# Tailwind Nutrition



## sjfsr-shep (Aug 21, 2013)

Looking for some feedback on Tailwind nutrition from people who have tried it. Thinking of ordering some and would like some input.


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## FijiRob (Dec 19, 2011)

I started using it last October and love it. My first test was a 6 hour solo and I did not bonk. It gave me the necessary calories and hydration for the entire race without having to stop to slam a gooey and messy gel. Every sip of water has calories and electrolytes. I am pretty much sold on this stuff. If you do not like stopping to eat, this stuff is great. You end up saving money by not having to purchase all the Gu, etc. It also mixes really easy in your bottle or hydration pack. 

I generally only use it for rides longer than 1.5-2 hours. Anything under that water is just fine. But for longer sessions it really works well. This stuff is legit. I actually just received my second order last night and cannot wait to try their new blend that has some caffeine.


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## sjfsr-shep (Aug 21, 2013)

How much did you consume per hr on the 6hr race. And I'd you drink it out of hydration pack or bottles or both?


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## FijiRob (Dec 19, 2011)

I consumed one bottle every hour. Each bottle had 2.5 scoops of Tailwind. I use bottles because it is easier to keep track of how much fluid I am consuming every hour....basically one bottle per hour (20-24 oz). Tailwind is pretty good too if you have questions, they will help you out with dialing it in.


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## sicboy541 (Feb 2, 2011)

I've been using Tailwind for a little over a year now and have found it to be the right solution for me. It's a good mix of nutrition and electrolytes. I've used it for training and long races(50 and 100 milers). What really has impressed me is that I do not find the urge to eat anything solid and it has pretty much eliminated any cramping on harder/longer efforts. It rinses very easily out of hydration packs unlike other products out there. My favorite is the non-flavored but the lemon is good too as it's a subtle flavor. I'd recommend getting one of their sample packets. It's an easy and inexpensive way to give it a try before buying a large bag.


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## clarkrw3 (Feb 21, 2011)

I used it for 24hop on a 4 man team, I really liked it a lot. I have always had trouble with side cramps in races and had no issues this race. I also used the new GU electrolyte pills they are just launching so not sure I can put my stamp on what it was totally but I liked the caffeine TW in the night.


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## Mtnbikeradio (Feb 3, 2014)

Thought you'd all like to hear from the man beyond Tailwind. We just interviewed Jeff: Tailwind Nutrition - Mountain Bike Radio . It's pretty clear the guy is passionate about what he does....13 Leadville 100's...


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## 87runner (Feb 13, 2012)

Tailwind is awesome but a little spendy. A 50 serving bag is gonna run about 38 bucks shipped, they recently started making a caffeinated version and I might try that for my next batch. Definitely give it a shot, you do get a lot of bang for your buck


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## Nubster (May 15, 2009)

Works well. That said, I'm tempted to try some Skratch Labs stuff because I can get it for 40% off. I wish I could get such a deal on Tailwind though I do have a 20% off coupon for one bag of the stuff.


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## heyheyitselliej (Mar 28, 2010)

Nubster said:


> Works well. That said, I'm tempted to try some Skratch Labs stuff because I can get it for 40% off. I wish I could get such a deal on Tailwind though I do have a 20% off coupon for one bag of the stuff.


New Tailwind user here. I'll never use any other product for endurance rides again. Just as an FYI the Skratch Labs is pretty sweet compared to Tailwind and the raspberry flavor has little bits of seed in it. Gets kinda weird when you get to the bottom of a bottle. Only had the limes once and I liked it better.


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## mabrodis (Oct 19, 2005)

I had never heard of Tailwind but saw it mentioned in a post in this Nutrition category and looked it up and ordered some. Just was delivered yesterday so I am yet to try it...I ordered the caffeine one as I know I just ride better a bit hopped up on drugs... 

Calories and sodium in Tailwind are very similar to Skratch Labs (which I am a huge fan of and use as my main cycling drink) the biggest difference I see is that Tailwind recommends mixing it stronger, so more calories per bottle. I know the personal recommendations are that this works great for most. I'm a bit curious about that because of the lengthy explanation that Dr Lim (Skratch Labs founder) has in his Feedzone Portables cookbook about how digestion works and why the calorie and sodium percentages are important to let your body easily absorb the nutrients. Infact Dr Lim strongly recommends not drinking bottles with too many calories because your body has to dilute the mixture to absorb it, so effectively dehydrating you more to start before hydrating you because of how the intestinal wall works. Mixing a Tailwind bottle with over about 100 calories would put the mixture into that sketchy area of too concentrated according to Dr Lim...

However, all that said and I have no reason to doubt anything that Dr Lim describes...people seem to love it, it obviously works for many or all...so I'm going to give it a shot and see how it works for me.

I sweat profusely (Clydesdale/fat rider) so I usually go through a lot of fluid.


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## bncrshr77 (Jun 19, 2007)

Looks like I'll be the only one here that doesn't like the Tailwind endurance fuel. Did a 40 mile ride last Monday on the Colorado trail using only tailwind and felt fine with about a 250 cal/hour mix for the 5 hours of riding. Ate Mexican for dinner that night and woke up at about 0100 sick as hell so assumed food poisoning. On Friday I was doing an ITT of the Durango Dirty Century with a buddy of mine and again was using Tailwind as my primary fuel. At about 6 to 7 hours or so into the ride my stomach started knotting up and it was all downhill from there. Around 8 hours in I was sick as hell again and spraying out both ends. Somehow in my puking I realized that it was the same taste in my mouth as I had Monday night when I was puking. I put 2 and 2 together and stopped drinking the tailwind immediately. It took about 3 hours of flushing my system with regular water before I could hold down any food but I eventually came around. Now my problem was that I still had 50 miles to go and I had dumped my primary source of nutrition for the race on the ground! I had to skimp with the little real food I had for the rest of my ride so I was never able to get back on top of my game and ended up bailing with 21 miles left and no food to get me there. 
Tailwind gets tons of great reviews but my stomach doesn't agree with something in there. Definitely try it a few times before relying solely on it!


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## Nubster (May 15, 2009)

I'd contact them about your experience to see what they say. I can't imagine anything in the product that would cause such an issue after looking at the ingredients. It's pretty much just sugar and electrolytes. What would you normally use for such a race that doesn't upset your stomach.

And for anyone wondering, ingredients are:

Dextrose
Sucrose
Sodium Citrate
Sea Salt
Citric Acid
Potassium Chloride
Calcium Carbonate
Magnesium Citrate


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## bncrshr77 (Jun 19, 2007)

The company is local in Durango so I might stop by and see what they say. After talking to a few buddies I'm not the only one who has this issue.

I finished the 300 mile Arizona trail race this year and ate all the standard gas station foods with zero stomach issues. It could very well be that It's too concentrated of a mixture for my stomach at 250 cal/hour or something?? 

Like I said, tailwind seems to work great for a lot of folks but I wanted to throw my experience out there.


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## mabrodis (Oct 19, 2005)

bncrshr77 said:


> It could very well be that It's too concentrated of a mixture for my stomach at 250 cal/hour or something??


How much liquid was with that 250 calories?

I've been using Tailwind with 100 calories per 26oz bottle setup and been very happy with it. I usually alternate bottles between Skratch Labs to Tailwind to keep a semi-fresh flavor in my mouth on a long outing and that I like the caffeine in the Tailwind version I have but they say to not use it for more than 6 hours, so I figure by alternating with some non-caffeinated stuff I'm ok with that.


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## bncrshr77 (Jun 19, 2007)

I was mixing 5 scoops per 24 ounce bottle and drinking it over 2 hrs. I was taking most of my water in from my osprey pack.


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## jennyv (Nov 13, 2012)

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear that you had a horrible experience on your rides. If you drop me an email at [email protected] I'd be happy to work through what might be the source of your nausea/vomiting. There are many contributing factors to stomach issues, and hopefully we can pinpoint what happened.

Thanks,
Jenny


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

I've used the crap out of Tailwind and love it. 

I've only been in 3 Gravel Grinder races so far, the 1st one was before I used Tailwind and I cramped up really bad (I was only drinking straight water with shot bloks and cliff bars here and there). 

The 2 following races I switched to Tailwind (2 scoop strength) and it worked flawlessly. I felt great during and after the race. 

Later on I entered our cities' Spring fitness tour. I only mixed it at 1 scoop thinking I was going to take it easy... lol not. I ran that whole thing at race pace basically. 1 Scoop wasn't strong enough as towards the end my calves were getting pretty crampy. 

So on really hard efforts, stick to 2 scoops. 

I've since ran out and haven't ordered any again yet. Since then I resorted to stuff I can get locally as I can get them about anywhere and the bottles fit right into my bottle cage.

I started out with Gatorade...and eventually started hating it, it also seems to be really hard on your teeth. 

I tried Powerade and that is definitely better than Gatorade. 

I also gave Vitamin Water a shot and really like this stuff for intermediate usage. The bottles snap into the cage nicer than the Gatorade bottles and tastes a lot better (high usage) than anything else. It just seems good.

Come race day or other epic day though I will be ordering another thing of Tailwind as that's what I am going to prefer to use. For all the in between riding Vitamin Water has been working well, and is enjoyable.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

Subscribed. I tried my first 100 mile race this weekend and while the legs were feeling OK, at the 9 hour mark my stomach started to protest and it ended my race at 80 miles/11 hours. I think the energy drink I was using was the culprit and I'm going to try something else. I'm sold by the marketing language of Tailwind so I've got some on the way. I've had good luck with the drink I was using, but the longest ride to date before this weekend was 8 hours. Wouldn't you know it, my gut rebelled at about the 9 hour mark.


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## mabrodis (Oct 19, 2005)

ewarnerusa said:


> Subscribed. I tried my first 100 mile race this weekend and while the legs were feeling OK, at the 9 hour mark my stomach started to protest and it ended my race at 80 miles/11 hours. I think the energy drink I was using was the culprit and I'm going to try something else. I'm sold by the marketing language of Tailwind so I've got some on the way. I've had good luck with the drink I was using, but the longest ride to date before this weekend was 8 hours. Wouldn't you know it, my gut rebelled at about the 9 hour mark.


Interesting, care to share what you were using on that race? Not to badmouth but just as a comparison.

I know for me it's hard to tell gut pain from other pains. I.e. for a long race is it my drink that is letting me down 7+ hours in and causing me stomach issues, or is it just that my body is rebelling because it is sick of no actual food for that long, or is it my core muscles not supporting my insides as well because they are tired and sick of being bent over on a bike for that long...or it is that I feel fine but mentally I'm shot so I'm latching onto any small ailment and magnifying it because my brain is bored and wants me to stop...

My experience with Tailwind has been fantastic (I have only tried the Raspberry buzz caffeinated flavor)...and last week when I was in Durango drinking Tailwind, which I learned right then, is from Durango I felt some inner peace or super-power or something


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

I was using Perpetuem. Like I said, I've had good luck with it historically including a couple events lasting 8 hours. It does give me gas so I mix it rather weak (one scoop) into 1-hr bottles. I also empty 2 Endurolyte caps into each 1-hr bottle. An all in one solution like Tailwind claims sounds more convenient! I have always really wanted to support Hammer products since they are a local company here in Montana and sponsor many events.


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## Nubster (May 15, 2009)

Maybe you could just use both. Switch it up between bottles.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

Knowing how finicky Perpetuem seems to be, I'm reluctant to mix in a bottle here or there. But maybe that will be a good strategy to change it up. The Cafe Latte flavor I usually use has always seemed a bit like a coffee milkshake to me, so maybe it would be a good lunch-hour bottle to make me feel like I've eaten!

The gels have never been an issue for me and I actually like using them, so I can always continue to support them in that way. Although I don't use gels much anymore. I'm also fine with HEED, but I also don't use electrolyte drinks much and just stick to water for rides under a couple hours. Once I get into 2+ hour rides, I'm in Perpetuem territory. This is how I plan to start using the Tailwind as well.


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

Just did the Butte 50 (54+ and 9k elevation) and rolled with tailwind. 2 scoops per bottle. No cramping, felt good, and really cranked the last 10 miles. Finished race spent but feeling good, began recovery beer intake. I'll be using it for 20 mile plus rides and races like that one, worked well for me...


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

nice work, Montana Ben. I was in the Butte 100, pulled out at the highland aid station...


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## montana_ben (Oct 26, 2010)

My hat is off to you sir, just the idea of the 100 makes we want to curl into a ball and weep.


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## ewarnerusa (Jun 8, 2004)

Thanks man. Well done on the 50, it's no joke! I'm slightly bummed because my legs felt ok, but my gut stopped me. I might have made it if not for that.


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## Nubster (May 15, 2009)

Need to order some ASAP. I'm out and thinking about trying a long ride next weekend. Trying to decide between the 25 mile, 35 mile, or 50 mile epic at Patapsco. I don't think the 25 would be an issue...35 might be pushing it, 50 would be an epic ride for me for sure. Especially considering I have 28 miles on a mountain bike total this summer...lol


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## chris1911 (May 26, 2009)

87runner said:


> Tailwind is awesome but a little spendy. A 50 serving bag is gonna run about 38 bucks shipped, they recently started making a caffeinated version and I might try that for my next batch. Definitely give it a shot, you do get a lot of bang for your buck


It's way less expensive than the infinit i have been using for the past two years. I'm thinking of trying the tailwind stuff.


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## Trophy (Jan 10, 2013)

Just looking at Tailwind for the first time. Thinking about giving it a try while getting ready for a 12 hr race. 
Wondering how long they've been in business? Most the internet info is from 2012/2014. From a safety standpoint, just trying to get an idea of how long the product has been in use. 
Also, if anyone has a source for discount code (other than facebook) I'd appreciate it..

Thanks!


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## NDTransplant (Feb 6, 2012)

Tailwind Nutrition has worked well for me- got me through an 84-mile road/gravel road ride once...the longest ride I've done. Usually order from them a couple times per year.

I like Skratch Labs also, though.


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## alphajaguars (Jan 12, 2004)

Do you use Skratch as your only nutrition, or do you add something else?


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