How Does BASE Stack Up?

Walk into a bike shop and there’s no shortage of stuff promising to keep you hydrated.

Tablets. Powders. Packets. Giant tubs. Tiny tubes. Some products contain a little sodium. Others contain enough sodium to make seawater nervous.

Comparing them isn't always particularly easy.

One brand gives you numbers per tablet. Another per scoop. Recommended water volumes vary, serving sizes vary, and prices certainly vary.

So we decided to make the comparison simpler.

One bottle. 500 mL of water. What do you actually get — and what does it cost?

For this comparison, we're looking specifically at electrolyte-focused products rather than high-carbohydrate drink mixes. Fuel and hydration can absolutely live in the same bottle, but that's a different comparison.

We looked at Bike Dope BASE alongside Skratch Labs Unsweetened Hydration, Nuun Sport, Precision Fuel & Hydration PH 1000 and LMNT.

Prices and formulations were checked in September 2026 and can change.

The 500 mL comparison

Here's what each product delivers in approximately one 500 mL bottle.

*Nuun recommends one tablet in 475 mL. Its published serving contains 300 mg sodium, 150 mg potassium, 25 mg magnesium and 13 mg calcium. We've normalized those numbers to 500 mL so we're comparing bottles of the same size. See Nuun Sport nutrition and directions.

*LMNT recommends one serving with roughly 16–32 oz (475–950 mL) of water. For this comparison we're looking at one packet in approximately 500 mL. See LMNT's mixing guidance.*

So what does all of that actually mean?

First: sodium

Sodium gets most of the attention in endurance hydration, and for good reason. It's the electrolyte lost in the greatest quantity through sweat and plays an important role in maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance during prolonged exercise. Gatorade Sports Science Institute: Sodium Ingestion, Thirst and Drinking During Endurance Exercise

But electrolyte products take very different approaches to how much sodium belongs in your bottle.

In our 500 mL comparison:

Nuun Sport: ~316 mg
Skratch Unsweetened: 400 mg
BASE: 500 mg
PH 1000: 500 mg
LMNT: 1,000 mg

That puts BASE toward the higher end of the products we're comparing without moving into the very high-sodium territory occupied by LMNT.

Interestingly, BASE and PH 1000 land in exactly the same place: 500 mg of sodium in a 500 mL bottle.

Precision describes PH 1000 as a strong electrolyte drink typically used by athletes with moderate-to-high sweat or sodium losses and those exercising in hotter or more humid conditions.

BASE arrives at the same sodium dose while taking a different approach to the rest of the electrolyte profile.

Sodium isn't the whole story

Sweat isn't made exclusively of sodium, so we didn't formulate BASE around sodium alone.

One 500 mL serving of BASE provides:

500 mg sodium
400 mg potassium
80 mg magnesium
50 mg calcium

Put those numbers beside the other products and the differences become pretty obvious.

BASE vs. Skratch Unsweetened

Skratch Unsweetened Hydration is probably one of the closest comparisons to BASE in terms of philosophy.

It's an electrolyte-focused product without the carbohydrate load of a traditional sports drink, and Skratch specifically positions it for athletes who want to keep hydration and fueling separate.

Skratch recommends one serving in roughly 355–500 mL of water. Its published serving contains 400 mg sodium, 100 mg potassium, 50 mg magnesium and 50 mg calcium. Skratch formulation details

Per 500 mL bottle:

BASE provides 25% more sodium and four times the potassium, with the same amount of calcium.

There's also a difference in price.

A 30-serving bag of Skratch Unsweetened currently sells for $41.99 CAD through Skratch Labs Canada, which works out to roughly $1.40 per bottle.

BASE costs essentially $1 per bottle.

That's about $4 over ten bottles.

Or $40 over 100 rides.

And if you ride a lot, 100 bottles has a funny way of disappearing pretty quickly.

BASE vs. Precision PH 1000

This comparison is particularly interesting because the sodium dose is identical.

Both provide 500 mg sodium in a 500 mL bottle.

Precision publishes the PH 1000 electrolyte profile as 1,000 mg sodium, 250 mg potassium, 48 mg calcium and 24 mg magnesium per litre, with one tablet mixed into 500 mL. That gives us the 500 mL numbers below. PH 1000 product information

Precision's approach is heavily centred around matching sodium intake to individual sweat losses, and it offers several sodium strengths for that reason.

BASE takes a broader four-electrolyte approach.

At the same sodium dose, BASE provides 3.2 times the potassium, while also including magnesium and calcium.

There's also a significant difference in cost.

Precision currently lists PH 1000 tablets in Canada at $15.99 for 10 tablets, or about $1.60 per 500 mL bottle.

BASE works out to approximately $1 per bottle.

BASE vs. Nuun Sport

Nuun Sport has been around endurance sport for a long time, and its dissolvable tablets make it extremely convenient.

Its standard Sport tablet is designed for 475 mL of water and contains:

300 mg sodium
150 mg potassium
25 mg magnesium
13 mg calcium

To keep our comparison consistent, we've normalized those numbers slightly to 500 mL.

Nuun sits at the lighter end of this group for sodium.

BASE delivers roughly 58% more sodium and 2.5 times the potassium per 500 mL bottle, along with more magnesium and calcium.

Nuun Canada currently lists Sport at $13 CAD for 10 tablets. Since each tablet makes 475 mL rather than 500 mL, the price normalizes to approximately $1.37 per 500 mL.

And then there's LMNT

LMNT deserves its own category.

One packet contains:

1,000 mg sodium
200 mg potassium
60 mg magnesium

That's a lot of sodium.

And that's intentional.

LMNT has built much of its product identity around a high-sodium formulation. For people with particularly high sodium requirements, that may be exactly what they're looking for.

But more isn't automatically better.

At approximately 500 mL, LMNT delivers twice the sodium of BASE.

The rest of the formulation tells a different story.

BASE provides twice the potassium of LMNT, along with magnesium and calcium, while using half as much sodium.

They're fundamentally different approaches.

LMNT is deliberately a high-sodium product.

BASE is built around a four-electrolyte endurance hydration formula.

LMNT currently lists its 30-count box at US$45, or US$1.50 per packet.

Because that's US pricing, we've kept it in US dollars rather than making an exchange-rate-dependent Canadian comparison.

Now let's talk about price

Performance nutrition gets expensive surprisingly quickly.

A couple of gels. A bottle of carbohydrate mix. Electrolytes. Maybe another bottle halfway through the ride.

Suddenly your Saturday morning ride has a catering budget.

That's why cost per serving mattered when we developed BASE.

One bag contains 45 servings and sells for $44.95 CAD.

That works out to essentially:

$1 per 500 mL bottle.

Here's how the products compare:

*Normalized from Nuun's recommended 475 mL serving.

There are cheaper ways to put salt in water.

There are also considerably more expensive ones.

Our goal with BASE wasn't to build the product with the biggest number on the label. It was to build an electrolyte mix we'd actually want in our bottles ride after ride — with meaningful electrolyte doses at a price that doesn't make you ration it.

What about cost per 500 mg of sodium?

Here's another way to look at value.

Since BASE contains 500 mg sodium per bottle, we can ask a simple question:

How much do you have to spend to get approximately 500 mg of sodium from each product?

LMNT wins this particular contest because sodium is a major part of its formulation.

But among the Canadian-priced products we're comparing, BASE delivers 500 mg sodium at the lowest cost while also providing substantial potassium, magnesium and calcium.

And that's an important distinction.

Cost per milligram isn't the goal.

Useful hydration is.

Four electrolytes. Different jobs.

BASE wasn't designed to win an electrolyte arms race.

It was designed to go on rides.

One serving in a 500 mL bottle delivers four key electrolytes, each with a different job.

Sodium — 500 mg

• The electrolyte lost in the greatest quantity through sweat

• Helps maintain fluid and electrolyte balance

• Important for normal nerve signalling and muscle function

Read more about sodium and endurance exercise — GSSI

Potassium — 400 mg

• Works alongside sodium in maintaining cellular fluid balance

• Helps maintain the electrical gradients required for nerve transmission

• Important for normal muscle contraction

Read more about potassium — NIH Office of Dietary Supplements

Magnesium — 80 mg

• Supports normal muscle and nerve function

• Involved in cellular energy production

• Plays a role in the movement of calcium and potassium across cell membranes

Read more about magnesium — NIH Office of Dietary Supplements

Calcium — 50 mg

• Plays a direct role in normal muscle function

• Important for nerve transmission

• Contributes to maintaining healthy bones

Read more about calcium — NIH Office of Dietary Supplements

Different electrolytes. Different roles. One bottle built for the demands of riding.

So which electrolyte product should you use?

There's no universally perfect electrolyte mix.

People sweat at different rates. Sodium losses vary considerably between individuals. Temperature, humidity, intensity, ride duration, diet and heat acclimatization all affect what you need.

Research into athlete sweat profiles shows substantial person-to-person variation in both sweat rate and sweat sodium concentration, which is why individual hydration requirements can differ considerably. GSSI: Sweat Testing Methodology and Individual Sweat Sodium Losses

A rider spinning for an hour on a cool Calgary morning isn't dealing with the same hydration problem as someone grinding through six hours of gravel in 30°C heat.

That's why we don't think choosing an electrolyte product should simply come down to finding the biggest sodium number on the shelf.

Look at the whole bottle.

Look at how much water the serving is designed for.

Look at the electrolyte profile.

Look at how you're fueling.

And, because you're probably going to drink a lot of this stuff over a season, look at what every bottle actually costs.

Why BASE?

One serving. One 500 mL bottle.

500 mg sodium
400 mg potassium
80 mg magnesium
50 mg calcium

No giant carbohydrate load. No need to tie your hydration strategy to your fueling strategy.

Just four electrolytes, doing different jobs, in a bottle designed to go riding.

And at roughly $1 per bottle, you don't have to save it for race day.

Because the best hydration product isn't necessarily the one with the biggest number on the package.

It's the one that makes sense for your ride, your sweat and your bottle.

Product formulations, serving recommendations and prices were obtained from manufacturer and Canadian retailer information available in September 2026. Prices exclude shipping, taxes, subscriptions, bulk discounts and promotions and may change. Nuun values and pricing have been normalized from its recommended 475 mL serving to 500 mL for comparison. LMNT pricing is shown in US dollars. Individual hydration and electrolyte requirements vary.