Conor Dunne: Commuting by bike is a practical way to get in a daily dose of exercise.
Not only is it a great way to clear your head before and after work, but it's a healthy way to
get to work. You're avoiding the car, you're not polluting the atmosphere with any pesky emissions,
and you get to ride your bike. Now if you do commute every single day, your gear will take
a bit more of a battering. With that in mind, we thought we'd share with you some handy upgrades
for your next commute. [music]
There are three main considerations here. Grip, comfort, and puncture protection. I know all you
seasoned commuters like to fire away from the traffic lights as quickly as possible,
but we'd rather sacrifice speed so we're not sitting on the side of the
roadside soaking wet with a puncture and worse, being late for work. Now,
plenty of tire brands make really robust tires with breaker belts made from polymers
such as Vectra which vastly reduce the risk of punctures on the road from foreign objects, which
many of you may encounter on that city commute. These tires are fairly easy to find from a variety
of brands that often advertise as having a puncture protection layer. Here at GCN,
we're lucky enough to have Pirelli tires as a partner. Their go-to tire for commuting
is the Cinturato which has an aramid breaker belt for that added puncture protection.
Plenty of other brands will have similar products too. You could also go tubeless.
Now tubeless tires will add a great amount of puncture protection. At GCN, we've ridden over a
huge amount of sharp objects. I'm pretty impressed by the results when using tubeless tires.
Now if you are going to go tubeless, you're going to need a tubeless-ready wheelset,
tubeless tires, and a good quality sealant. The benefit of tubeless tires is that you'll reduce
the risk of a pinch flat when you do hit those rather hard objects out on the road.
Grip and comfort are likely to be another priority. If you're commuting in all weather
conditions, you'll likely encounter some slippery roads. Now riding with caution
is the best way to stay upright, but having confidence in your tires will go a long way too.
Fortunately, you don't have to compromise more grip for more comfort. In fact,
similar type of properties govern both characteristics. What you want to look for here
especially on a road bike are wider tires. [music]
Wider tires can be run at lower pressure, increasing levels of grip and comfort as the
rubber conforms to the road, smoothing out any bumps and staying stuck to the floor.
This means that they'll be less chance of skipping and skidding when you're riding
on a wider tire. It's worth checking out your frame's clearance before you do buy
a new wider tire to make sure that that tire won't rub on the frame and be too big
to fit in the frame. Rolling resistance is also something to consider. Particularly if
you have a longer commute, and getting to work faster means that you can stay in bed longer.
Now, this is a fine balance because normally when you reduce your rolling resistance,
you'll normally reduce your puncture protection as well. You have to weigh up whether you want to
get to work fast and risk a puncture, or maybe take things a little safer and not risk any
unnecessary stops. [music]
On to lights now. We at GCN would always recommend having a charged pair of lights to hand
when you are commuting. Even if you're traveling to and from work in the summer when you'll be
riding in daylight conditions, we still recommend having a pair of lights just to make yourself
a bit more visible to other road users. Most commuters will already have a basic set of lights,
and we'd recommend keeping these as backup, but there are a few handy upgrades which you
may want to consider. [music]
USB rechargeable lights are a great idea and there are plenty to choose from.
USB rechargeable lights are a benefit because you can easily charge the batteries when you're
at work so you don't have to worry about how much juice is left in them.
They're also really versatile. Often being quite a compact design meaning you can clip
them on quite easily to your seat post, a rear bag, your handlebars, or maybe even your helmet,
just to make yourself a bit more visible at different levels to other road users.
If you're looking for more lighting upgrades, then a dynamo hub could be a great investment.
Now a dynamo hub works by drawing power from your wheel so that you can charge or power a
light while you're riding. This would be a great option because it means you'll never
have to charge your devices because well they'll always be on whilst you're pedaling. It's also a
great bonus because it means you're powering your lights by a renewable energy source; your legs.
Wheel lights are something to consider too. These attach simply to your spokes and give
you added side on visibility which is especially useful if you're commuting in busy cities where
you'll be passing through a lot of busy junctions, having a lot of traffic oncoming from the side.
Now it might be for that reason, or it might simply be because you want to go all out and
create a Tron bike like we did back in December. You definitely won't be missed on the commute on
that one. Will you? [music]
Clothing is another consideration that you're going to want to think about when you're
commuting. If you are commuting come rain or shine, well it's going to get pretty miserable if
you don't have some gear to keep you warm and dry. Especially if you're riding in torrential rain,
you're going to want something to keep the elements at bay.
[music] Firstly, a good breathable waterproof
jacket is a great idea. It will keep you dry all year round and because it's not insulated,
it won't make you overheat in the summer. Also, it will dry a lot quicker than a softshell jacket
meaning if you ride to work and find somewhere to hang it up, it should be dry by the time you're
due to ride home. Secondly, a base layer is a great idea as well. It will help wick moisture
away from the skin. Meaning that you won't get too damp from sweat when you're riding and also
if it rains, it will dry out relatively quickly, keeping you warm inside which is what you really
want when you turn up to work. You don't want to be turning up to the office shivering, do you?
If you do have a base there it might be worth investing in a second one,
which you can stash at your desk relatively easily ready to put on for the ride home if it does turn
out there's going to be torrential rain. You don't want to be starting in damp clothes, do
you? It might also be worth investing in a set of thermal arm warmers or leg warmers which are also
relatively small if you want to stash them in your desk, ready to be whipped out
for the journey home. [music]
Commuting presents a challenge that daily riding doesn't. If you're going to work, you're probably
going to be taking some clothes for the office with you, maybe some lunch or even a laptop.
This is going to be quite hard to fit in your jersey pockets. Most people who do commute will
take some form of bag with them already, but if you're going to be riding to work often,
you're going to want to upgrade to something which will cope with those
daily demands. [music]
There are a few choices here, and the main options will probably be between a backpack and panniers.
Now a backpack is a great option because it's lightweight, it's easy to carry if you're getting
off your bike often, and it's quite versatile. However it's worth bearing in mind that many
panniers at the moment are quite easily converted to a backpack so when you do stop, you can whip
your panniers off, put them on your back and off you go. That's just something to keep in mind.
[music] If you do decide to go
for a backpack, you may want to choose something that's rugged, waterproof, and has a chest strap
for added support. You may also want to consider a waterproof kind of flap that goes over the bag
to give that added waterproof protection. You may also want to think about getting a dry bag
to put inside the bag, just to make sure your gear and belongings stays as dry as possible.
Equally, you may want to put your wet belongings in the dry bag to stop the rest of your bag
getting absolutely soaked. [music]
When looking for panniers, it's important to make sure that they will fit on your bike. You
may want to get a rack that is adaptable to your frame. If you can't find a rack for your bike,
you may want to consider bike packing bags which are a great option if you're going to be commuting
on your racer. When you do get panniers, you're going to want to get ones that are rugged,
waterproof and will last the test of time because well, you're commuting daily so it
is going to get a fair bit of wear and tear. Panniers are often a lot more durable and
waterproof than backpacks as well, and they won't cause you to get a sweaty back because your bike
is taking all the weight of all that gear, you have a lot more comfort on your commute
because you won't be hefting all that gear all the way to work, and back again,
your bike will. [music]
One thing you may also want to consider are mud guards. Now, this is something your housemate,
your other half, or maybe your commuting buddies will be really, really grateful for you to
purchase. Why do we say this? Well, you're not always going to be commuting in those beautiful
dry weather days, are you? Sometimes, it's going to be absolutely torrential rain,
and a good set of mudguards is going to stop all that road spray, all that dirt, all that muck
from getting on your bike and your beloved clothes.
Also your housemate's washing machine. Mudguards come in all shapes and sizes these days,
a bit like GCN presenters. Now, you may find you go for the smaller Ass Saver, which will simply
give your bum a bit of protection and quite easily and simply fits to the rear of your saddle. Or you
might want to go for a full-protection mudguard, which fits the whole way around your wheel, all
the way to the bottom bracket and have a flap at the back so it really stops the mud even getting
to the furthest reaching of places behind you, keeping all your buddies well protected.
Personally, I'd rather go for a full-protection mudguard that fits all the way around to the
bottom bracket. In my opinion, this is the best for stopping all that grit and grime
from getting your drive chain. You'd be so surprised at how clean it keeps your drive chain.
You could go out for a really rainy ride, come back, and your chain will still be in quite
good condition. There are a number of different mudguards on the market these days, which should
mean you'll find an option for your own bike, even if it is the most aggressive of racers.
[music] There you go,
a few handy tips which will make your ride to work a little more enjoyable,
but what might we have missed? Please let us know in the Comments section, we'd love
to hear from you. Well, I'd better get going because the internet service is patchy here and
I've got a Zoom meeting to get to. Ta-ta. [00:11:28] [END OF AUDIO]