9 Simple Money And Bike Saving Tips For Winter

Winter riding takes a toll on your bike, leading to mechanical problems and can result in you becoming stranded at the roadside in the cold and wet. Ollie runs through an essential bike maintenance checklist, to help save you cash and keep your rides hassle-free!

00:00 Intro
00:23 Winter bike tyres
02:27 Am I using the wrong bike lubricant?
04:16 How worn is my bike chain?
05:51 Brake pad wear
08:58 Bike bearings
10:30 Bike saddle bag
11:59 Bike water bottle caps

Useful Links:
GCN Tech Uploader 👉 https://gcn.eu/techuploader
Everything Cycling. All In One Place 👉 https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com
Visit the GCN Shop 👉 https://gcn.eu/gcnshop
Join the GCN Club 👉 https://gcnclub.com
GCN Training Plans 👉 https://gcn.eu/gcntp

Do you have any other tips for winter bike maintenance? 🚲

Let us know in the comments below 💬

Watch more on GCN Tech…
📹 Tips To Ready Your Bike For Winter 👉 https://youtu.be/qElPSckfXZQ
📹 Watch our Editor’s Choice Playlist 👉 https://gcntech.co/EditorsChoice
📹 Watch the latest GCN Tech Show 👉 https://gcntech.co/GCNTechShow

🎵 Music – licensed by Epidemic Sound 🎵
River Below – FLYIN
Trauma – STRLGHT
Only Yours (Instrumental Version) – Adelyn Paik
Hypersonic – Ooyy
Anubis – T-Shirts & Sweats
treetrunk – shamgang
Blinding – Cushy
Aoraki – Ooyy
A Fork Fight – Lenzer

#gcntech #gcn #cycling #roadcycling #roadbike #bike #bikes #bikelife #biketech #wintercycling #winterride #saddlebags #tyres #tire

📸 Photos – © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sprint Cycling Agency

Brought to you by the world’s biggest cycling channel, the Global Cycling Network (GCN), GCN Tech is the only channel you need for all things bike tech – past, present and future.

Simply put, we’re obsessed with tech: we seek out and showcase the best in bikes, components, tech, accessories, upgrades and more from races and events, tech shows and product launches across the globe to bring you the best in road bike technology.

We’ve also got great maintenance videos to help you get the most from your bike; pro-bike tours from all the biggest races; special features and the weekly GCN Tech Show. We also take a deeper look into the future of cycling, apps, smart tech and virtual riding.

Join us on the channel and the GCN App to submit your content, vote on the latest tech and keep abreast of exciting new trends.

Thanks to our sponsors:
Pinarello Bikes: https://gcn.eu/Pinarello
Topeak Tools: http://gcn.eu/Topeak
Camelbak: https://gcn.eu/Camelbak
Canyon Bikes: http://gcn.eu/-Canyon
Pirelli Tyres: https://gcn.eu/Pirelli
Orbea Bikes: http://gcn.eu/Orbea
Vision Wheels: http://gcn.eu/Vision
Wahoo Fitness: http://gcn.eu/Wahoo-Fitness
Park Tool: http://gcn.eu/-parktool
Whoop Fitness: https://gcn.eu/Whoop
Selle Italia: https://gcn.eu/SelleItalia
SiS: https://gcn.eu/ScienceInSport
Zwift: https://gcn.eu/Zwift
DMT Shoes: https://gcn.eu/DMT
Silca: https://gcn.eu/Silca
MET Helmets: https://gcn.eu/methelmets
Strava: https://gcn.eu/strava
ShadowStand: https://gcn.eu/ShadowStand
Precision Fuel & Hydration: https://gcn.eu/precisionhydration
AGU: https://gcn.eu/AGU

Watch our sister channels:
Global Cycling Network – https://www.youtube.com/@gcn
GCN Racing – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnracing
Global Triathlon Network – https://www.youtube.com/@gtn
GCN Italia – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnitalia
GCN en Español – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnenespanol
GCN auf Deutsch – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnaufdeutsch
GCN en Français – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnenfrancais
GCN Japan – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnjapan
GCN Training – https://www.youtube.com/@gcntraining
Global Mountain Bike Network – https://youtube.com/@gmbn
GMBN Racing – https://youtube.com/@gmbnracing
GMBN Tech – https://www.youtube.com/@gmbntech
Electric Mountain Bike Network – https://www.youtube.com/@embn

Winter riding takes an added toll on your bike which can end up costing you a fortune in repairs or lead you to have a mechanical causing you to be stranded at the roadside in the cold and wet now you don’t want either of those things but fear not we’ve put together a

Maintenance checklist to keep your winter riding hasslefree and save your money the first thing we’re going to look at is tires and that’s because in Winter they take more of a bath ing than they do in the rest of the time of year because well there’s just more crap and

Detritus on the road which can cause you punctures so it’s better to routinely check them a bit more often than you do between your rides in summer simply just inspect the tread and what you’re looking for is to check for the wear indicators and see where the wear is at

But also for little cuts and flints and bits of glass that might have got stuck in there which could cause you a puncture on your next ride getting a puncture in winter when it’s cold and wet is is far far worse and more annoying than getting one in summer so

It’s really worth doing the other thing is is you may notice that these tires on my bike at the moment are TT tires I don’t normally run these in Winter I just have them on because of a video I was filming yesterday that’s my story and I’m sticking to it but if you’re

Running a tubeless tire these ones aren’t tubeless another good thing is to check the level of your sealant so the best method to do that is the dipstick method where by you put the valve at the 6:00 position you deflate the tire and then you remove the valve core then just

Stick a long thin object a Spoke can be used for this if you’ve got a spare one lying around in down the valve core into the sealant when you pull it out if there’s liquid sealant on the end of it you’re good to go you can keep on

Trucking but if it’s all dried up nothing will stick to it and then you need to know you need to add a bit more sealant and top it up it’s also worth paying a bit more attention to your tire pressure as well because grip is arguably more important in winter when

The roads are a bit slippier either through colder temperatures and potential ice but also again just dirt and rubbish on the roads um there are various calculators out there the silker one is excellent and they generally suggest running slightly lower pressures in Winter um and that’s something that I do

Too next on our list Lube one of my favorite topics now on the channel we often Advocate waxing your chain because it is the the optimum sort of lubricant you can use on your drivetrain however in some winter conditions it might not be the optimal thing especially if you

Live in a wet climate and you’re riding frequently now the reason I say this is because well firstly we’ll get a bit scientific wax is an amorphous solid which means it’s not crystalline and so as a result result if we get really nerdy it can become a bit more brittle

And hard in very cold temperatures so perhaps if you live in Canada or Siberia your wax might not be performing as well as it might do around 10° celius and above so consequently you might want to use an oil-based lubricant that said oilbased lubricants are not all equal so

There’s independent testing data out there that shows that there are two or three oil braced lubricants such as Silka synergetic which perform far better than the others and the way in which they perform far better is they don’t attract as much dirt which means that they don’t turn into that black

Grinding paste which wears your components super quick so that’s the kind of lube i’ suggest and if you’re riding in conditions where you’re riding frequently in wet dirty roads where you’re attracting a lot of dirt you’re having to clean your bike on a regular basis reapplying wax can become quite

Impractical even with the drip on wax because you have to apply it the day before you intend to ride so that the water-based carrier can evaporate whereas a drip on oilbased good quality wet Lube you can apply just before you ride and so it’s far easier to do especially if you’re doing it Frequently and well on the subject of the chain it’s worth keeping an eye on where because the last thing you want is to be 100 kmers from home in the freezing rain and your chain snaps it’s less than ideal a chain Checker tool is an inexpensive Gadget that’s well worth

Having there’s more than uh one different type out there so these are two examples so on this chain Checker it says between 0.25 and 0.5 is okay but when you get to 75 that’s when your chain is worn and you need to replace it if you allow your chain to wear beyond

That you get to the point where actually you’re too far gone and you need to replace your cassettes and maybe even chain rings as well because they will have worn with the worn chain and that’ll end up costing you more money considerably more but if you don’t have

A chain Checker tool then a household object you can use is a good old 12-in ruler and that’s because chains use Imperial uh pitch so they’re half inch pitch uh between the links on the Chain so if you line up one of the central pins on one of the rollers

With the end of the 12 in like so then if you then go to the end of the ruler and look where the 12in mark Falls relative to the nearest pin if it’s out by a 16th of an inch then your chain is worn and needs replacing if it’s out by

An eighth of an inch you’re too far gone and you probably need to do your cassette as Well in Winter your braking surfaces take more of a battering as well and will wear faster now we’ve covered Rim Brakes in the the past and it’s pretty straightforward you just make sure you keep them as clean as you can and wipe them down and free from dirt and it’s

Easy to inspect your rims um and your brake pads visually with your disc brakes that more people are running these days the pads are easy to inspect visually because you can simply just pop them out if you can’t see them and you can have a good look at how much

Compound is left on the pad and once that compound is running really thin you know it’s time to replace your disc rotors are a different story now to measure if your disc rotors have worn out and have got too thin what you’re going to want to do is use some

Veras and so for example on the Shimano rotors I’ve got here it actually says on the side replace when they get to Point well 1.5 mm in thickness now unless you’ve got like x-ray laser vision yeah you’re going to struggle to see that with a naked eye but what you’re going

To do is put verners on on there and measure it verier are quite expensive and not everyone has them but fear not your local bike shop will um so this is something that they will happily check for you for free it takes a minute to do

It and well the reason why is because they’ll probably want to sell you some brake rotors after they’ve checked it and told you that they’re worn down but yeah really simple to do but to maintain the life of your uh rotors and your pads longer again it’s the same thing with

The rest of your buy regular cleaning and what you’re going to want to use is is a medicated you know brake cleaner this is a good one because it also doubles up as a drivetrain uh cleaner and so when you’re spraying this on your cassette and chain you don’t have to

Worry about it contaminating your brakes because it actually cleans your your rotors too uh whereas some can have like compounds which then you get overspray onto your rotors and pads which invariably contaminates them because it’s not designed to go on on the braking surfaces some people use dedicated winter bikes

But other people just use the same bike all year round either way it makes sense to use less expensive consumable components during winter because you will wear through them quicker and certain components will save you money but don’t really offer a huge amount more in performance although you may

Want to switch to say J Ace rotors when you you know are going for your big event where you’re trying to be as fast or as good as you can be um when the weather’s nice but things such as the chain the cassette the rotors brake calipers the great thing

With a lot of group sets is the cross compatibility throughout throughout them so for example you know if your bike has a topof the range altegra or Jor Ace group set on it why not run a 105 cassette or 105 chain or 105 rotors when you’re riding in Winter your bike will

Be a little bit heavier but so What I haven’t yet talked about bearings in this video but naturally you should be checking them too and they do take more of a battering in winter like everything else now what you’re essentially looking for with your bearings is play in a direction where there shouldn’t be or if they start to

Feel a bit well if they sound a little bit noisy or they start to just feel not as smooth and a little bit grally for example you can often feel your front wheel by just if you spin it you can often hear it and you can just sort of feel

How smooth it is that’s something that comes with experience though now we have dedicated videos on how to replace bearings so I’m not going to go into detail of that here but what I will say to you is that cartridge bearings are brilliant because they’re very easy to

Replace now if you take out your bearing that you need to replace it often has writing on it it should have writing on it listing the dimensions of that bearing and from that you can then search for the exact bearings you need on specialist bearing retailers there’s

Some websites out there you can easily find using Google now this is a really inexpensive way to get hold of really nice brand new bearings which you can install in your bike and keep it nice and ticky boo uh but if your writing has rubbed off on your bearings because

They’re old or they’re just worn you can find out what the bearings dimensions are Again by measuring it with verners something that people might forget to check but is really important is the state of your saddle bag and being where it is on above the back wheel it often

Gets caked and covered in mud and water and all sorts of crap and this can actually soak inside the saddle bag and then people often forget about it but it can cause things in it to corrode because it creates a perfect environment for rusting and so things such as your

CO2 two canisters can corrode away your little CO2 inflated tool if you have one your multi-tool um other bits and pieces even your inner tube can get damaged especially if it’s rubbing slightly um with that dirt in there against a hard object like a multi-tool it can get a

Little hole in it and then it’s useless when it you come to use it at the time you you need it most so one thing to do is to just give your saddle bag a bit of love if it gets caked in loads of rubbish you know give it a bit of a

Clean um take it off make sure you dry out take the bits out individually and dry them out after you’ve had a really wet ride and another little hack you might want to consider is just getting a simple little clear plastic resealable bag such as this and either you know

Putting items in there such as you know metallic things that might corrode such as your multi-tool or if you want to give an inner tube a bit of protection you could put that in a in a bag a little thin plastic bag too and finally a bonus tip for you you need

To look after the engine you and keep yourself healthy when you’re riding around on winter Lanes somewhere like England you find that your bike and uh frame and your bottles get covered in cow Pats this isn’t very hygienic and can cause you to get sick so something

That I’ve taken to doing which I think is a bit of a game changer is using caps on the end of the tee of your bottle just to keep it clean and free from cow Pats so just that keeps it clean flips on you can uh buy various different ones

There’s ones that cover the whole nozzle and then there’s ones like this that just cover the the tee and keep it clean um and these are removable you can take them off but yeah something that I I always use in Winter now well there you have it I hope you found these tips

Useful I hope they save you some money and keep your winter riding less well less stressful um winter riding is one of the best times to go ride your bike because the light is often incredible it’s quieter and you just see nature in a different way but this list isn’t

Exhaustive so if you’ve got some other tips I feel like these are the main ones but fire yours down in the comments below and it’d be great to hear them I’m uh going to go now love you bye