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review
Energy & recovery bars
Multipower Multicarbo Energy+Fruit barMultipower Multicarbo Energy Fruit Bars

Multipower Multicarbo Energy+Fruit bar

7
by Liam Glen
UPDATED Thu, Oct 15, 2015 04:24

First Published Jun 27, 2011

0
£1.25

VERDICT:

7
10
A welcome change to oat bars or gels on a long ride, but I’d get pretty sick of them if they were all I had
Weight: 
50g
Contact: 
www.multipoweruk.com
How we test

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The Mutlipower Multicarbo Energy+Fruit bar differs from the vast majority of energy bars in that it's based on fruit instead of oats. Each 50g bar contains 34g of carbs, mainly derived from dextrose and maltodextrin, as well as 7g of protein. Studies have shown that ingesting protein as well as carbs during exercise improves performance for longer, endurance efforts. As such, the Energy+Fruit could be your best friend in a sportive.

Taste-wise, I was left feeling a little ambivalent. Whilst it's not unpleasant, the flavour does have a certain artificial quality to it that leaves you feeling like you've just eaten something out of a Petri dish. This was the same for each of the flavours offered: Banana, Apple and Strawberry/Vanilla. Personally, I feel that on-the-bike food should be tasty enough to eat off the bike (with the exception of gels), and I just can't say this about the Energy+Fruit.

All the bars were extremely chewy. It's not one that you can quickly get down the hatch when breathing hard. I found that I had to eat the bar in two instalments if I was going at anywhere near a decent pace. Luckily, the texture means that it is okay to put a half-eaten bar back in your pocket without it disintegrating.

One aspect that I particularly liked was how easy the wrappers were to open using one hand and your teeth. Whether this is by design or luck, it's a characteristic that I found most welcome. There's nothing more irritating that fiddling with a stubborn wrapper when all you want in the world is to access that calorific goodness inside!

A pack of 25 bars will set you back £31.25, which works out at £1.25 per bar. Although not the cheapest, this is certainly at the cheaper end of the energy bar price scale.

Verdict

A welcome change to oat bars or gels on a long ride, but I'd get pretty sick of them if they were all I had

road.cc test report

Make and model: Multipower Multicarbo Energy+Fruit bar

Size tested: various flavours

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

The benefits of the Energy+Fruit bars according to Multipower are:

-Carbohydrate to fat ratio 16:1

-Provides quick and lasting energy from glucose, maltodextrin and fructose

-High quality milk protein to help protect muscles

-7% fruit preparation

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Ingredients

Banana flavour: Glucosse Syrup, Milk Protein, Dextrose, Maltodextrin, 7.2% Banana Fruit Preparation [Fruit (Banana Puree, Apple), Sugar, Rice Flour, Gelling Agent Pectin, Flavour, Acidifier Citric Acid], Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Vegetable Fat, 2.7% Banana Flakes, Acidifier Malic Acid, Flavour, Colour Beta Carotene. Contains Lactose and may contain traces of Soya, Gluten, Peanuts, other Nuts and Egg.

Allergen Information

Suitable for Vegetarians

Nutrition Information per 50g bar

Energy 779kJ/184kcal

Protein 7g

Carbs 34g

of which Sugars 17g

Fat 2.1g

of which saturated fatty acids 1g

Fibre0.2g

Sodium 0.07g

Rate the product for quality of construction:
8/10

Wrapper is easy to open on the fly.

Rate the product for performance:
7/10
Rate the product for value:
7/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Nutritionally, the Energy+Fruit bars pack a lot of punch into quite a compact package. However, in terms of flavour, they live a little to be desired.

Did you enjoy using the product? When eaten occasionally, yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Maybe

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 20  Height: 190cm  Weight: 70kg

I usually ride: Giant TCR Advanced 2  My best bike is: Canyon Ultimate CF7

I've been riding for: Under 5 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, sportives, mtb,

Multipower
energy bar
Liam Glen

For 5 years, racing was my life and I went all the way from a newbie bonking after 40 miles, to a full-timer plying my trade on the Belgian kermesse scene. Unfortunately, the pro dream wasn't meant to be and these days, you're more likely to find me bimbling about country lanes and sleeping in a bush on the side of the road.

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