Best free or cheap bike stuff

[kac]

Always on the lookout for free or really cheap (as in <$20.00) bike "accessories". Here are a few items I've found worthwhile:
1) Free: Women's mascara brushes for cleaning small bike parts. Just walk into any department store and help yourself at the cosmetics counter! They're free, durable and no lint!
2) Cheap: Lighter fluid (about $3.00 for a lifetime supply in one bottle!). A dab of this stuff on a rag will clean a chain pronto with no apparent side-effects. Obviously, keep it away from frames, paint and fire.
3) Equally Cheap: Testors and other modeling paints for paint touch-up. Costs about $3.00/bottle. Acrylic clear nail polish works for minor clear-coat dings.
4) Pretty cheap: Baby wipes for cleaning a frame. Works great and they smell okay, too. Should be around $5.00/box.
5) Relatively cheap: Halo-type headbands slows sweat run-off into eyes. These and like brands are <$20.00 from plenty of internet retailers. Downside: sweat accumulates and eventually pours down in a torrent, usually right onto the visual center of sunglass lenses and usually at inopportune times. Beats a bandana as these saturate promptly and are then worthless.

Any other suggestions?

KAC

[bricky21]

Safety glasses for $10-15 in place of $300 sunglasses. I have a specialty trade tool store near me with lots of decently stylish options.

[wojchiech]

Halo-type headbands.

I've used a Halo for a couple years. I've found that removing the helmet pads in the front half of your helmet (where the rubber 'gutter' on the headband is) helps to prevent sweat accumulation/dripdown. I went even further and just cut off the back half of the headband and stuck it unto my helmet (the velcro hooks should still work enough to keep it in place). I still have to wipe my side brows occasionally when it's warmer/on climbs, but sweat never drips down into my glasses.

You can probably go even cheaper and make a similar effect with an old tube sewn into a helmet pad. I'm planning on trying this when the rubber on my Halo headband starts falling apart.


not free, but DIY energy gel can be made with products from wholesale grocery markets (Costco or similar) - we can't all afford to chug organic maple syrup like Ted King. Cost is usually less than $0.25 per serving.

• a combination of honey, brown rice syrup, and/or blackstrap molasses can produce ~30g carbs/120 calories per 1 fl oz (1 gel packet).
• Combine with whatever ratio is preferred. I personally prefer less honey because I find honey almost too sweet.
• You can add fruit jam/preserves for a fruity flavor, cocoa or instant espresso mix for a richer taste, or even a pinch of salt to replace electrolytes.
• You might have to water it down to make it less viscous when it's colder. I sometimes put it in my bottles so I have to carry less in my pockets.
• I usually only mix a batch for a couple days worth of riding - separate the products keep longer (honey lasts forever), but mixed I don't risk spoilage by making huge batches.

[btompkins0112]

Caps...Pace makes a summer lightweight cap that blocks sun from your skull while maintaining breathability and the band is absorbent. Best caps ever for summer riding and less than $20.

[stella-azzurra]

Always on the lookout for free or really cheap (as in <$20.00) bike "accessories". Here are a few items I've found worthwhile:
1) Free: Women's mascara brushes for cleaning small bike parts. Just walk into any department store and help yourself at the cosmetics counter! They're free, durable and no lint!
2) Cheap: Lighter fluid (about $3.00 for a lifetime supply in one bottle!). A dab of this stuff on a rag will clean a chain pronto with no apparent side-effects. Obviously, keep it away from frames, paint and fire.
3) Equally Cheap: Testors and other modeling paints for paint touch-up. Costs about $3.00/bottle. Acrylic clear nail polish works for minor clear-coat dings.
4) Pretty cheap: Baby wipes for cleaning a frame. Works great and they smell okay, too. Should be around $5.00/box.
5) Relatively cheap: Halo-type headbands slows sweat run-off into eyes. These and like brands are <$20.00 from plenty of internet retailers. Downside: sweat accumulates and eventually pours down in a torrent, usually right onto the visual center of sunglass lenses and usually at inopportune times. Beats a bandana as these saturate promptly and are then worthless.

Any other suggestions?

KAC

The lighter fluid won't really clean that chain by just wiping the outside links. There is a procedure to really clean the chain and you would need to submerge the chain.

Rags may be cheaper to use to clean a frame since they are washable and reusable.

[vdrey]

If you like to use cotton rags to clean your bike, go to a paint/hardware store and buy a bag of rags. 10lbs of rags for less than $10. That bag should last at least a year unless you do a major clean of your bike every week

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[trychle]

I would like to double that safety glasses comment.

My 80 year old granddad (who still rides 50 km a day ) bought some safety glasses on a flea market for his riding.
At first glance I thought they were a pair of Assos Zegho's..

[Butcher]

The best buy I got was a '06 S-Works Tarmac with Campy SR11 groupset. Got it for $500.00 on Craigslist. $500 under budget too! I even printed the ad so my wife could see it [since she had to give the ok].

BTW, I was the seller too!

I did get a nice rain bike too. '06 Tarmac with Campy Chorus11 groupset. This time I got it for free, she approved that even more.

BTW, I gave that to myself.

[btompkins0112]

^ hehe.....stellar idea there

[S1mmo]

I would like to double that safety glasses comment.

My 80 year old granddad (who still rides 50 km a day ) bought some safety glasses on a flea market for his riding.
At first glance I thought they were a pair of Assos Zegho's..

Treble the safety glasses comment... Like using mine more than any other glasses. Now instead of cursing whenever I drop them on the road, I smile to myself knowing I spent less than a fiver on them!

[dgasmd]

Best free stuff I ever got was advice: "when you join a group ride you haven't ridden with several times and know the players, assume they are all idiots looking for the best opportunity to make you crash and kill you until proven otherwise. Despite that, beware of the traffic coming behind you and whats on the ride of the shoulder because one of those 2 places is where you are ring to throw yourself to when the selected idiot on the ride makes his attempt". Serving me well 20 years later!!

[kgt]

Do these safety glasses have serious UV protection?

[NealH]

Yes they do, applying UV coating is relatively inexpensive. The tradeoff on these cheap safety glasses is that the lens are not optically corrected like good sunglasses are. However, its not something readily noticeable while bike riding. Remember workers wear these all day in some cases so they are corrected enough - especially with modern manufacturing. Oakelys and Rudys are superb glasses - better contrast, optically and color corrected, hard coatings, suitably fashionable, relatively lightweight with excellent fitting......but for cycling they are overkill....not to mention over priced (imho of course). I still own a pair though, as I like fell victim to the fit and fashion.

[bricky21]

Define serious. As far as I know as long as glasses meet ANSI Z80.3 standards then your eyes are adequately protected from UV damage.

[DMF]

...better contrast...

THIS!! +1000!

I've been working in construction for many years now, and seen a lot of safety glasses, clear and tinted, sporty and heavy duty, brand name (like 3M) and no name, costly and inexpensive, you name it...

On the bike I exclusively ride Oakley and Rudy, not that there aren't other good options but of the high-end options some of theirs fit my face best.

Anyway, the point here. There is a hell of a difference regarding how clear, sharp, contrasted and defined "the picture" is. It's like comparing low-def and high-def TV's... It's DVD vs Blue-Ray, in many cases its even VHS vs Blue-Ray...

I would really put it like this, the best construction worker glasses I've tried, when brand new, give me less clear vision than no glasses. The best high end cycling/sports glasses I've tried, give me slightly sharper vision than no glasses. It's got nothing to do with optics, it's just the better contrast and the fact that the lenses are really, really clear. Construction worker lenses NEVER have that perfect clarity.

I'm not saying this is the end of the world, but if you've put 5.000€ into a bike, and atleast half that into each of the other three, and riding a bike is a way of life more than a hobby, ...then it just seems ridiculous to save 150€ with the tradeoff of experiencing every single minute of it in a less than perfect vision.

So put in that perspective, what is 150€?

There are ofcourse a lot of mid-priced cycling glasses, 30-40€, honestly never been very impressed with most of them...