Let's have your hacks, tips and money saving ideas for beginners.

[Heltor Chasca]

Spare pair of contact lenses. So easy to rub something out your eyes and you inevertinly rub your lens out.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Carry a teaspoon in the saddle pack - it's the perfect tool for removing the build up of mud on close fitting mudguards (having removed the wheel first).

 

[Reynard]

And if you're not a glasses wearer, I'd recommend a pair of clear sports specs (like the ones from Decathlon) just to keep the crap (road dirt, flies) out of your eyes.

 

[PaulSB]

I disagree with this, clean the bike when it looks dirty. I don't touch the bike after each ride, I don't have the time given I commute to work 5 days on it. If it's a particularly wet day I'll give the chain a quick once over with a rag, but that's it. I do however clean the bike thoroughly (about half an hour - soapy water in a bucket with a sponge and a hose to wash everything off) at the weekend or on a friday.

It would be easy to go overboard and overthink it. Just have a bit of common sense - if you've been out on the bike on a warm, dry, sunny day, chances are the bike will be in the same condition as when you get back. Commuting at 8am on a weekday in winter with salt and grit on the roads in the pissing rain however...

Yes if this was the commuting forum I’d agree entirely. In my youth I commuted for years and more recently had a 36 mile round trip commute when health issues meant I couldn’t drive for a year. That meant leaving at 6.40am and usually returning between 7.30 and 8.30pm depending on the trains.

When I commuted one clean per week was all there was time for.

However this is the Beginners forum and I feel readers are more likely to be riding once or twice a week at most. I feel the advice is then different - more toward how to look after and maintain a bike in great condition.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Save money on the cafe by packing a jam sandwich and find a bench on your ride with a fine view.

 

[Elysian_Roads]

And if you're not a glasses wearer, I'd recommend a pair of clear sports specs (like the ones from Decathlon) just to keep the crap (road dirt, flies) out of your eyes.

Would second that, I wear contact lenses on the bike and the Decathlon 100 clear glasses cover a fair amount of my face. They are also ridiculously cheap, which is great for the habitually clumsy.

 

[simongt]

They are also ridiculously cheap, which is great for the habitually clumsy.

Blimey, £3.99 is a VERY good price - ! I usually buy safety glasses which are about £5 for the same reasons.

 

[Reynard]

Yep, they're really good VFM. Plus they block UV light as well.

And far better than cycling with a fly in your eye...

 

[ColinJ]

And far better than cycling with a fly in your eye...

Absolutely right ...

For those of you who don't think wearing eye protection when out cycling is necessary...

• I rode with a glasses-free mate once who got hit in the eye by a large bluebottle on a fast descent. He almost crashed and by the time I got to him, his eye looked like he'd been punched by Mike Tyson! He developed the biggest, nastiest black eye I've ever seen.
• When I bought my first pair of cycling glasses, I went out for a ride to try them out. The council had just resurfaced the local roads and there were loose chippings everywhere, and a 20 mph speed limit in place. A moron shot drove past me at high speed firing up a a shower of chippings behind him. One stone smacked hard into the centre of the right lens, cracking it. It was directly in front of my eye!
• For the first in years, I went out without glasses on and a gust of wind picked up a load of grit and I got it in both eyes. I washed as much out of my eyes as I could but then had to ride home barely able to see.

I'd strongly recommend wearing eye protection every time you ride your bike.

 

[PeteXXX]

If you wear SPD or SPDL shoes, check the bolts every now and then. I once tried to help someone look for a lost bolt.
No joy finding it, and his ride was over!
Next suggestion: carry a spare bolt.
(And a spare chain link)

 

[Ming the Merciless]

If you wear SPD or SPDL shoes, check the bolts every now and then. I once tried to help someone look for a lost bolt.
No joy finding it, and his ride was over!
Next suggestion: carry a spare bolt.
(And a spare chain link)

If you use counter sunk bolts for your water bottle cage they can double as cleat bolts in an emergency.

 

[ColinJ]

If you use counter sunk bolts for your water bottle cage they can double as cleat bolts in an emergency.

Alternatively, make sure that your cleat bolts are tightened up properly!



Signed, a cyclist who fell over when he couldn't unclip after losing a loose cleat bolt!

 

[si_c]

If you use counter sunk bolts for your water bottle cage they can double as cleat bolts in an emergency.

Until they seize into the frame and you can never ever get them out again

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Until they seize into the frame and you can never ever get them out again

Grease grease and grease and check as part of normal checks.

 

[Nibor]

And if you're not a glasses wearer, I'd recommend a pair of clear sports specs (like the ones from Decathlon) just to keep the crap (road dirt, flies) out of your eyes.

similar can be had from screwfix including Bolle branded ones for a tenner in cleared and smoked lenses
https://www.screwfix.com/p/bolle-silium-clear-lens-safety-specs/89679