In the grueling world of endurance cycling, where each long ride presents a new challenge, finding the right sustenance can make a significant difference. As an avid, yet still roookie cyclist, preparing for the Taiwan KOM, arguably one of the world’s toughest single-day bike races, I found an unexpected energy boost in the form of the Wiggle Energy Bar. This nourishing ally came to me during a challenging 140 km ride, with over 2000 meters of elevation gain, traded for some Mag-On Japanese energy gels I was testing with a fellow (badass) cyclist.
The first bite into the Apple-flavored Wiggle Energy Bar was pleasantly surprising. Its refreshing taste and distinctive texture were remarkably easy to take down, a welcome relief when you don’t want to expend energy on tough-to-chew nutrition bars. The genuine bits of fruit you could taste and feel added an extra layer of authenticity to the bar, making it an enjoyable energy source during a challenging ride. Notably, each bar packed a substantial 45 g of carbohydrates, impressive for its simple and clean ingredient list. In this review, we’ll dive deeper into the aspects that make the Wiggle Energy Bar a high-performance snack, well-suited to anyone looking to conquer their next big cycling adventure.
Oh, let me fill you in. Wiggle is your one-stop digital pit-stop for all things sports, especially for us runners and cyclists. Born in the UK in the 90s, Wiggle has pedaled and sprinted its way into the hearts of athletes worldwide. Think of it as your online candy store, brimming with top-notch bikes, chic cycling jerseys, radiant running shoes, and yes, your soon-to-be-favorite nutrition bars and gels. Competitive pricing, an extensive selection, and a smooth customer experience have earned Wiggle its reputation as a go-to for all your sporting needs. Although they carry lots of top brands – they also make a few of their own branded products. One of them being the Wiggle Energy Bar.
From their website:
With a mix of oats and fruit pieces these Wiggle Nutrition Energy Bars have a huge 45 g of carbohydrates per bar. Perfect for long distance, multi-day sport training or just as a healthy snack on the go.
Let’s go through what Wiggle says these bars bring to the table:
One thing Wiggle doesn’t mention but which can be seen on the product page is the price. These high quality bars go for about $1.28 per bar – which is quite good for such hefty energy bars.
The ingredients of the Wiggle energy bars are the following:
Fruit Mix – consisting of date paste, dried apple pieces and fruit juice concentrate, rice starch, apple paste, oat blend – consisting of rolled oats and oat flour, humectant-glycerol (this helps the ingredients retain moisture, which I have to say it did the job), Crisp Rice – made from rice flour with sugar and sunflower oil, Emulsifier was soya lecithin (this prevents the ingredients from separating), there was also maltodextrin, sunflower oil, some artificial flavoring and antioxidant e306 (this helps with preservation).
As I mentioned in the intro, I was quite happy with the flavor. It was zesty and you could tell that actual fruit was contained in the bar. I never tasted anything artificial.
The texture was perfect for the event. I despise hard to chew nutrition products, especially when trying to preserve all my energy.
I would highly recommend the Wiggle energy bar for events that last quite a bit of time – ultra marathons, century rides and beyond, and Ironman triathlon.
I believe they are a good alternative to energy gels or nutrition that you can only take from the bottle while riding. They are quite dense and the 60 g (45 g of which are carbs) are jammed into quite a small package.
