Where to Buy Sports Nutrition Samples for Endurance Athletes

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You have probably been there before. Standing in front of a shelf full of energy gels, each one promising better performance than the last. Or scrolling through an online store, adding a 24-pack of hydration mix to your cart because one review said it tasted like actual fruit. Then race day comes, you tear open that gel at mile 18, and your stomach turns inside out.

This is the problem with sports nutrition. What works for one runner makes another runner sick. What keeps a cyclist going for 6 hours leaves a triathlete bloated and sluggish. The only way to know if a product agrees with your body is to test it during training. But most brands sell their products in bulk. Buying a full box of gels when you might hate the first one feels like gambling.

The Feed built its business around solving this problem. Based in Denver and founded in 2013 by Matt Johnson, the online marketplace stocks over 300 brands and roughly 6,000 products aimed at endurance athletes. Johnson came from the professional cycling world, where he served as President of Slipstream Sports and ran World Tour teams including Garmin, Cannondale, and the EF Pro Cycling Team. His goal was straightforward: bring the fueling strategies used by elite cyclists to everyday athletes who want to perform their best.

The company operates differently from typical sports nutrition retailers. Instead of forcing you to commit to large quantities, The Feed lets you buy single servings of most products. You can order one gel, one hydration packet, one chew, and test each during your regular training sessions. If something works, you buy more. If it doesn’t, you’ve lost a few dollars instead of fifty.

Buy One and See What Happens

The single-serving option removes much of the financial risk from testing new products. You can grab one packet of Maurten Gel 100, one tube of GU Roctane, and one Huma gel with chia seeds. Take them on separate long runs. See how each sits in your stomach, how the taste holds up at hour three, and how your energy levels respond.

This flexibility matters because endurance nutrition is personal. Your training partner might swear by a particular hydration mix. But your sweat rate, sodium needs, and taste preferences are different from theirs. The only reliable data comes from testing products on yourself, in conditions that match your actual races.

The Feed stocks products from well-known brands like Clif Bar, Skratch, Maurten, GU, Bonk Breaker, Honey Stinger, and Precision. The categories cover hydration mixes, protein powders, recovery shakes, energy chews, gels, bars, bottles, and packs. Products are designed for cyclists, triathletes, runners, and CrossFit athletes.

The company fulfills large orders averaging 10 picks per order within 24 hours, which means you can place an order on Monday and start testing by midweek.

Try-Out Packs That Actually Make Sense

Buying individual servings works well when you know roughly what you want to test. But if you’re newer to endurance sports, or if you’ve been using the same gel for years and want to see what else exists, the sampler packs offer a faster path through the options.

The Ultimate Gels Pack contains the top 10 selling gels on the platform. These are the products that professional and amateur athletes use to fuel races around the world. The pack includes isotonic gels, high-carb gels with specialized delivery technology, and liquid-based gels that go down easier during hard efforts. Brands in the pack include Maurten, AMACX, and Science in Sport.

For athletes who prefer whole food options over the synthetic taste of traditional gels, the Real Food Gel Tryout Pack includes 6 gels from brands like Huma and Endurance Tap. These products use ingredients like fruit purees and maple syrup instead of maltodextrin and lab-made carbohydrate blends.

The Ultimate Energy Bar Sampler Pack features 9 bars chosen based on athlete feedback. Bars work better than gels for some people, particularly during longer, lower-intensity efforts where chewing is possible and the slower energy release matches the pace.

Hydration gets its own sampler as well. The Hydration Ultimate Try Out Pack includes the top 9 selling drink mixes on the platform, selected in their most popular flavors. Hydration is tricky because the taste changes when you’re exercising. Something that tastes fine in your kitchen can become undrinkable at mile 40 of a ride when your taste buds are fatigued and your mouth is dry.

The Feed Lab: Stripped-Down Performance Basics

Some athletes want premium products with long ingredient lists and proprietary formulas. Others want the opposite. They want the basics, with no extra additives or flavoring agents.

The Feed Lab is the company’s in-house line of sports nutrition. These products are designed to provide the core nutrients athletes need without anything extra. The approach focuses on giving your body what it requires to perform, and nothing beyond that. If you prefer simple, functional products over complex formulations, this line offers an alternative to the more elaborate options from other brands.

Coaches Who Answer Questions Before You Buy

Buying sports nutrition online means you often make decisions based on product descriptions and reviews. Sometimes that’s enough. Other times, you have specific questions that a product page can’t answer. How should you adjust your carbohydrate intake for a 70.3-distance triathlon? What’s the best way to combine gels and solid food during a century ride? Does this hydration mix have enough sodium for someone who sweats heavily in heat?

The Feed offers complimentary nutrition support from coaches who are available to chat live. You can describe your training, your race goals, and any stomach issues you’ve encountered in the past. The coaches can then provide customized fueling plans and product recommendations based on your situation.

This service works for athletes at any level. Newcomers can get guidance on building a basic fueling strategy. Experienced competitors can fine-tune their approach or troubleshoot problems that have been holding them back.

Partnerships That Give You More to Work With

USA Triathlon partnered with The Feed starting in 2024. Members who join the USA Triathlon program receive an $80 credit to spend at TheFeed.com. That’s enough to buy several sampler packs and test a wide range of products at no additional cost. The partnership also supports USA Triathlon’s high-performance team with access to the fuel and hydration they need for major competitions.

The organizations had worked together previously in 2022 and 2023. The expanded partnership through 2025 came from the results both sides saw in the initial collaboration.

Triathletes benefit particularly from access to varied nutrition options. The sport demands hours of training across three disciplines, and race durations can stretch past 12 hours for full-distance events. A fueling strategy that works for a 5K does not translate to an Ironman. Having access to try different products and flavors without committing to bulk purchases helps triathletes refine their approach across swim, bike, and run sessions.

The Feed also partnered with TrainingPeaks to offer athletes who track their training a Nutrition Club membership. Members receive $40 in annual Feed Cash to spend on hydration, gels, chews, and recovery products.

What Happens If You Hate Something

Sampling reduces the chance of buying products you won’t use. But sometimes a product doesn’t work even after you’ve done your testing. The Feed’s Always Happy Promise covers those situations. If you don’t like a nutrition product, you can contact the company within 30 days of receiving your order. The team will work with you to resolve the issue.

This policy makes trying new products less risky. If a gel causes stomach problems during a race despite working fine in training, you’re not stuck with 23 more servings you’ll never use.

Finding What Works Before Race Day

The practical process for using The Feed to sample products is straightforward. Start by identifying which category you want to test. If your current gels are causing problems, focus on gels. If your hydration strategy leaves you with cramps, try different drink mixes.

Order individual servings or a sampler pack in your chosen category. Space out your testing across training sessions so you can isolate the effects of each product. Pay attention to taste, texture, how quickly the product provides energy, and how your stomach responds during and after the effort.

Keep notes. A gel that worked perfectly on a cool morning might fail on a hot afternoon when your body is under more stress. Products that taste good at the start of a run might become unbearable after 90 minutes of effort. The more data you gather during training, the more confident you can be on race day.

Once you identify products that work, you can buy larger quantities. The Feed stocks bulk options for athletes who have moved past the testing phase and know exactly what they want.

A Place Built for Endurance Athletes

The Feed operates as a resource specifically for endurance athletes. The product selection covers what cyclists, runners, triathletes, and CrossFit athletes need. Ratings and reviews from fellow athletes provide additional context beyond the official product descriptions. If a gel tastes terrible or a bar has a weird texture, previous buyers will mention it.

The company’s founding story connects directly to elite endurance sports. Matt Johnson built the platform to share the fueling strategies that World Tour cycling teams used to compete at the highest level. That background shapes the product curation and the way the company serves its customers.

For athletes who want to optimize their nutrition without gambling on bulk purchases, the sampling approach makes training less stressful and race day more predictable.