Spring is right around the corner, and for many of you that means better riding weather.
So why not kick off the season with another 10 bike hacks for mountain, road, and beyond.
Use these hacks to fix, protect, and style your bike with stuff you might have laying
around.
Let’s get started.
Many riders fasten an inner tube to their frame so they’ll have it around for emergencies,
but these are usually held on with electrical tape or zip ties.
Self stick hook and loop is better.
Not only is it reusable, but it comes in rolls and can be cut to size.
If you really want to ride lean just roll up your inner tube with a multi tool, a co2
cartridge, and inflator.
Now fasten it with hook and loop so that nothing can fall out, and finally secure it to your
frame or under your seat.
Self stick can be found at most hardware or craft stores in rolls or single pieces.
Speaking of making repairs on the trails, have you ever been stuck without a valve core
wrench?
According to one of my subscribers, a lock on grip collar can be used as an emergency
substitute.
Just remove your grip and pop one of the collars off.
Then remove the pinch bolt, and use the gap to wrench on your valve core.
It’s not the most convenient hack, but it’s a hell of a lot better than getting stuck
somewhere.
Since most lock on grips have a similar collar, this is a hack that a lot of people could
use.
If you wear your helmet enough it’ll get smelly from all of your disgusting head sweat.
Luckily most helmets have removable pads that you can clean or replace.
Since washing machines have a tendency to eat things, take all of these various pads
and place them inside a clean sock.
Just machine wash it with detergent and throw it in the dryer just like you normally would.
Your pads will come out fresh, clean, and easy to find.
Pool noodles have a lot of great uses, like bringing back 1980’s BMX trends.
But on the more practical end of things, you can use them to protect your bike during transport.
If you’re cramming a few bikes in your pickup, SUV, or wagon, pieces of noodle can protect
the parts that are dangerously close to being smeashed.
Just use a scissor or blade to cut a noodle to size, and open it up down the middle.
You can even keep some noodle in your travel bag for extra protection during shipping.
Now that’s using your noodle.
Hydration packs allow you to drink water on the fly, but sometimes re-securing the hose
is only marginally better than re-securing a water bottle.
With a retractable badge holder, you can automate the whole process.
Just clip the spool to your shoulder strap, and fasten the cord to the end of your hydration
hose.
As long as the badge holder has a good spring in it, the mouthpiece should snap into place
as soon as you let it go.
You can also use a badge holder to prevent that spoke wrench from leaving the truing
stand.
This hack was another request from a subscriber, and I think it’s a really original one.
What’s the difference between these two pairs of cycling glasses?
How about the fact that these aren’t cycling glasses at all.
In fact, I bought them at the hardware store for balls plus tax.
Now paint me unsophisticated in the realm of cycling eyewear, but I just don’t see
where the $100 disparity comes in here.
In fact, the hardware store glasses are lighter, more comfortable, and I think better looking.
Yeah they’re tinted, but you can also get these in clear.
What’s more, you can find gloves and even floor pumps for a fraction of the ones marketed
towards cyclists.
So if you’re on a budget, the hardware store hack can save you hundreds of dollars if you
keep your expectations in check.
Servicing your suspension is actually not that hard if you have the right tools—like
bike specific sockets.
On standard sockets, the rounded ends tend to slip off of the top caps on suspension
forks.
To make an existing socket work better, use a grinder to square off the edges.
This shouldn’t inhibit the socket’s performance on other things, yet it will give you maximum
grip on shallow top caps.
Since you only need to do it on one socket, I’d say it’s a pretty good hack.
If you have a crapload of bikes, at least a few of them will need maintenance at any
given time.
Those of you with families can probably relate.
So why not run your garage like a bike shop, by writing out work orders?
This is a fun way to keep track of what needs fixing, and you can even invoice your family
members with chores to pay for your services.
While you’re playing bike shop, try upselling them on unnecessary upgrades.
So, work orders—Because they’re way cooler than post it notes.
The now two generation old GoPro Hero4 is still the camera of choice for mountain bike
vloggers.
Since you can’t always find these anymore, you need to repair them to keep them running.
Today, I’ll show you how to replace the lens without taking the whole GoPro apart.
As you can see I’ve purchased a replacement lens for a few bucks online.
It’s screwed into this housing, which is the same as the one inside the GoPro.
It screws in and out for focus, which means the one in the GoPro does too!
To unscrew the GoPro lens you’ll need to pry off the rubber ring that covers the lens,
and use some kind of plier, but as long as you’re replacing the lens, marring it up
should be no big deal.
The new lens should screw in a lot easier, and focus just like the old one.
Performing a lens change using this rather unorthodox method, is in my opinion a lot
less invasive than doing it the quote “right way”.
I’ve used this hack 5 times with a 100% success rate.
You can make a mud guard out of any piece of sheet plastic, like a two liter soda bottle,
or this tracing paper I got from the craft store.
Just print out the template in the description, trace it on your plastic, and cut it out carefully.
Now personalize it however you like.
Smeash!
With four zip ties, you can secure it to your fork and keep all that mud from caking up
behind your stanchions.
So much function, style, and sophistication, all in one hack.
And finally it wouldn’t be a Seth’s Bike Hacks video without a food hack, so here’s
a bonus hack for getting a bonus taco.
The next time you eat tacos, place an empty tortilla on your plate.
As you eat, and inevitably get taco innards all over the place, your tortilla will accumulate
the ingredients of your bonus taco—which is a combination of all the other tacos you
just had.
And that concludes this hacks video.
Let me know which hack you found to be the most entertaining or useful, and of course
let me know if you have any hacks you’d like to see next time.
But before you do that, check out the 10 Bikes hacks playlist to ensure it wasn’t covered
already.
Thanks for riding with me today, and I’ll see you
next time.