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As road cycling is a very tech-based sport with countless companies all trying to deliver the most amount of value, it's unsurprising that the race to the bottom can result in substandard products.
So what products should you be avoiding when out looking for a bargain? When is it best to spend a bit more to ensure that you aren't left with something that will cause more pain than happiness?
Sam Gupta lists what he thinks are some of the biggest false economies in road cycling and the cycling products which you should avoid.
So what products should you be avoiding when out looking for a bargain? When is it best to spend a bit more to ensure that you aren't left with something that will cause more pain than happiness?
Sam Gupta lists what he thinks are some of the biggest false economies in road cycling and the cycling products which you should avoid.
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SportsTranscript
00:00According to Google, a false economy is defined as an apparent financial saving that in fact
00:05leads to greater expenditure. Now, in a world where saving money is looming on our minds more
00:12than usual, I turn my attention to cycling and the products that on the surface appear to provide
00:18great value. But when you delve a little deeper, may actually be doing the opposite.
00:26In 2022, we put clothing to the test from three different price points in the market and the one
00:32thing which I undoubtedly found was that the cheap bib shorts really were no good. Everything from the
00:39fit to the grippers to the chamois were a disappointment. Sure, they were cheap. If I
00:44remember correctly, they cost about £25. However, for cyclists who do want to take their riding a
00:50little more seriously, then investing in clothing which properly serves the needs of the rider
00:55is essential. This really is a prime example of buy cheap, pay twice. The question you may be left
01:03with is, how much should I be spending on a pair of shorts? Well, here in the UK, I believe
01:08that if
01:09you spend anything from £50, you'll be able to bag yourself a set which will come with the majority of
01:14the features that you will find on top-end shorts. That being a more tailored fit, better feeling
01:20fabrics and a higher quality chamois and an overall more durable build quality. Riding in shorts that
01:27really do facilitate the act of riding a bike will make it so much more enjoyable.
01:36If you don't know, AliExpress is a retail website and offers a similar experience to that of Amazon,
01:42but it's based in China. And it is awash with cheap cycling products, and there's one which seems to
01:49pop up more often than not. That being sunglasses, which imitate those that tend to cost a whole lot
01:56more. Cheap Oakley jawbreakers are what I succumbed to in my early years of racing. However, I quickly
02:03realised that maybe they weren't the best idea. My pair of glasses had set me back about 10% of
02:10the cost
02:10of those of a genuine pair. But it was after a friend who was wearing a similar set of glasses,
02:16then dropped them, and then watched the lens shatter on impact. And it got me thinking,
02:21do I really want lenses that can do that right next to my eyes?
02:26My doubts were confirmed a few months later when I saw a post on Facebook where this very issue had
02:32caught out another racer. They'd come down in a race, their eyewear had shattered, and they ended up
02:37with cuts all around their eyes. Luckily, it seemed like they didn't have any damage to their vision,
02:43but it wouldn't have been an impossibility. Forgetting the technological benefits that come
02:49from buying eyewear from a reputable brand, for the sheer safety aspect alone, this really is a
02:56no-brainer. You also don't need to buy eyewear from a brand that sponsors a big world tour team. Safe,
03:02good quality glasses can be found from reputable manufacturers for only a little more money
03:08than what I paid for my knockoffs.
03:14As we all know, lubing your chain is a very important part of bike maintenance. The benefits
03:19go beyond that of having a smooth, silent, and efficient drivetrain. But of course, having a clean,
03:26freshly lubed chain will prolong the life of the drivetrain components, mainly your cassette and your
03:31chain rings. However, not all lubes are made equal. Given that there are literally hundreds of them
03:37out on the market, picking through them can be a real mission. Some cost a few pounds, while others
03:44land in the hundreds of pounds. And the biggest problem which I found is some of the really cheap
03:50lubes really do suffer from just simply washing off of your chain. You can have one slightly wet ride
03:56and your chain is left absolutely bare. Alternatively, some lubes seem to go black
04:01after two or three dry rides, even when applied to a properly decontaminated chain. Of course,
04:07this then means another degrease and re-lube, which takes up time and means you'll go through your
04:12workshop fluids a lot faster. My advice would be to opt for a wax-based lubricant and something that
04:19certainly does not contain PTFE's. A personal favourite is the squirt lube. The best way that
04:26I have found to apply it is to run the chain through an ultrasonic cleaner, let it fully dry
04:31and then refit the chain to the bike. I then coat the inside of each roller with a drop of
04:35the lube
04:36and then let it soak in overnight. And then in the morning I'll come back and wipe off any residual
04:41excess.
04:42So far, treatments like this last far longer and are much more resilient to water. Yes, chain
04:49wax or wax-based lubricants are more expensive to purchase upfront. However, you'll get so much more
04:55life out of it and you'll have a smoother running drivetrain that doesn't attract nearly as much
05:00gunk and grime, which of course, most importantly, prolongs the life of your components, but also
05:06saves you from giving yourself a dreaded fourth cat tant.
05:14In the last few years, the world has become rife with subscription services and in the slightly more
05:21uncertain times when we're all watching how much we're spending, it might be worth considering how
05:25many of them you're actually getting value out of. Since we're now entering the time of year when
05:31you're actually probably going to want to ride outside, perhaps cancelling your indoor training
05:36subscription is prudent, at least until winter rolls around again.
05:44As new innovations hit the market, some old ones really do get shown up as being pretty outdated and
05:50subsequently, pretty bad value. Latex inner tubes are such an item. Sure, back in the day,
05:57they provided a much more supple and faster rolling option over and above a standard butyl inner tube.
06:03And in truth, they were never made to be a discount option. Quite the opposite, in fact.
06:09However, they aren't without their faults. They're a pig to install as they pinch incredibly easily.
06:14They lose pressure rather quickly and they're just very expensive. Today, tubeless has hit the road
06:20in a big way and offers all of the same benefits as latex does.
06:24As you may know from a previous video, tubeless really does have some of its own problems. However,
06:30unless you get a gash in the tyre, the problems aren't really ones which create a financial burden.
06:36Instead, it's just faffy problems and ones which absorb time and energy.
06:41Of course, if you did get a gash in your tyre and the tyre needed replacing, the cost implication is
06:47the
06:47same no matter the method of inflation. Latex tubes don't really fall into the realms of being a
06:53false economy as it wasn't created to be a better value option. But it does show itself up as being
06:59something which was of its time and has now been replaced by a better alternative.
07:09Recently, there's been quite a lot of noise over the discovery of quite a few unbelievably cheap bikes
07:15bikes, which can be found at various big retailers, be that Amazon, Walmart or Asda. The saying,
07:21if it's too good to be true, then it probably is, could not ring any truer here.
07:27The bikes obviously have a very cheap list price, but do remember that the bikes could cost less
07:33than 50% of the retail price to build. So to enable such markups, the components used will be of
07:40a
07:40very poor quality. Now, I can understand that some people may not want to or can afford to go out
07:47and
07:47spend more money on a new bike. However, in this instance, I would heavily suggest that by spending
07:53the same amount of money on a secondhand bike, you'll be able to find something that serves you far,
07:57far better. The cheap parts found on these incredibly cheap new bikes may mean that the
08:03braking and shifting performance isn't of an acceptable level. They're likely to be prone
08:08to a shorter lifespan either due to breakages or just having an innate lack of resilience to the
08:14elements. The biggest weak point from a rider's perspective could actually be the frame itself.
08:20No doubt it will be heavy, have a less optimized geometry, and it certainly will not be very forgiving.
08:26If you were to purchase one of these types of bikes with the intention of getting into cycling,
08:31then you will be going about it in the wrong way. Bikes like this will actually do the complete
08:36opposite and make riding a lot less fun. For some, bikes at this level will serve a purpose,
08:43and that may just be completing short journeys to get from point A to point B. However, even if the
08:49purpose really is that simple, I would still recommend spending the same amount of money in the secondhand
08:55market. You'll get something which will have originally costed a whole lot more,
08:59and you'll be giving a bike that already exists a new lease of life. And if parts break or things
09:05do go wrong, then any local bike shop will likely be very happy to help you out.
09:13It was only recently that I was clearing out one of my kitchen drawers. That drawer being the one that
09:18fills
09:18up with random keys, batteries, takeaway menus, and obviously all of the spare parts and tools that come
09:25from flat pack furniture builds. I must have collected about 10 different styles of allen keys,
09:31all ranging from 4mm to 5mm to flat heads to phillip head screwdrivers. And it got me thinking,
09:38why have I never used these cheap tools on my bike? Well, it's for one very obvious reason. Cheap tools
09:44have the ability to wreak more havoc on your bike than you may otherwise imagine. And it's not just the
09:50free
09:50tools you get from furniture, but just poor quality, cheap tools all together. They're often made of
09:56poor quality metal, which hasn't been hardened or treated in a way which means it will maintain its
10:01shape when under load. Since they tend to be softer, they can change shape. And then when you go
10:07and use that same tool, you should not be surprised if that tool goes and strips the head of the
10:12bolt.
10:13Also, if that tool isn't the right size for the job you're trying to complete on your bike,
10:18you may not be getting the right amount of leverage and potentially not delivering the
10:22correct amount of torque to that bolt, meaning it could work loose. My recommendation is that if you
10:29do intend on working on your own bike, then always opt for a reputable brand of tools and then slowly
10:34add tools as and when you need to complete new jobs. Alternatively, leave the maintenance of your bike
10:40to a professional or ask to borrow tools from a friend if you don't want to go out and purchase
10:46them yourself.
10:51Sports nutrition is something that I really do sit on the fence with. Again, not strictly a false
10:57economy as I don't believe any brand is claiming that their products are made to save you money,
11:02but it is something which is very costly, especially when you compare something like an energy bar and
11:09the cost of something that you can make at home. The differential is huge. However, there are pros and cons
11:16to
11:16both. First, sports nutrition comes in more formats than you may otherwise be able to create at home.
11:23For example, gels, chews, powdered drink mixes, protein bars. That's why buying those products
11:29can make a lot of sense and you can often buy multi-packs to reduce the cost per unit and
11:35you'll
11:36have a wide variety of flavours from multiple different brands. Foods like these can be really useful on event
11:42days or during races as you can accurately track what you're putting into your system, but also you
11:48can practice your feeding schedule to figure out what works well for you. However, in my mind, this is
11:55one of the few places where dedicated sports nutrition justifies the increased costs. For a normal day's
12:01training or just went out riding for fun, either batch cooking a whole bunch of energy bars or cakes
12:06are always best to carry with you. It's much cheaper, does the same job and because you can make it
12:12yourself, you can create flavours that otherwise you might not find elsewhere. Bananas, flapjacks, jam
12:18sandwiches and fruitcake are some of my favourite things to carry on the bike and when I get home,
12:23I'll always try and get my protein from as many real foods as possible and only adding in protein shakes
12:29when I need to up the levels to cater for an increased training load.
12:33The convenience of sports nutrition is undeniable and that's why I utilise those products in the run
12:38up to and during events and races, but opt for homemade food the rest of the time. As I said,
12:45this isn't strictly a false economy as defined at the start of the video, but I wanted to include it
12:51so that people are aware that you really don't need to eat exclusively branded sports nutrition when
12:57cycling. Making and taking homemade treats will be far more satisfying and will, of course,
13:03save you a whole lot of cash. Let me know down in the comments what you think some of the
13:08biggest
13:08false economies in cycling are. If you enjoyed the video then please do drop it a like,
13:13subscribe to the channel for more content and I will see you again very soon.
13:20I'll see you again next time.
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