- 2 days ago
Thinking of saving money on your cycling kit? Before you buy those budget bib-shorts or cheap sunglasses, watch this! We break down the biggest false economies in cycling and reveal when spending a little more now can save you hassle, discomfort, and even injury later.
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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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