The summer heat is on, which means your fueling plan may need a little tuning. Hotter training can change both your needs and your products. We froze 25+ gels to find out which ones will transform your training and which ones you should avoid.
Summer's here, which means your gels could turn into warm syrup in your pocket.
Frozen gels aren't a new trick — but here's where The Feed comes in: because we carry just about every gel out there, we can put them all in the freezer and tell you exactly which ones freeze well and which ones don't.
So you don't have to waste a single gel guessing. If you run hot, or you just can't stomach a warm gel mid-effort, here are our findings to help you stay cool.
Why Freeze a Gel?
A frozen gel is very refreshing, helps you cool down, and encourages you to get all the carbs that you need, instead of suffering through a warm or hot gel.
The frozen gels tend to dull the overall sweetness, sharpen bold flavors, and turn a gel into something closer to a slushy, way easier to consume when your stomach starts rejecting warm fuel mid-effort.
Additionally, they can help lower your core temperature. Consuming frozen liquids is an extremely effective way to manage and lower core body temperature during hot efforts because it requires a large amount of internal body heat to change from a solid to a liquid.
The pro tip: Freeze them the night before your workout or race. Then carry your gels like you normally would — they will start to soften enough to squeeze out easily, but cold enough to give you that refreshing hit (we see pro riders do this all the time).
Here is your Frozen Gel Guide:
Best Gels to Freeze:
Amacx Drink Gel — Super thick when frozen. Push-pop texture. Fun to eat, did not lose flavor.
SiS Beta Fuel + Electrolytes — Thicker texture, flavor improved. A noticeably better experience frozen.
Krono Gel — Fabulous. Takes on a caramel-taffy consistency that makes it feel like a completely different product.
Feed Maple Gel — Froze well, stayed thinner than the others, and the maple flavor comes through stronger when cold.
Froze moderately well:
Enervit C2:1PRO — Texture didn't change much, but the mango flavor popped. Refreshing.
Honey Stinger Electrolyte — Thicker when frozen, forces you to chew. Good flavor payoff, though.
Victus O2 Lemon — Texture held steady, but the flavor is more manageable cold. A good one to freeze so it's cooler when you grab it on your run.
SantaMadre 60CHO — Slightly thicker, flavor better cold. Modest improvement.
Didn't freeze well:
Maurten Gel 100 — Barely froze. Same texture, same experience. The Hydrogel just doesn't change much at freezer temps.
Crampfixx — Stayed liquid, same taste. Wouldn't bother.
The Verdict
New to this? Start with Krono or Amacx — the texture transformation alone is worth it. If you love maple syrup - Feed Lab Maple gel frozen is like the most intense maple syrup hit you can taste.
Skip Maurten (pointless) and Crampfixx (stays liquid).
Try it out and enjoy on your next hot training day!
