Low molecular weight gels are formed by the self-assembly of small molecules into fibres that entangle to form a matrix. Hydrogels are an important class, as these are typically biocompatible for example. One class of gelator that can be used to form hydrogels is functionalised dipeptides. Typically, gels are formed by initially forming a solution at high pH, and then decreasing the pH. An overlooking key step is the nature of the solution at high pH. Here, a range of surfactant-like structures are formed. Critically, we have recently found that some of these solutions have an extremely unusual behaviour. If they are heated and cooled, the solutions have a vastly different viscosity and become very stringy. Not all gelators do this however, so a key question is what is the underlying reason for this. We address this in this proposal.