If you're looking to make improvements to your bike, here's how to get most bang for
your buck. This GCN's Top 10 Best Value Uprgades. Not many single components have
quite as much influence over the way your bike rides as your tires.
Firstly, saving weight in this area can make your bike feel more responsive by
reducing rotating weight. Also, better quality tires tend to feel more supple,
which means more responsiveness. And finally, the size of the tire probably has
the biggest effect. Most riders will probably appreciate the increased comfort
of going from a standard size 23 to 25 and there's even the very subtle improvement
in the rolling resistance. Just like tires, saving weight on tubes,
reduces the all-important rotating weight. However, we found that light butyl tubes
are more prone to punctures, so there's a little trade off if you ride on rough
roads. A better option is latex tubes, which also reduce rolling resistance too
because they are so supple. The only slight issue though is that you tend to
have to replace tubes quite frequently. So if you replace four expensive ones per
year, is it still good value? Only you can say. Many people look at handle bars as a
way to lose weight from their bikes, but overlook the fact that with all the
different shapes and sizes, it can actually be an inexpensive way of
revolutionizing the fit of your bike. Most top manufacturers have a cheap
aluminum bar in their range, which is not much heavier than the super expensive
carbon bars that comes in all the same shapes.
The smaller riders buying a compact bar will make breaking and shifting easier,
not to mention riding on the drops.
And for those concerned with pure speed, there are also considerable aerodynamic
advantages to be had from using narrower bars such as 42s or even 40s.
If you ever have to ride in poor conditions, your gear and brake cables
can suffer quite quickly and the impact this has on your bike is huge.
Your brakes will be less powerful and your gears won't work. When you think about it
then, the price of new cables is incredibly good value to improve the ride
of your bike. More expensive cables will improve shifting and braking still
further, but just like with your latex inner tubes, buy what you can afford to
replace. Having fresh, low-friction ones is better than expensive but old ones.
Clearly, saddles come in different shapes and sizes, but expensive ones only really
tend to be lighter than the cheaper ones, not more comfortable.
If you're not happy on your current saddle, changing it for a different shape
can have a huge impact on your comfort and you don't need to spend hundreds.
Even if you ride with gloves, changing your bar tape is really noticeable and
more expensive tape is not necessarily better. If we look at pro cyclists, for
example, they tend to run inexpensive cork tape. It can become a great value
upgrade when you consider how much it can improve the look of your bike.
No bike with dirty bar tape can ever look clean. And a clean bike is so good for
morale. You can always see the increase in speed as a result. Putting two layers on
can also seriously improve your comfort, especially for taller riders with large
hands. It makes sense to modify the bike to fit you in all ways.
Unless you have a seriously worn out cassette, changing it isn't going to give
you boost in performance. However, look at the number of teeth it has because
changing the range of your cassette can have a big impact. While many new bikes
these days come with a 12-27 to give a nice, wide range of gears,
the tradition has always been 11-23.
It doesn't sound like much, but the difference between a 23 and a 27 is
actually huge and can make a big difference to how easily
you can spin up a climb.
Most pros use 27s now, so it probably makes sense for you to make the switch as
well. Okay, so these aren't cheap, but the improvement they can make to the
performance of your bike can make even expensive ones seem like good value.
Weight is a big factor on performance, as is aerodynamics, and so is stiffness.
If you ride on hilly roads or do loads of punchy climbs and sprints,
then lightweight is what you're looking for. If you like motoring at steady speeds
on flat roads, cheap, deep section wheels with a hefty weight penalty will still pay
off. Again, another curveball, but hear us out.
You can spend a lot of money upgrading you bike, but would you be better off
saving up and buying an entirely new bike?
If you're finding yourself upgrading your drivetrain for example,
you might be better off biting the bullet. Weigh up how much you're going to
spend in total to see if it's going to be worth it. Without doubt, the best way of
improving your bike is to improve its rider. Yep, that means you.
Getting fitter makes you faster and it's completely free, as is nailing your
technique, so you can get faster without even pedaling. Bike riding is great.
You can always find ways to get better.
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