Essential Do-It-Yourself Winter Bike Tips

Cycling Weekly

The bad weather can take its toll on your bicycle but these winter bike hacks can keep you riding all winter long.

Transcript

00:00Riding your bike through autumn and winter can be a pretty miserable affair especially if like

00:08us you live in the UK when it can be cold, rainy and you're often riding on roads that

00:14are completely strewn in potholes, muck and salt. Now here at Cycling Weekly we cannot promise to

00:22make your winter rides as fun and enjoyable as they are during the summer but we have come up

00:27with a few ingenious little hacks and hints that can help get your bike ready and hopefully alleviate

00:34a little bit of the pain. Now these go a little bit beyond the usual recommendations for how to

00:39get your bike ready for winter. To be honest we've already made those videos so if you look in the

00:43description below you'll see links to those videos there. So let's just dive straight in.

00:48One of the things that I found really really useful to have during the winter is extra visibility.

00:58Obviously we're going to be riding when it's a little bit dark so anything that makes you stand

01:02out a bit more for car drivers or other traffic is in my book a really really important thing.

01:07So I've picked up some really really cool little stickers. These only cost a couple of pounds but

01:14they are ideal for sticking all over your frame and whatever components you have. The good thing

01:21is if you've got a nice looking bike these are just plain little black stickers however when a bright

01:27light shines on them they reflect back in bright silver so it just picks you out during those winter

01:33rides. So you can put these wherever you want on the bike and make sure that you stay safe.

01:38One of the things that can often happen when you're riding during the winter especially in the rain is your

01:48hands get pretty slippery so you operate in the shifters and sometimes the brakes can be a little bit

01:54sketchy. One of the things I found works really really well in this case is a little bit of grip tape.

01:59Now this is actually really really simple to find online only costs a couple of pounds and it comes

02:06in a roll that's long enough for you to be able to share it with all of your friends. It's sticky

02:11backed and you can cut it to shape to fit wherever you want it so where you want to have that little

02:16extra grip. It's the same stuff as you find on a skateboard so it is quite rough so be aware of

02:21that when it comes to your gloves but for me personally I would much prefer to have that safer shift in

02:27and braking than worry about wearing my gloves out.

02:34We often talk about going for longer steadier rides during the winter and one of the things that

02:38becomes paramount for all of us is a bit of extra comfort. Now your bar tape goes a long way to make

02:44you comfortable when you're on a longer ride so now is the time to first of all take a check, have a

02:51little look at your bar tape and see if it's worn. If it is it's time to change it and what I'd recommend you

02:57do is to change it for something with a bit more grip or a bit more cushioning. Some people double wrap

03:02their bars during the winter which makes it a lot bigger but also very very comfortable or you can get

03:09some little gel pads. Now again these are a simple thing to find, lots of bike shops sell these and

03:16they don't cost a huge amount and they basically go underneath your bar tape so you get parts to go over

03:22the top and parts to go on the drops. Little squidgy bits here and they're reusable that's the other

03:27good thing here so you don't have to worry about changing these over all the time so if you change

03:32your bar tape you can just change this. If your bar tape is in good condition you should be able to

03:38unwind it and then apply these underneath and then put your bar tape back on again but if not as I said

03:45it could be a good time to get yourself some nice squishy or grippy bar tape to keep you safe during the winter.

03:52One of my pet hates during the winter is getting a rusty chain. Now obviously we can all try and

04:01alleviate that by keeping our bikes as clean as possible but sometimes it's just not possible.

04:07If you've been out for a ride in the evening it's cold and it's wet all you really want to do is get

04:12in and get warm. So what you can do is you can find chains that are a bit more durable and a bit more

04:19resistant to rusting, often ones with stainless steel in them. Now they can be quite expensive but

04:25because they're more durable and more resistant to rusting they're often worth their weight. Now

04:31Konex do a really good one this is the 11SX, 11 speed chain and this has got stainless steel links in

04:38it so it should last a long time even when there's lots of salt on the road. Obviously we still are going to

04:44tell you to clean your bike as much as possible because it is going to work much better through

04:49the winter but now is your time to get yourself a new chain.

04:59Another safety tip is to do with your brakes. So here we're not just talking about making sure that

05:05your brake pads are clean and that they are in good working order but the actual compounds of those brake

05:13pads. When was the last time you thought about this for example? Now if you've got rim brakes or disc

05:18brakes you can find brake compounds that are better for use during the wet and the mucky conditions of

05:25winter. If you've got rim brakes you can get brake pads such as these SwissDoc BXP that are designed for

05:33use during the wet and mucky winter months so they have a compound that lasts longer but it also provides much

05:41more reliable braking power during wet weather use. You can buy them either as full kits or as the brake

05:48pads themselves as a pack of four and that would be certainly something you might want to consider.

05:53If you've got disc brakes here we're talking about sintered brake pads. Now you can often check which

06:00brake pads you have by taking out the brake pads from your brake and looking at first of all the back

06:06of it. A lot of them have it either printed or stamped whether it's a resin pad, an organic pad or if it's

06:12a sintered pad. But a sintered pad is designed to last longer and also be more reliable in wet weather so

06:19it's made up of not only the standards of resin but lots of metallic particles which are designed to provide

06:26that extra braking power. So if you don't have sintered brake pads on your bike it's a good thing to try to fit.

06:36Okay so this one is a given but mudguards I know they're boring but they are a really really good

06:46idea if you are going to go riding outside in the wet especially if you're riding with your friends

06:52they will all appreciate it. Now if your bike has got eyelets for mudguards then you must fit

07:00a good proper set of mudguards there's nothing quite like it these provide the best coverage.

07:06However if your bike doesn't have those then there are still options. You can get some really cool

07:13very small and discreet mudguards like these ones here and these are designed to fit most bikes without

07:20those mudguard mounts. They don't obviously provide the same amount of protection but they will keep your bum dry

07:28or keep a little bit of spray off your face when you're out in those wet conditions.

07:38Dirt doesn't like clean bikes. There I said it. Having a clean bike is a good starting point during

07:44the winter for keeping everything running properly but there's one extra level of cleanliness you can

07:50go to to keep your bike extra clean through the winter and that is to apply some polish to it.

07:58Now we're not talking about spraying it everywhere because that would be crazy but applying some

08:03silicone polish to the frame and the forks will give mud and mug less chance to grip onto that frame

08:12keeping your bike cleaner and it means then it's going to be easier to clean at all times. You can either

08:18apply it directly to the frame or you can apply it to a rag and then wipe it on but the best thing is

08:24because it's nice and slippery then that dirt just doesn't stand a chance to stay onto your bike.

08:29If you don't want to use silicone spray one thing you can do is you can get some invisible protection so

08:34you can get tape that will fit onto your bike which will then protect it first of all from dirt but also

08:41from any knocks as well so that could be another option another little extra tip to keep your bike

08:48working perfectly through the winter.

08:54And my last tip today is one that we've been banging on quite a lot and that is going tubeless.

09:03Yes I know we keep talking about it I know there's people out there that don't really like the idea but

09:10if you've ever stood on the side of the road with a puncture when your hands don't work everything's

09:15covered in muck and it's raining it's a miserable feeling so anything that should prevent that from

09:22happening is going to make sure that you're going to enjoy your ride a little bit more during the winter

09:29so if you can try tubeless. Well I hope you find these little hacks and hints useful and that they should

09:38make your winter riding a little bit more enjoyable. Now if you've got any different

09:44tips or hacks that you use to make your winter riding a little bit more bearable please put it in

09:48the comments section below and don't forget to like and subscribe to keep up with our latest releases

09:54but until the next one we'll see you soon.

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