During-effort fuel · gel · reviewed 26 Aug 2026

GU Roctane Energy Gel 9

Item: GU Roctane Energy Gel
Rating: 9
Author: Lourenço Faria e Maia

GU Energy Labs / 32 g sachet / 21 g carbohydrate / $3.00

GU's premium line, built around an amino-acid blend rather than a stated carbohydrate ratio, at about five times the price per gram of the cheapest gel here.

Score breakdown

Each dimension below is scored 0 to 100 against a fixed scale, not against the rest of the catalog, so adding a product never moves this number. The overall score is the average of the dimensions this product declares data for. How the scales are set →

9/100

Weak

Based on 3 of 4 measures ?A dimension a product doesn't declare is left out of its average rather than counted against it, so this score reflects fewer measures than a product with a full panel.

Carb density ?How much fuel one sachet carries. 90 g is the ceiling here, matching the top of the range cited for multi-transportable-carb intake.23

Value (cost/gram) ?Price of one gram of carbohydrate. Not physiological: a market-based scale from 15 cents/g (0) to 2 cents/g (100).5

Gut comfort ?A proxy, not a taste or tolerance test: shorter ingredient lists score higher, from 15 ingredients (0) to 1 (100). Nobody has actually run these through anyone's gut for this score.0

Cost per gram of carbohydrate

14.3 cents/g

Glucose : fructose · not disclosed

n/d

Comparison

5 of 38 gels held

Prices per single sachet at the cheapest box size we track. Best in green, worst in red, across the gels shown.

Measure	GU Energy Labs GU Roctane Energy Gel	Maurten Maurten Gel 100	Science in Sport SiS Beta Fuel Gel	Precision Fuel & Hydration Precision Fuel PF 30 Gel	NEVERSECOND NEVERSECOND C30 Gel
Overall scoreAn average of the various variables measured.	9	47	58	49	42
CarbohydrateHow much fuel one sachet carries.	21 g	25 g	40 g	30 g	30 g
Glucose : fructoseGoverns how fast you absorb it. More fructose, higher ceiling.	n/d	1 : 0.8	1 : 0.77	1 : 0.5	1 : 0.5
SodiumAgainst 400 to 1000 mg an hour typically lost in sweat.	125 mg	20 mg	30 mg	not declared	200 mg
ProvenanceWhether that ratio is read off the panel, computed from it, or inferred.	Not disclosed	Stated	Derived	Stated	Stated
Price per sachetWhat one costs. Not comparable across sachet sizes.	$3.00	$3.75	$2.50	$3.12	$3.50
Cost per gramThe only price that compares across sachet sizes.	14.3 cents	15 cents	6.3 cents	10.4 cents	11.7 cents
Sachets for 90 g/hrHow many you open an hour to hold a 90 g/hr target.	4.3	3.6	2.3	3.0	3.0

Verdict

what it does · what it costs

What it does well

125 mg of sodium, meaningfully more than GU Original and most of the field.
A genuinely wide amino-acid and electrolyte blend, not just carbohydrate.
Established brand with easy availability and a large flavor range.

What it costs you

No glucose-to-fructose ratio is stated anywhere on the pack or in GU's own materials.
14.3 cents a gram, more than double SiS Beta Fuel for a ratio you cannot verify.
The amino-acid dosing is well below what the sports-nutrition literature treats as ergogenic during a single race.

Where to buy

Prices and links as last checked. The price next to the name above is per unit at the cheapest box size we track; a single-unit price below may run higher.

Running Warehouse $3.00 Visit →

Who this is for

the numbers, applied

The field tells you what it is. This is who should act on it.

Worth the money if

You want more sodium in the gel itself and don't mind paying for it.
You've used Roctane before and it agrees with you.

Look elsewhere if

You're optimizing purely for cost per gram of carbohydrate.
You want a ratio you can point to, not just trust.