﻿You can buy a lot for £10 or $10,
but what can you buy that's genuinely useful?
Well, here is GCN's top 10 list of 10 things
that we think every cyclist should have in their pockets
or at home to make their riding more enjoyable and easier.
Yes, I'm filming this from inside my house because I'm
currently self-isolating through the Coronavirus outbreak.
The show must go on.
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First up is insulation tape, also known as electrical tape.
This is one of the most useful things you can own.
Every toolbox should have this in and you
can even take it out on your ride as well.
I've seen a hack where people wrap some of it around
a water bottle and then they've got a section of it if they ever need it.
It's not just useful for securing your handlebar tape either.
Oh no. This bad boy can be used for,
well, securing lights where the bracket is broken or wrapping around
your shoe to keep it secure if your ratchet breaks on your shoe.
There's a million uses
for this stuff and you won't know what you need it for until you do.
Another good place to store insulation tape is around a CO2 cartridge.
Also acts as a bit of insulation for when you use the CO2 cartridge.
Simply wrap some around and then you've got a section that you can use
as and when you need it, easily stored in your saddlebag.
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Next up is zip ties or cable ties.
These are Si Richardson's favorite little fix-it-all, and for good reason.
They have so many uses and they're really easy to
fit inside your saddlebag.
You can easily get two or three in there and they don't add any weight.
Now, what makes these so useful is that they have really high
strength once they're tied in.
We've seen people secure chainring bolts.
When the chainring bolt has gone, they simply
thread one of these through and tighten it up.
Loads of hack and bodge submissions use zip ties.
You can use them to tidy up your cables at the front of your bike
or secure a broken saddle clamp.
There's loads of sort of get-out-of-jail uses for these that'll get you home
if you need them. Just be careful.
Once you snip the ends off, they can become quite sharp.
I also use them for helping store cassettes, because
otherwise, you can lose the little spaces in the odd cog
but if you put a crafty zip tie through your cassette like this--
Not like that. Like this, it can be really useful.
That just helps keep it all together.
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Grease isn't just the word, it's also a workshop staple.
Most threads on your bike require grease, and for good reason.
It helps stop them seizing.
Next time you take your pedals off-- I must have a pedal lying around here.
Here it is. Give the threads a clean and then apply
some grease with your finger and put it back in.
It should help stop it seizing.
The same goes for other components on your bike.
Bearings love to have grease around them as well.
It stops water ingress and helps prolong the life of the components.
Now, overtime, with constant cleaning,
grease does wash away, so it's a good idea to have a tube
lying around so that you can replace it when you need to.
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On long rides in wet weather or if you're bikepacking, lube can wash
off and then you get that dreaded, mid-ride, squeaky drivetrain.
One way to avoid this is a hack we've shown in the past.
You can get those little tiny soy sauce bottles you get with packs of sushi
and decant some of your lube into one of those and then take it with you.
Fits easily in your saddle bag.
Broadly speaking, there are two types of lube, dry lube and wet lube.
Now, the difference is that dry lube stays a little bit cleaner for longer
and is slightly more efficient on your drivetrain.
The downside to it is, if you ride
in the wet, dry lube washes off very easily.
That considered, we would say that if you're
only going to have one type of lube in your life,
it should be wet lube.
This is the only one I've got
in my house right now, and it's dry lube.
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Rags.
Now, rags are really useful for cleaning your bike in a number of different
ways, whether it's stripping threads, running them through your chains so
that you can get that excess grease off,
or just giving your bike a good old polish.
If you're the kind of person that enjoys the finer things
in life, you like splash the cash, you're the kind of person
that buys baked beans with sausages included in the can,
then you might invest in some dead, dead fancy microfiber cloths.
If you’re like me,
then you'll just use whatever you've got already lying around the house.
An old T-shirt that's a bit worn out, or perhaps an old tea towel.
Mum, I know it looks like one of your tea towels, but this definitely
is not one of your tea-- Now, my top tip is to have a few different ones.
One that you use exclusively on your drive train.
Even when it gets really oily, it will still be useful
for taking off that worst of the dirt and grime
that builds up on there, just by stripping it over.
Then have a separate one that you keep cleaner,
for buffing up and polishing your frame.
An ass saver. Now, in my experience, a dry posterior
means a happy ride, but on some bikes it can be
difficult or not possible to fit full mud guards.
If you live in a place with very changeable weather such as the UK,
it can be boiling hot and sunny one day, and then tipping it down
with loads of rain the next day.
Then day-in, day-out, having to remove and fit full mud guards
can be a real faff and not something everyone has time to do.
A quick and easy solution is an ass saver.
These little gizmos simply slot into the back
of your saddle and will give your posterior some good protection
from spray coming from the rear wheel.
They're inexpensive and there's even GCN branded ones
available in the GCN shop.
I know, seamless plug.
Sorry.
Spare batteries.
Now, it's really good to carry spare batteries with you
on a ride, not just have them at home.
Many devices on your bike use little coin cell batteries like this.
Heart rate monitors, speed and cadence sensors, power meters,
lights, even some shifters such as SRAM eTap shifters.
They have these little batteries in them as well.
Now, what I suggest you do is buy them in bulk on Amazon,
or some kind of site where you can do that.
Then you'll get them much cheaper than having
to stop off at a petrol station and buy
just two at a time, which can be quite expensive.
Also, in terms of taking them with you in your saddle pack,
I'd say don't take the whole packet like this.
Get your scissors and trim it down around so that you can
just take the battery sealed in the little plastic container,
and then it takes up much less space.
A puncture repair kit.
Now, I know what you're saying, "I don't need a puncture repair kit.
Who needs a puncture repair kit?
I've got spare inner tubes."
Yes, but how much did those inner tubes cost?
You know what they say, look after the pennies
and the pounds will look after themselves.
Well, puncture repair kit isn't just about
saving money, it's about saving the planet.
Recycling inner tubes and repairing them
saves you a fortune, but it also saves the polar bears too,
because it's better for the environment.
It's really easy to take your tubes home and then patch them up,
and then you've got fresh inner tubes again to take out with you.
Tyre levers, they come in all shapes and sizes,
and you only have to try and remove a new tyre
from a wheel rim without levers once to know what I'm talking about.
Invest in a couple of these, they're only cheap,
and it'll save you a lot of swearing,
a lot of deposits into the swear jar and bruised hands.
Trust me, I've been there.
And finally on our list, the GCN app.
I had to mention the GCN app on this list.
It is free after all. If you haven't got it yet, then
download it on the App Store, or the Google Play store,
and it has all sorts in there, from news, racing, tech,
features, polls, all our content.
You can vote on stuff like the bike vault, so
I've uploaded a picture of my beautiful Orbea Orca OMX on there as well.
You can say whether it's a nice, or a super nice.
We've got exciting plans for it in the future to do with racing.
You're going to be able to access racing
in the app, and then get notifications when things are
happening such as a notification bell for 10 K to go
on the stage, or when the ride has reached a pivotal climb.
It's going to be really exciting. Well, that's it for our list.
If you think there's anything that we've missed, that you
think is brilliant for less than £10 pounds, or $10,
then let us know down in the comments or on social media.
We might make another video with that included
in the future if you've got some good suggestions.
Also, I apologize if this video isn't quite up
to the standard of usual GCN videos, because
I have filmed it myself inside my house because I'm self-isolating.
Anyhow, if you have enjoyed it, then please give it a like and share.
I'll see you next time.