The honest answer is that this isn't really an either/or question. Both gels and chews do the same fundamental job, they get carbohydrate into you while you're moving and the best fuelling plans use both. The real skill is matching the format to the moment, and using that knowledge to keep eating consistently across a long session. Because the biggest fuelling mistake isn't choosing the "wrong" format. It's not taking in enough carbohydrate at all.
Here's how to decide.
What's actually the difference between a gel and a chew?
A gel delivers carbohydrate in a concentrated, semi-liquid form you swallow in one go. A chew delivers a similar dose in a soft, solid form you eat over several bites. The carbohydrate doing the work is broadly the same, what changes is the experience of getting it in, how quickly it's available, and how it sits in your gut.
That difference sounds small on paper, but mid-session it's the thing that decides whether you actually finish your fuel or leave half of it in your pocket.
The differences that matter when you're working hard
Speed of delivery. Gels are faster. Because the carbohydrate is already in a near-liquid form, it empties from the stomach and reaches your bloodstream quickly. Chews release a little more gradually as they're broken down. Neither is "better", fast is useful when you need energy now; gradual is useful when you're settled into a steady effort.
How easy they are to get down. This is the underrated one. When your breathing is ragged and your heart rate is pinned, chewing is genuinely hard, you need saliva, jaw effort, and a free moment to swallow safely. A gel asks almost nothing of you. At lower intensity, though, chewing is no problem at all, and many athletes actively prefer having something to eat, it can help with satiation.
Dosing precision. A gel is a single fixed dose. A chew lets you take fuel in smaller increments, our CEL50 chew, for example, comes as five 10 g blocks per packet, so you can take a precise 10 g hit whenever you want rather than committing to a whole serving at once. That makes it easy to drip-feed carbohydrates steadily through an hour.
The "real food" feeling. Late in a long event, sweet liquid gels can start to feel cloying. The physical act of chewing something gives variety and can make fuelling feel less like a chore. That psychological factor is real, and it directly affects how much you manage to take on.
When to reach for a gel
Choose a gel when intensity is high or about to spike: surges, climbs, breakaways, the closing stages of a race, or any time you're breathing too hard to chew safely. Gels are also the simplest option when you just want fuel in fast with minimal fuss and, importantly, a glucose-and-fructose gel is how you push your hourly carbohydrate total above what glucose alone can deliver (more on that below).
When to reach for a chew
Choose a chew during steady-state efforts, especially earlier in a long ride or run when you've got the spare capacity to eat comfortably. They're great when you want to spread a dose out, when you fancy a change of texture, or when you simply find them more pleasant which, again, means you're more likely to keep fuelling.
A chew like CEL50 earns its place here for three reasons: it's carbohydrate-dense (50 g per packet, so you're not rummaging for fuel every few minutes), it's built to be easy to chew when you're working, and it carries added electrolytes, [267 mg] of sodium per serving, so you're topping up salt at the same time as carbs, rather than carrying a separate tablet. For long, steady efforts in the heat, that all-in-one approach is hard to beat.
Why most athletes should carry both
Here's the part that ties it together. The single most common reason athletes under-fuel late in long events is flavour and texture fatigue, you get sick of the same sweet gel and quietly stop eating, right when your glycogen is running low and you need the carbohydrate most.
Carrying both formats fixes this. Alternating between a chew and a gel keeps your palate fresh and makes it far easier to hit your hourly carbohydrate target all the way to the finish. There's a physiological reason to combine them too: a glucose-based chew and a glucose-and-fructose gel use different absorption routes, which lets you take in more total carbohydrate per hour than either could alone. Think of them as two tools for the same job, not as rivals. The athlete who finishes strong is usually the one who kept eating.
So how many do I actually need per hour?
Whichever format you use, what matters is the total carbohydrate per hour. Most endurance athletes should aim for roughly 60–90 g of carbohydrate per hour on longer sessions, with some trained athletes going higher over very long durations.
A worked example using CEL50: one packet gives you 50 g of carbohydrate across five 10 g blocks, close to a full hour's worth of glucose-based fuelling on its own. To climb toward 80–90 g/h, you'd pair it with a glucose-and-fructose gel, taking the chew steadily for your base carbohydrate and the gel for the extra (and for the high-intensity moments). Splitting the dose across formats keeps it manageable for your gut and your taste buds.
