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. So I've

01:09picked up some really really cool little stickers. These only cost a couple of pounds but they are

01:15ideal for sticking all over your frame and whatever components you have. The good thing is if you've

01:21got a nice looking bike these are just plain little black stickers. However when a bright light shines on

01:27them they reflect back in bright silver so it just picks you out during those winter rides. So you can

01:34put 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

01:48your hands get pretty slippery. So you operate in the shifters and sometimes the brakes can be a

01:53little bit sketchy. One of the things I found works really really well in this case is a little bit of

01:58grip tape. Now this is actually really really simple to find online only costs a couple of pounds and it

02:05comes in a role that's long enough for you to be able to share it with all of your friends.

02:10It's sticky backed and you can cut it to shape to fit wherever you want it so where you want to have

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

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

02:27in the 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

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

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

02:50have a little look at your bar tape and see if it's worn. If it is, it's time to change it and what

02:56I'd recommend you do is to change it for something with a bit more grip or a bit more cushioning.

03:01Some people double wrap their bars during the winter which makes it a lot bigger but also very

03:06very comfortable or you can get some little gel pads. Now again these are a simple thing to find,

03:14lots of bike shops sell these and they don't cost a huge amount and they basically go underneath your

03:20bar tape so you get parts to go over the top and parts to go on the drops. Little squidgy bits here

03:26and they're reusable, that's the other good thing here so you don't have to worry about changing these

03:31over all the time. So if you change your bar tape you can just change this. If your bar tape is in good

03:36condition you should be able to unwind it and then apply these underneath and then put your bar tape back

03:43on again. But if not as I said it could be a good time to get yourself some nice squishy or grippy bar

03:49tape to keep you safe during the winter. One of my pet hates during the winter is getting a rusty chain.

03:59Now obviously we can all try and alleviate that by keeping our bikes as clean as possible but sometimes

04:05it's just not possible. If you've been out for a ride in the evening, it's cold and it's wet,

04:10all you really want to do is get in and get warm. So what you can do is you can find chains that are

04:17a bit more durable and a bit more resistant to rusting, often ones with stainless steel in them.

04:23Now they can be quite expensive but because they're more durable and more resistant to rusting,

04:28they're often worth their weight. Now Konex do a really good one, this is the 11SX 11 speed chain

04:35and this has got stainless steel links in it so it should last a long time even when there's lots

04:41of salt on the road. Obviously we still are going to tell you to clean your bike as much as possible

04:46because it is going to work much better through the winter. But now is your time to get yourself a new chain.

04:54Another 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

05:12brake pads. What was the last thing you thought about this for example? Now if you've got rim brakes or disc brakes,

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

05:25of winter. If you've got rim brakes you can get brake pads such as the 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

05:40much more reliable braking power during wet weather use. You can buy them either as full kits or as

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

05:52consider. If you've got disc brakes here we're talking about sintered brake pads. Now you can often

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

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

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

06:19So it'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.

06:33Okay 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

07:27bum dry or 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 go

07:50to to keep your bike extra clean through the winter and that is to apply some polish to it. Now we're not

07:59talking about spraying it everywhere because that would be crazy but applying some silicone polish to

08:04the frame and the forks will give mud and muck less chance to grip onto that frame keeping your bike cleaner

08:13and it means then it's going to be easier to clean at all times. You can either apply it directly to the

08:19frame or you can apply it to a rag and then wipe it on but the best thing is because it's nice and

08:25slippery then that dirt just doesn't stand a chance to stay onto your bike. If you don't want to use

08:30silicone spray one thing you can do is you can get some invisible protection so you can get tape that will

08:36fit onto your bike which will then protect it first of all from dirt but also from any knocks as well so

08:43that could be another option another little extra tip to keep your bike working 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

09:09but if 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

09:37should make your winter riding a little bit more enjoyable. Now if you've got any different tips or

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

09:48comments 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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