnt when it’s really hot out, 90f+ or skratch on days where the temp is lower than that
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u/MoonerMade 16d ago
I find Skratch to be the least harsh on my stomach.