The only one I disagree with is latex tubes, they're appropriate for a certain audience. Butyl, latex, TPU and tubeless being the four options, each are very different and offer pros and cons.
I agree. The latex argument as false and passed over technology was weak at best. Latex work great and provide a quality ride. For those of us who don’t want to deal with tubeless latex is a great affordable option esp over the Tpu which are 2x more expensive than latex. When tubeless fails it’s catastrophic and difficult to fix. Tubes like latex easy fix!
I run latex inner tubes for a year and a bit now, the installation is as easy as it is with regular inner tubes, never had a puncture. They do slowly lose air but I assume most of us check tyre pressure before every ride anyway. Tubeless is a lot more expensive and faffy than latex tubes.
My thoughts exactly. In my experience moving from butyl to latex is a big step up in ride feel with little to no downsides. From latex to tubeless is a small improvement in ride feel but it's a whole lot more faff.
I've been running the same pair of Latex inner tube for around 3000kms without any puncture at all. Besides from costs, latex tube is way easier to handle yourself compared to tubeless. It's just not that easy to maintain tubeless yourself at home
5:42 My value proposition for latex tubes is that, if you've already invested in decent nontubeless wheels, you can raid the clearance sales for latex tubes, and then move to tubeless some years down the road after other folks have spent countless amounts of time, trouble, and money figuring it out.
When shopping for sunglasses, just make sure that the lens is made out of polycarbonate, not acrylic. Polycarbonate is cheap, UV resistant and flexible, therefore it doesn't shatter.
13 years of racing in the amateur peloton and never have I seen (or heard of) sunglasses 'explode'. I've been wearing fake sunglasses the whole time, and they have been so worth it. In every serious crash they fly off. I don't get why sunglasses should cost € 250. For something that is the easiest item to lose, scratch or get damaged. This sounds like fear mongering. And (probably very effecticely) instilling a fear and unnecessary concerns into the viewers.
10:52 - Table sugar (sucrose) can replace expensive energy drinks. Just mix 40g of sugar with water, add some salt. Perfect for moderate to high intensity workouts when conditions are not super hot. When you sweat a lot - proper energy drink powder is perhaps slightly better but for daily usage sugar is perfectly enough. No colouring ingredients and other E-junk is another value added point 🤣
Even the electrolytes form "proper" energy drinks can be replicated: They are mostly just sodium (table Salt) potassium chloride (Sold as Salt substitute) and Magnesium sulphate (Food grade Epsom Salts) You use so little per bottle that a years supply (or more) can be had for the price of a few High5 or SIS tubes. If you like lemon you can use Citric Acid powder (Used in wine making) for the flavour and portion the dry powders out into those pill organiser containers ready to go. (Contact lens cases are a good way to carry some powder with you on long rides)
I'll have to join the latex tube defenders here. Admittedly in the early days I've blown up one when installing it but since then I've only had to replace tubes when I've replaced my tyres, and that's just as a precaution. They also only lose about 5psi/day so I only need to pump them up every few days and of course before races.
Latex tubes lose way over than 5 PSI. I pump my tyres to around 90/95 PSI and over a day they lose somewhere around 20-ish PSI, if not more, enough to become squishy pillow. Pumping the tyres up with air every day is a must. Or maybe it is just Michelin latex tubes being crap?
@@dainiusvysniauskas2049 my Vittoria latex tubes also lose pressure quite quickly. It is possible to ride two days in the row without pumping, but already feels soft so I pump for every ride.
I agree with everything, except tubeless tyres vs latex inertubes. Tubeless tyres are much more expensive plus you need tubeless rims, tubeless rimtape, tubeless valves, tubeless sealant that you need to tip up every few weeks etc. By far the cheapest way is to go with clinchers and innertubes. One item I’m missing is shoes. Don’t save on shoes, but get a pair that really fits.
I mix carbs myself: 60 g Maltodextrin and 30 g Fructose with 2 g of salt in a 750 ml bottle, best if topped with lemon juice for potassium and taste. It’s really cheap, under 1 Euro a portion , you can adapt it to your needs and you know what’s in it. Downside: looks really funky in plastic bags when going on cycling vacation. But was never an issue so far 😂.
@zed Aprilia tuono 1000r Yes if you are not racing and training and use one tablet of your mix per ride then yes it is not worth it, but if you need 90g of carbs per hour for proper training then you would need 45 tablets for one 2hour ride and that can get super expensive very quick. In that case @The cycling NinjaElephant aproach makes a lot of sense.
@@donwinston I am a heavy and salty sweater (ask my wife, she loves it… not 😂). As I said: adapted to my needs. For really long activities you also drink water at some point anyway.
5:42 - instead of latex tubes, I'm now on super-cheap RideNow! TPU tubes. Fast, seems durable (ok, just 300 km on them) - I can only recommend. Far superior over tubeless hassle... at least for me.
Latex tubes are easy to install if you’re aware of what you’re doing. And you should check your tyre pressures before every ride anyway. So no they haven’t been surpassed by a better option. Especially not this tubeless crap…that belongs only on off-road bikes
Regarding cheap bibs: My Aldi had long winter bibs last fall for 14€ and afterwards even discounted to 11€ and I got 4 of them. The padding is not the best but sufficient for rides around 2-3h max and the fit is "fine", not aero or anything but also not super loose. They slowly start to fall apart now after one winter but next fall I will probably get a few more and I'm good to go for another season. I also crashed because I slipped on a patch of ice this winter and tore the bibs around the knee, I'd be mad if that happened with one of my nicer bibs. For longer all day rides a good pair with a good chamois is of course prefered. For summer I'd go expensive super aero bibs though, in winter I don't care about aerodynamics as long as I'm warm haha
I'm guessing you tried latex tubes a while ago when they where more temperamental, they are not so easy to damage and don't drop pressure as fast as they did in the past. if you still have a non-TL wheelset I'd give them another go.
I disagree on latex. Tubeless tire+sealant is similar weight as clincher+latex. Rolling resistance is on par. For my case (Conti) tubeless is 1/2 more expensive per tire. So, same money I can buy 2 tubeless and sealant or 3 clinchers and 3 latex tubes. I had big cut on my tubeless, no sealant or plug couldn't fix it. I had to throw it away. My ride was saved with some paper and inner tube. So I returned to clinchers.
Tubeless has massive advantage of running the set up 10-20 PSI less than tubes. Less PSI means less vibrations which means more comfort and less vibrational losses
I entirely agree with running some half-decent brand's glasses since the cheap stuff just isnt as comfortable and present serious safety concerns. My first (and current) road bike's wheelset isn't tubeless compatible, but I do have the option of running Ridenow's Latex tubes which are a quarter of the cost of the Vittoria latex stuff and are locally available given that I'm in Asia. I'm quite happy with their performance and all flats I've had cus of them were entirely preventable had I been more careful and would have gimped me regardless if I was on butyl :)
I'm probably getting downvoted for this, but serviceing your entry level fork too often is a false economy imo. When the service of my RS Pike fork costs 200€ per year (small + big service) after already 2.5 years I could buy a new fork for that money. I service my fork every two years and don't really feel any loss of performance.
The subscriptions in cycling annoy me, strava training peaks, zwift, virtually every cycling news website could cost £50 a month just in subscriptions alone.
lol.. saying Latex tubes are expensive while showing one at £13, 2 mins after showing £145 chain oil. I was buying Michelin greenlite latex at £6 so price wasn't an issue back then anyway.
Plain paraffin is cheap and from tests I have seen works pretty well. Not to mention been used a long time by us older riders. But you probably don't get paid to say that.
Top nutrition tip I discovered using a "sponsors bar" when riding the "We Ride Flanders" sportive (an Ettix one) was just a stick of marzipan. Cheap and easily available from supermarkets I always now ride with a couple of marzipan sticks in the back pocket, its just they're non sports nutrition specific and from the supermarket cake aisle!
@Donald Winston How do you know that's not what I want? At 59yrs of age and embracing my inner snail I just need to make sure I refuel. These marzipan sticks help me to do so on my long endurance rides.
The question I ask myself is 'am I still enjoying what I have now?'. My first bike was £50 from Tesco when they stopped selling bikes in 2015, and I had loads of fun on it. My current bike is one I got from a charity shop on Marylebone High Street for £90 late last year. Also, 'can I loose weight?', personally I could get the equivalent of a few £1000s of bike weight saving for free (or even saving the beer money) quite easily!
This has been my line of thought for decades. However, since my focus has shifted from "utility biking" to "fun biking", I discovered that lighter bikes are much more fun to ride. I am not talking about 6kg ultra racing bikes, but my 15 kg touring bike has a hard time competing against a moderate 10-11 kg race or gravel bike. On the other hand, I still enjoy riding my recumbent at 17 kgs. So, I would say, as with everything, when you enjoy something very much it's up to you where to draw the line regarding spending.
@@mcbohdo totally agree. Actually ‚how much you spend‘ and ‚how much you enjoy‘ are totally independent. You spend as much as you can afford and agree to spend for your hobby. But to enjoy riding, you can buy an old bike and upgrade/renew it a bit and get a lot of fun riding 😊
Nope. Adam of ZFC just published a video about this. Long story short home blend wax are only as good as lubes. Bike wax like from Black Diamond, Silca and Molten are legitimately better than lubes AND home blend wax.
@@ariffau To be fair Adam said from a performance point of view DIY/Straight paraffin was only as good as most wet lubes, if you just want a clean drivetrain that lasts longer its not a bad way to go as long as you get a good quality wax, he actually recommends Gulf canning wax if you must do it. Been using Enigma (Black edition) for a few moths some people are saying its basically the old MSW formula It's around half the price of Silca and current MSW, and I'm seeing about the same wear rate as Silca, I'd defiantly recommend it to people who cringe at the price of the others and don't care about counting the watts. I'll probably go back to Silca when it's done but if the bigger names are out of stock everywhere and the shops are price gouging I wouldn't be too bothered about using it again.
best for your money Glasses: kapvoe Bike pc: igpsport bsc200 or bsc100 or igps320 Lube: silca hot wax Subscription: none Tubese: none, tubeless (silca or mucoff) Bike: windspace/merida/giant Tools: slightly more expensive than the cheapest (complex tools are better to buy an average level) Gel: only on race and only top and pre top range brad that suit you electrolytes: only race or hot ride, mid range brad or top range
@@HD46409 cheap from where? A decent one is £100+ Also gotta buy a bucket load of quick links/power locks at £4 each. I don’t see immersion waxing being cost effective at all where I live (Scotland) Also the wax is crazy expensive. Normal wet lube and a quick degrease keeps the drivetrain clean and smooth. Fair enough not saving as many watts that way but I’m not a pro, if I was I wouldn’t be posting random comments on YT.
You still can! This video was cherry-picking some stupid clip 😒 The Vittoria Latex tubes I run on my Weekend bike (Butyl on the weekday commuter) are usually around £10 (e.g. currently £11 on MerlinCycles, and sometimes on sale cheaper!) Given that these Latex inner tubes have a lovely road feel and have had hardly any punctures, I'm a big fan!
I disagree on the latex tubes. since I went to latex tubes I never get flats like I did with butyl the only drawback is I air them up every other day, but i have a compressor with an inflated valve tubeless is hard to mount messy air and sealant can escape burping if the tyre bead comes away from the rim due to a sudden impact or extreme cornering force.
I just put slime in my tubes. I haven't had to repair or replace a tube since I started sliming them well over a year ago, and I can go months without re-inflating them. I'll add that riding through broken glass in the bike lane is a relatively common occurrence where I live.
Vittoria latex tubes cost £6, easily install, can be repaired with another tube and superglue, and lose about 2 psi per night (less than a single stroke of a track pump). Tubeless tyres cost £10-20 more, let alone counting sealant, tape, valves, plugs, high volume air pump. Even then latex is more appropriate for higher pressure or slimmer tyres where sealant won't work effectively.
Just found two flats, one on my latex one on my tubeless. Latex was just a matter of putting thread locker on the valve extender. Tubeless required removing the tape, cleaning the rim, retaping, putting in an inner tube, coming back later to re mount the tyre (160psi from a can which took all my bodyweight on the pump) and it's still leaking so I'm not feeling very pro tubeless currently 🎉
Great video - sparked a latex tube debate but I’m with you. My difference is on lube. Talk of taking your chain of your bike, ultrasonic cleaners and wax is off putting for a lot of riders. I use a good degreaser and was recommended Fenwick’s all conditions lube. No issues and no faff.
I got a set of latex tubes with a pair of Corsa Control tyres - but have never used them. I know they'll be punctured in 5 mins on the roads I ride on.
Buy a liter of MOBIL 1 SHC 75/90 for $20. Drip some on when chain looks or sounds dry. Clean with a tablespoon of diesel and dish soap/water. Costs almost nothing vs wax-based bike-specific products.
From a financial standpoint tubeless really is very expensive despite its obvious "advantages", the tiers are twice if not three times more expensive, last I looked Conti str were 80 quid each, and Conti gp5000 standard clinchers were 33quid. The sealant, well you may need to replace that monthly based on geographic region or how much bad luck you have, that stuff is as much as 40 quid a time for a decent-sized bottle. Every time you have a puncture bad enough for the sealant to escape you’re literally pissing money down the drain, I can very cheaply repair a tube and within reason patch a standard clincher tier, so its better for the environment as well. Ill take the hit on the odd puncture. So I’d swing it the other way, latex tubes actually offer superior value in this regard I could buy a stock of tubes for the price of one tubeless install. YMMV but for me even though my rims are tubeless ready I still use tubes it just cheaper and easier to live with on the daily. Tubeless really doesn't offer a financial advantage despite the on-road advantage and peace of mind it may offer. And the value proposition widens further if you stick to normal tubes.
TRs are that expensive because they are new and hookless compatible. The older TL tyres are like 45 euros a piece (compared to roughly 35 euros for regular GP5000s, but the price evens out once you include the price of latex tubes, other brands can be even closer in price). You don't need to replace tubeless monthly unless you live in a really shitty climate for sealants. Most punctures require very little sealant, which isn't likely to require immediate top up (especially not full bottle), and if you were to get a puncture so bad sealant can't seal it, you probably ain't fixing similar puncture to tube and tyre (especially if sidewall is damaged), which means new tyre and a tube. Also, a tubeless set up over a span of 6 months can easily save you *at least* an hour of your time (assuming best case scenario, where you do not get any punctures). Add punctures into the mix and you're literally saving hours of your time
The amount of tubeless bashing in these comments are wild. Going to assume disc brakes, aero frame sets, integrated cables/hoses and the like would be bashed by the same folk 😂 Oan yersel the hookless rims and tubeless tyres 🎉
🤔 all of these things have inherent tradeoffs, right? Disk brakes are awesome if you're not a confident descender and carbon rims in the wet can be terrifying 😆. However, their popularity has led to marginally heavier bikes with longer chainstays. Not my thing but maybe you like it? Aero framesets are perfect for a smash fest around mallorca. If your roads aren't well maintained then the extra stiffness they provide and resultant chatter will be unwelcome. And as for tubeless? I love it on the 'crosser or MTB. Even made me dump tubs (and I loved the gluing process, so therapeutic!) For road, I've seen / had so many unfixable-at-the-roadside punctures that I've gone back to latex or tpu tubes. It just doesn't seem to work well at road pressures (and yes, I'm aware of the pressure compensation concept for TL). If you haven't personally encountered this then count yourself lucky!
Depends what you're saving money on. Department store bikes range from sketchy to downright dangerous to ride (you can ride the highest-end Walmart bike out of the store brand new and crash in the parking lot because the brakes don't work out of the box). Cheap tools and lube will only wear out your components faster. Cheap chamois are pretty worthless and significantly worse than just wearing normal street clothes (wearing street clothes on a bike gets a bad rap. I think the benefit of chamois is overstated, especially for people who just want a bike as an affordable method of transportation). That said, I don't think the vast majority of people need wax lube. Just go to your local bike shop and ask what they think is decent value. As long as it's not wearing out your components unnecessarily fast. A decent enough bottle of lube might be $20 for a 2oz bottle. A daily commute of 2.5 miles each direction, including weekends, is 150 miles of riding per month. Based on this commuting schedule, re-application is only necessary about once per month. And a 2oz bottle will last for years. Saving money is great, but certain things will only cost you more. I like to think of the boots metaphor... One person can only afford a cheap pair of boots buys a pair every 6 months. But a rich person buys an expensive pair that lasts their entire life. The person with the cheap boots can't save up for a more expensive pair because they're spending all their money replacing the pair they already have. With lube and tools the difference in price might not be enough to create this kind of poverty trap, but when buying department store bikes it definitely is. A second-hand bike at the same pricepoint will be much safer, last you much longer, and be much more enjoyable to ride. And since it lasts longer, by the time you're ready to get a higher-end bike you'll actually have money as long as you haven't been wearing through components from using cheap tools and cheap lube.
Yeah that having good tools thing is something I learned the hard way and also didn't listen to Dad about 🙂. Don't skip on tools, you will have them your whole life.
Don‘t know why you complain about latex tubes, I bought Vittoria tubes for 8 or 9 euro quite a time ago and they made already about 5000 km without issues and punctures. A bit annoying is to pump tires before every ride, but I do it for usual tubes too.
One thing I will say about the nutrition products, even though it probably doesn't really do anything, at least think it does; so mind over matter 🙂. You'll find me at the next marathon expo buying discount 50 GU gels 😎.
I make my own calorie drink myself cause it's cheaper and it tastes better [to me]. Per 24oz water bottle: 2g ginger powder, 34g brown sugar, 19g apple cider vinegar, then top up with water
When mentioning wax lubes the presenter states he “ prefers non PTFE” waxes, why so? PTFE is a pretty good lubricant and “safe” at low temperatures apparently.
False Economy! Such a huge topic! Certain points I agree with in this film others not. Clothing! I'm a big guy! Not fat I'm big! 6ft 2" & 17st. I ride up to 200+ miles a week. First off the majority of so called professional cycling clothing companies do not make clothing to fit people like me. Why would they? They make sizes for the masses. So trying to buy anything from Le Col and such is a no go. But I wouldn't pay their prices anyway. I'm a 53 year old hobby cyclist who really doesn't give a toss about clothing labels. I've had some shorts from cheaper brands and they've been fine and lasted years. Not only that, when you come off the bike, and we all do at some point! The cost to replace items is crazy. My thought when purchasing absolutely anything in life is: go down the middle and you're most likely to be happy with the product and what it's cost! My £50 waterproof jacket from decathlon is now 6 years old and it's brilliant! I take it on every ride. Would I pay £350+ for a Casteli jacket? No. Because it's not worth the £300 extra. If it rains hard you're gonna get wet. BUT! If folk want to go out and spend money on brands that pros wear, let them. Be happy! 😊 Everyone to their own.
Bicycle [chain] oil seems foolisly 'mystified'. NASCAR Mobil Premium 1 must lubricate effectively at over 9,000 rpms at 300 degrees F. for 600 mi. without a change. It's about $8.00/quart at Walmart ... compared to $18 -> $100 per 2 oz.? with no universal standards? for lubricant that has very low stress requirements? Margerine, olive oil or WD40 would seem adequate do the "lubricating" job just fine. It is, after all, the road grit stuck to the oil that creates all the wear & tear, especially when shifting. "Graphite" [dry] lube from "Blaster" (a top auto brand) costs $6.00/5.5 oz. at Home Depot.
That's perhaps the worst. WD40 on a bike chain will only attract more grime and increase the wear to your chain. You'd honestly be better off with no lube at all. In fact, there are very few parts of your bike where it's a good idea to put WD40. A decent enough lube costs about $20 for a bottle than can last you for multiple years of commuting 2.5 miles each direction every day.
@@JamesSmith-qs4hx Just go to your local bike shop and get cycling-specific lubricant. Your chain, chainrings, and cassette will all last longer and you'll spend less money replacing worn-out parts. I don't care what brand you get, just get something cycling-specific. You know the saying, you can do one thing well or you can do many things poorly. I don't know why you assume I think GT-85 is any better than WD-40. I mean, it contains teflon so I guess that makes it marginally better? But maybe you just mean "GT85 enjoyer" as a derogatory comment. In which case, you should know GT-85's copyright is registered to the WD-40 company... Why WD-40 is Bad for Your Bike Chain th-cam.com/video/J_jRzqQsbsc/w-d-xo.html
@@cumpootuhruser9355 I give my chain a squirt of wd40 about once every two months. I ride my bike to work and back every day. About 10 miles. The bike is a 2008 Ribble 7005 audax with campag chain rings a suntour cassette and tiagra derailer - I have replaced the chain once. WD40 is great and for the win.
@@JamesSmith-qs4hx Well I guess you must have an INCREDIBLY durable chain, to have been riding a bike for that long and only have needed to replace the chain once. Because that WD-40 is doing close enough to nothing in terms of actual lubrication. Or maybe you bought your bike second-hand... Seeing as normally you need to replace your chain every 2000-3000 miles, I'm gonna go ahead and guess it's the latter. Because if I give you the benefit of the doubt and say it's 10 miles total (5 in each direction), a properly-maintained chain should be replaced after a little longer than a year. 1 year of riding 5 out of 7 days for 11.5 miles/day = 3000 total riding miles. With your claimed amount of riding, a properly-maintained bike that you've owned since 2008 has had its chain replaced 13 times. Of course that's assuming it's 10 miles total riding per day. If you ride 10 miles each direction, your chain should be getting replaced every 6 months. But you said you've only replaced it once. If you've been riding that bike since 2008, your chain wear has to be at, what, somewhere between 5-10% by now? Yeah, no. Even giving you the benefit of every doubt you've been riding that bike for about 2 years. My guess is you started bike commuting during the pandemic.
The only one I disagree with is latex tubes, they're appropriate for a certain audience. Butyl, latex, TPU and tubeless being the four options, each are very different and offer pros and cons.
I mean tubs are still around too, though that's almost exclusively on the track crowd lol.
@@SonjaTheDork True, I forgot about that. Also an option, with a certain audience, being mostly track like you said.
I agree. The latex argument as false and passed over technology was weak at best. Latex work great and provide a quality ride. For those of us who don’t want to deal with tubeless latex is a great affordable option esp over the Tpu which are 2x more expensive than latex. When tubeless fails it’s catastrophic and difficult to fix. Tubes like latex easy fix!
I run latex inner tubes for a year and a bit now, the installation is as easy as it is with regular inner tubes, never had a puncture. They do slowly lose air but I assume most of us check tyre pressure before every ride anyway. Tubeless is a lot more expensive and faffy than latex tubes.
My thoughts exactly. In my experience moving from butyl to latex is a big step up in ride feel with little to no downsides. From latex to tubeless is a small improvement in ride feel but it's a whole lot more faff.
Two years on latex tubes, only one flat since then. Riding feels excelent, and checking tire pressure isn't a con imo
More expensive tires and pump. And you have to replace the sealant every few months.
I've been running the same pair of Latex inner tube for around 3000kms without any puncture at all. Besides from costs, latex tube is way easier to handle yourself compared to tubeless. It's just not that easy to maintain tubeless yourself at home
Tubeless is a piece of cake to set up and maintain. I won’t go back to tubed. Each to their own and all that.
5:42 My value proposition for latex tubes is that, if you've already invested in decent nontubeless wheels, you can raid the clearance sales for latex tubes, and then move to tubeless some years down the road after other folks have spent countless amounts of time, trouble, and money figuring it out.
Exactly
Or never go tubeless. Because why? 😂
Latex tubes are great
If you don't check your Tyre pressure before riding you may as well not ride
When shopping for sunglasses, just make sure that the lens is made out of polycarbonate, not acrylic.
Polycarbonate is cheap, UV resistant and flexible, therefore it doesn't shatter.
13 years of racing in the amateur peloton and never have I seen (or heard of) sunglasses 'explode'. I've been wearing fake sunglasses the whole time, and they have been so worth it. In every serious crash they fly off. I don't get why sunglasses should cost € 250. For something that is the easiest item to lose, scratch or get damaged.
This sounds like fear mongering. And (probably very effecticely) instilling a fear and unnecessary concerns into the viewers.
10:52 - Table sugar (sucrose) can replace expensive energy drinks. Just mix 40g of sugar with water, add some salt. Perfect for moderate to high intensity workouts when conditions are not super hot. When you sweat a lot - proper energy drink powder is perhaps slightly better but for daily usage sugar is perfectly enough. No colouring ingredients and other E-junk is another value added point 🤣
Even the electrolytes form "proper" energy drinks can be replicated: They are mostly just sodium (table Salt) potassium chloride (Sold as Salt substitute) and Magnesium sulphate (Food grade Epsom Salts) You use so little per bottle that a years supply (or more) can be had for the price of a few High5 or SIS tubes. If you like lemon you can use Citric Acid powder (Used in wine making) for the flavour and portion the dry powders out into those pill organiser containers ready to go. (Contact lens cases are a good way to carry some powder with you on long rides)
I'll have to join the latex tube defenders here. Admittedly in the early days I've blown up one when installing it but since then I've only had to replace tubes when I've replaced my tyres, and that's just as a precaution. They also only lose about 5psi/day so I only need to pump them up every few days and of course before races.
Latex tubes lose way over than 5 PSI. I pump my tyres to around 90/95 PSI and over a day they lose somewhere around 20-ish PSI, if not more, enough to become squishy pillow. Pumping the tyres up with air every day is a must. Or maybe it is just Michelin latex tubes being crap?
@@dainiusvysniauskas2049 my Vittoria latex tubes also lose pressure quite quickly. It is possible to ride two days in the row without pumping, but already feels soft so I pump for every ride.
I agree with everything, except tubeless tyres vs latex inertubes. Tubeless tyres are much more expensive plus you need tubeless rims, tubeless rimtape, tubeless valves, tubeless sealant that you need to tip up every few weeks etc. By far the cheapest way is to go with clinchers and innertubes.
One item I’m missing is shoes. Don’t save on shoes, but get a pair that really fits.
You only need to top up sealant once every few months...
@@JoshuaBorrow and it adds and adds extra weight. No thank you.
The bit about the exploding fake sunglasses is hilarious. It's as if Oakley scripted it themselves.
Dropped my limited edition from Tokyo Olympics Kokoro Frogskin on the road. They exploded as well.
Yeah this guy just destroyed his credibility.
I crashed on my face and my Oakleys absolutely saved my eye area. You wouldn't buy cheap eyewear for a workshop or lab so why would you while cycling?
It happens, believe me.
@@askmeaboutmattweiner Fully tested and approved "Safety glasses" are like £4 a pair. Define "cheap".
Hi hi, remember folks this is a magazine!! Ask your friends for advice, don't fall for the idiot tax.
I mix carbs myself: 60 g Maltodextrin and 30 g Fructose with 2 g of salt in a 750 ml bottle, best if topped with lemon juice for potassium and taste. It’s really cheap, under 1 Euro a portion , you can adapt it to your needs and you know what’s in it. Downside: looks really funky in plastic bags when going on cycling vacation. But was never an issue so far 😂.
A tube of drink mix is like £3.99 for 20 tablets the math doesn't make sense and the faff isn't worth it.
@zed Aprilia tuono 1000r Yes if you are not racing and training and use one tablet of your mix per ride then yes it is not worth it, but if you need 90g of carbs per hour for proper training then you would need 45 tablets for one 2hour ride and that can get super expensive very quick. In that case @The cycling NinjaElephant aproach makes a lot of sense.
Those ziplock bags with white powders. Hahah. Yea. Gets awkward for sure
2g of salt is an awful lot. All you need is 1/2 gram.
@@donwinston I am a heavy and salty sweater (ask my wife, she loves it… not 😂). As I said: adapted to my needs. For really long activities you also drink water at some point anyway.
My god the never ending tubeless sales pitch. Give it a rest.
5:42 - instead of latex tubes, I'm now on super-cheap RideNow! TPU tubes. Fast, seems durable (ok, just 300 km on them) - I can only recommend. Far superior over tubeless hassle... at least for me.
Latex tubes are easy to install if you’re aware of what you’re doing. And you should check your tyre pressures before every ride anyway. So no they haven’t been surpassed by a better option. Especially not this tubeless crap…that belongs only on off-road bikes
Tubeless > tubes, eat your heart out
@@dainiusvysniauskas2049 for off-road sure
@@TheUsername1302 For all surfaces, not just off-road.
@@dainiusvysniauskas2049 I disagree but you do you
Wtf? 35€ for a latex tube? They cost 7 - 10€ here in Germany. Did you search for the most expensive offer? 😲
In the video they showed Vittoria latex, I bought them for 8 or 9 euro. Not that expensive compared to butyl for 3,50.
Regarding cheap bibs: My Aldi had long winter bibs last fall for 14€ and afterwards even discounted to 11€ and I got 4 of them. The padding is not the best but sufficient for rides around 2-3h max and the fit is "fine", not aero or anything but also not super loose. They slowly start to fall apart now after one winter but next fall I will probably get a few more and I'm good to go for another season. I also crashed because I slipped on a patch of ice this winter and tore the bibs around the knee, I'd be mad if that happened with one of my nicer bibs. For longer all day rides a good pair with a good chamois is of course prefered.
For summer I'd go expensive super aero bibs though, in winter I don't care about aerodynamics as long as I'm warm haha
I'm guessing you tried latex tubes a while ago when they where more temperamental, they are not so easy to damage and don't drop pressure as fast as they did in the past. if you still have a non-TL wheelset I'd give them another go.
Poppycock! I'm still wearing 20 Euro Decathlon bibs from nearly 20 years ago. Stopped watching after this.
Dude. Latex tubes are ~$12.
I disagree on latex. Tubeless tire+sealant is similar weight as clincher+latex. Rolling resistance is on par. For my case (Conti) tubeless is 1/2 more expensive per tire. So, same money I can buy 2 tubeless and sealant or 3 clinchers and 3 latex tubes. I had big cut on my tubeless, no sealant or plug couldn't fix it. I had to throw it away. My ride was saved with some paper and inner tube. So I returned to clinchers.
Tubeless has massive advantage of running the set up 10-20 PSI less than tubes. Less PSI means less vibrations which means more comfort and less vibrational losses
I entirely agree with running some half-decent brand's glasses since the cheap stuff just isnt as comfortable and present serious safety concerns. My first (and current) road bike's wheelset isn't tubeless compatible, but I do have the option of running Ridenow's Latex tubes which are a quarter of the cost of the Vittoria latex stuff and are locally available given that I'm in Asia. I'm quite happy with their performance and all flats I've had cus of them were entirely preventable had I been more careful and would have gimped me regardless if I was on butyl :)
Ganna did the hour record on latex tubes, so.
I'm probably getting downvoted for this, but serviceing your entry level fork too often is a false economy imo.
When the service of my RS Pike fork costs 200€ per year (small + big service) after already 2.5 years I could buy a new fork for that money.
I service my fork every two years and don't really feel any loss of performance.
Tubeless are messy and hard to change at the roadside when required. I will not be using tubeless ever, unless there is no other option.
The subscriptions in cycling annoy me, strava training peaks, zwift, virtually every cycling news website could cost £50 a month just in subscriptions alone.
You see what they did there?
lol.. saying Latex tubes are expensive while showing one at £13, 2 mins after showing £145 chain oil.
I was buying Michelin greenlite latex at £6 so price wasn't an issue back then anyway.
Plain paraffin is cheap and from tests I have seen works pretty well.
Not to mention been used a long time by us older riders.
But you probably don't get paid to say that.
I heard you can tie string around your chain and drop it in your petrol tank. Have you tried it?
@Chris Binch no, I use a solvent and an ultrasonic cleaner.
Top nutrition tip I discovered using a "sponsors bar" when riding the "We Ride Flanders" sportive (an Ettix one) was just a stick of marzipan. Cheap and easily available from supermarkets I always now ride with a couple of marzipan sticks in the back pocket, its just they're non sports nutrition specific and from the supermarket cake aisle!
Those typically have a lot of fat which you normally do not want.
@Donald Winston How do you know that's not what I want? At 59yrs of age and embracing my inner snail I just need to make sure I refuel. These marzipan sticks help me to do so on my long endurance rides.
Thanks for advice. I usually take ‚fruit bars‘ which also cost just some cents
As soon as someone else is paying I'll buy the expensive stuff.
The question I ask myself is 'am I still enjoying what I have now?'. My first bike was £50 from Tesco when they stopped selling bikes in 2015, and I had loads of fun on it. My current bike is one I got from a charity shop on Marylebone High Street for £90 late last year. Also, 'can I loose weight?', personally I could get the equivalent of a few £1000s of bike weight saving for free (or even saving the beer money) quite easily!
This has been my line of thought for decades. However, since my focus has shifted from "utility biking" to "fun biking", I discovered that lighter bikes are much more fun to ride. I am not talking about 6kg ultra racing bikes, but my 15 kg touring bike has a hard time competing against a moderate 10-11 kg race or gravel bike. On the other hand, I still enjoy riding my recumbent at 17 kgs. So, I would say, as with everything, when you enjoy something very much it's up to you where to draw the line regarding spending.
@@mcbohdo totally agree. Actually ‚how much you spend‘ and ‚how much you enjoy‘ are totally independent. You spend as much as you can afford and agree to spend for your hobby. But to enjoy riding, you can buy an old bike and upgrade/renew it a bit and get a lot of fun riding 😊
bicycle wax 50£ 500g normal wax 1kg 4.99£ nice :D
Nope. Adam of ZFC just published a video about this. Long story short home blend wax are only as good as lubes.
Bike wax like from Black Diamond, Silca and Molten are legitimately better than lubes AND home blend wax.
@@ariffau To be fair Adam said from a performance point of view DIY/Straight paraffin was only as good as most wet lubes, if you just want a clean drivetrain that lasts longer its not a bad way to go as long as you get a good quality wax, he actually recommends Gulf canning wax if you must do it. Been using Enigma (Black edition) for a few moths some people are saying its basically the old MSW formula It's around half the price of Silca and current MSW, and I'm seeing about the same wear rate as Silca, I'd defiantly recommend it to people who cringe at the price of the others and don't care about counting the watts. I'll probably go back to Silca when it's done but if the bigger names are out of stock everywhere and the shops are price gouging I wouldn't be too bothered about using it again.
best for your money
Glasses: kapvoe
Bike pc: igpsport bsc200 or bsc100 or igps320
Lube: silca hot wax
Subscription: none
Tubese: none, tubeless (silca or mucoff)
Bike: windspace/merida/giant
Tools: slightly more expensive than the cheapest (complex tools are better to buy an average level)
Gel: only on race and only top and pre top range brad that suit you
electrolytes: only race or hot ride, mid range brad or top range
So what you are trying to say is riding a Euro bike in Aldi cycling clothing and taking a banana with you for a snack is a big no no.. :)
Sure, because every cyclist has an ultrasonic cleaner.
They are cheap and are useful for all sorts of stuff.
@@HD46409 cheap from where? A decent one is £100+ Also gotta buy a bucket load of quick links/power locks at £4 each. I don’t see immersion waxing being cost effective at all where I live (Scotland) Also the wax is crazy expensive. Normal wet lube and a quick degrease keeps the drivetrain clean and smooth. Fair enough not saving as many watts that way but I’m not a pro, if I was I wouldn’t be posting random comments on YT.
Best way to save is to buy stuff on sale
Oh I agree. Especially jersey and bibs!
What’s happened to the price of latex tubes? A few years ago you could get the ones you showed for less than a tenner 🤷♂️
You still can! This video was cherry-picking some stupid clip 😒
The Vittoria Latex tubes I run on my Weekend bike (Butyl on the weekday commuter) are usually around £10 (e.g. currently £11 on MerlinCycles, and sometimes on sale cheaper!)
Given that these Latex inner tubes have a lovely road feel and have had hardly any punctures, I'm a big fan!
Finish Line is perfectly fine and scores pretty high on different tests, especially for the price.
False economy in the bike industry? Well I will list it here: SHIMANO, SRAM, Campagnolio. Far cheaper alternatives exist.
I disagree on the latex tubes. since I went to latex tubes I never get flats like I did with butyl the only drawback is I air them up every other day, but i have a compressor with an inflated valve tubeless is hard to mount messy
air and sealant can escape burping if the tyre bead comes away from the rim due to a sudden impact or extreme cornering force.
I just put slime in my tubes. I haven't had to repair or replace a tube since I started sliming them well over a year ago, and I can go months without re-inflating them. I'll add that riding through broken glass in the bike lane is a relatively common occurrence where I live.
Vittoria latex tubes cost £6, easily install, can be repaired with another tube and superglue, and lose about 2 psi per night (less than a single stroke of a track pump).
Tubeless tyres cost £10-20 more, let alone counting sealant, tape, valves, plugs, high volume air pump. Even then latex is more appropriate for higher pressure or slimmer tyres where sealant won't work effectively.
Just found two flats, one on my latex one on my tubeless. Latex was just a matter of putting thread locker on the valve extender. Tubeless required removing the tape, cleaning the rim, retaping, putting in an inner tube, coming back later to re mount the tyre (160psi from a can which took all my bodyweight on the pump) and it's still leaking so I'm not feeling very pro tubeless currently 🎉
Thank you, Sam Gupta!
My cycling outfit cost less than 50 euro. All unused clothes from thrift stores. I think the new price of it all together is over a thousand euro.
Great video - sparked a latex tube debate but I’m with you. My difference is on lube. Talk of taking your chain of your bike, ultrasonic cleaners and wax is off putting for a lot of riders. I use a good degreaser and was recommended Fenwick’s all conditions lube. No issues and no faff.
I got a set of latex tubes with a pair of Corsa Control tyres - but have never used them. I know they'll be punctured in 5 mins on the roads I ride on.
Buy a liter of MOBIL 1 SHC 75/90 for $20. Drip some on when chain looks or sounds dry. Clean with a tablespoon of diesel and dish soap/water. Costs almost nothing vs wax-based bike-specific products.
From a financial standpoint tubeless really is very expensive despite its obvious "advantages", the tiers are twice if not three times more expensive, last I looked Conti str were 80 quid each, and Conti gp5000 standard clinchers were 33quid. The sealant, well you may need to replace that monthly based on geographic region or how much bad luck you have, that stuff is as much as 40 quid a time for a decent-sized bottle. Every time you have a puncture bad enough for the sealant to escape you’re literally pissing money down the drain, I can very cheaply repair a tube and within reason patch a standard clincher tier, so its better for the environment as well. Ill take the hit on the odd puncture.
So I’d swing it the other way, latex tubes actually offer superior value in this regard I could buy a stock of tubes for the price of one tubeless install. YMMV but for me even though my rims are tubeless ready I still use tubes it just cheaper and easier to live with on the daily. Tubeless really doesn't offer a financial advantage despite the on-road advantage and peace of mind it may offer. And the value proposition widens further if you stick to normal tubes.
TRs are that expensive because they are new and hookless compatible. The older TL tyres are like 45 euros a piece (compared to roughly 35 euros for regular GP5000s, but the price evens out once you include the price of latex tubes, other brands can be even closer in price).
You don't need to replace tubeless monthly unless you live in a really shitty climate for sealants. Most punctures require very little sealant, which isn't likely to require immediate top up (especially not full bottle), and if you were to get a puncture so bad sealant can't seal it, you probably ain't fixing similar puncture to tube and tyre (especially if sidewall is damaged), which means new tyre and a tube.
Also, a tubeless set up over a span of 6 months can easily save you *at least* an hour of your time (assuming best case scenario, where you do not get any punctures). Add punctures into the mix and you're literally saving hours of your time
The amount of tubeless bashing in these comments are wild. Going to assume disc brakes, aero frame sets, integrated cables/hoses and the like would be bashed by the same folk 😂 Oan yersel the hookless rims and tubeless tyres 🎉
🤔 all of these things have inherent tradeoffs, right?
Disk brakes are awesome if you're not a confident descender and carbon rims in the wet can be terrifying 😆. However, their popularity has led to marginally heavier bikes with longer chainstays. Not my thing but maybe you like it?
Aero framesets are perfect for a smash fest around mallorca. If your roads aren't well maintained then the extra stiffness they provide and resultant chatter will be unwelcome.
And as for tubeless? I love it on the 'crosser or MTB. Even made me dump tubs (and I loved the gluing process, so therapeutic!) For road, I've seen / had so many unfixable-at-the-roadside punctures that I've gone back to latex or tpu tubes. It just doesn't seem to work well at road pressures (and yes, I'm aware of the pressure compensation concept for TL). If you haven't personally encountered this then count yourself lucky!
The best glasses are safety glasses and TPU tubes are fantastic.
Great list especially if a rider is hooked on cycling…but for someone new to cycling saving money is ok also…maybe not the exploding sunglasses 🤔
Depends what you're saving money on. Department store bikes range from sketchy to downright dangerous to ride (you can ride the highest-end Walmart bike out of the store brand new and crash in the parking lot because the brakes don't work out of the box). Cheap tools and lube will only wear out your components faster. Cheap chamois are pretty worthless and significantly worse than just wearing normal street clothes (wearing street clothes on a bike gets a bad rap. I think the benefit of chamois is overstated, especially for people who just want a bike as an affordable method of transportation).
That said, I don't think the vast majority of people need wax lube. Just go to your local bike shop and ask what they think is decent value. As long as it's not wearing out your components unnecessarily fast. A decent enough bottle of lube might be $20 for a 2oz bottle. A daily commute of 2.5 miles each direction, including weekends, is 150 miles of riding per month. Based on this commuting schedule, re-application is only necessary about once per month. And a 2oz bottle will last for years.
Saving money is great, but certain things will only cost you more. I like to think of the boots metaphor... One person can only afford a cheap pair of boots buys a pair every 6 months. But a rich person buys an expensive pair that lasts their entire life. The person with the cheap boots can't save up for a more expensive pair because they're spending all their money replacing the pair they already have.
With lube and tools the difference in price might not be enough to create this kind of poverty trap, but when buying department store bikes it definitely is. A second-hand bike at the same pricepoint will be much safer, last you much longer, and be much more enjoyable to ride. And since it lasts longer, by the time you're ready to get a higher-end bike you'll actually have money as long as you haven't been wearing through components from using cheap tools and cheap lube.
Yeah that having good tools thing is something I learned the hard way and also didn't listen to Dad about 🙂. Don't skip on tools, you will have them your whole life.
Cheep tools could strip the head of a bolt BECAUSE they are made of soft metal.
Finish line dry is good stuff
Don‘t know why you complain about latex tubes, I bought Vittoria tubes for 8 or 9 euro quite a time ago and they made already about 5000 km without issues and punctures. A bit annoying is to pump tires before every ride, but I do it for usual tubes too.
Silca super secret has been cleaner than squirt for me. Try both though.
The reason you are wearing a cheap shirt is because you are not getting them from distributors for free. 50 Pounds for shorts😂
One thing I will say about the nutrition products, even though it probably doesn't really do anything, at least think it does; so mind over matter 🙂. You'll find me at the next marathon expo buying discount 50 GU gels 😎.
Finish Line invented dry lube. Most of those expensive oils are just marketing not real value.
I make my own calorie drink myself cause it's cheaper and it tastes better [to me]. Per 24oz water bottle: 2g ginger powder, 34g brown sugar, 19g apple cider vinegar, then top up with water
Cheapest sports drink I buy the powder form from the supermarket and add extra table sugar depending on how many carbs I need and top up with a bar
I also disagree with the latex tube being part of a false economy.
I've literally brought a trek 1.2(13 years old) never been ridden for 70 pounds from ebay.....
There’s saving. And there’s spending. One cancels out the other.
When mentioning wax lubes the presenter states he “ prefers non PTFE” waxes, why so?
PTFE is a pretty good lubricant and “safe” at low temperatures apparently.
Its a microplastic and not good for the environment, even the big Hot Melt brands are ditching it.
Did i just see him pouring sealant into the tire that wasnt even on a wheel? Yeah, thats never going to work out
Well, one side of the tyre was on the rim. Depending on the tyre, it can work out.
I've poured sealant into an open tire pocket a handful of times, never made a big mess out of it.
False Economy! Such a huge topic! Certain points I agree with in this film others not. Clothing! I'm a big guy! Not fat I'm big! 6ft 2" & 17st. I ride up to 200+ miles a week. First off the majority of so called professional cycling clothing companies do not make clothing to fit people like me. Why would they? They make sizes for the masses. So trying to buy anything from Le Col and such is a no go. But I wouldn't pay their prices anyway. I'm a 53 year old hobby cyclist who really doesn't give a toss about clothing labels. I've had some shorts from cheaper brands and they've been fine and lasted years. Not only that, when you come off the bike, and we all do at some point! The cost to replace items is crazy. My thought when purchasing absolutely anything in life is: go down the middle and you're most likely to be happy with the product and what it's cost! My £50 waterproof jacket from decathlon is now 6 years old and it's brilliant! I take it on every ride. Would I pay £350+ for a Casteli jacket? No. Because it's not worth the £300 extra. If it rains hard you're gonna get wet. BUT! If folk want to go out and spend money on brands that pros wear, let them. Be happy! 😊 Everyone to their own.
Tyres and skin suits offer the greatest watts per money spent.
Well, decathlon will resolve all of those with quality at all levels!
Buy nice or by twice?
You are telling people how to lube their chain, and you are putting that lube on the wrong side.
Damn that's a big chair!
Bolle safety glasses are cheap and very good
Bicycle [chain] oil seems foolisly 'mystified'. NASCAR Mobil Premium 1 must lubricate effectively at over 9,000 rpms at 300 degrees F. for 600 mi. without a change. It's about $8.00/quart at Walmart ... compared to $18 -> $100 per 2 oz.? with no universal standards? for lubricant that has very low stress requirements? Margerine, olive oil or WD40 would seem adequate do the "lubricating" job just fine. It is, after all, the road grit stuck to the oil that creates all the wear & tear, especially when shifting. "Graphite" [dry] lube from "Blaster" (a top auto brand) costs $6.00/5.5 oz. at Home Depot.
not having good health insurance
I love latex tubes on my road bike
Buy once, cry once..
I’d love to be arsed to bake
HowEVER…
Nice advertising.
CAP
You better tell Mark Cavendish to cancel his training app. Oh yes, he uses his trainer all year round as do most top class riders.
WD40 for the win.
That's perhaps the worst. WD40 on a bike chain will only attract more grime and increase the wear to your chain. You'd honestly be better off with no lube at all.
In fact, there are very few parts of your bike where it's a good idea to put WD40.
A decent enough lube costs about $20 for a bottle than can last you for multiple years of commuting 2.5 miles each direction every day.
@@cumpootuhruser9355 OK GT85 enjoyer.
@@JamesSmith-qs4hx Just go to your local bike shop and get cycling-specific lubricant. Your chain, chainrings, and cassette will all last longer and you'll spend less money replacing worn-out parts. I don't care what brand you get, just get something cycling-specific. You know the saying, you can do one thing well or you can do many things poorly.
I don't know why you assume I think GT-85 is any better than WD-40. I mean, it contains teflon so I guess that makes it marginally better? But maybe you just mean "GT85 enjoyer" as a derogatory comment. In which case, you should know GT-85's copyright is registered to the WD-40 company...
Why WD-40 is Bad for Your Bike Chain th-cam.com/video/J_jRzqQsbsc/w-d-xo.html
@@cumpootuhruser9355 I give my chain a squirt of wd40 about once every two months. I ride my bike to work and back every day. About 10 miles. The bike is a 2008 Ribble 7005 audax with campag chain rings a suntour cassette and tiagra derailer - I have replaced the chain once. WD40 is great and for the win.
@@JamesSmith-qs4hx Well I guess you must have an INCREDIBLY durable chain, to have been riding a bike for that long and only have needed to replace the chain once. Because that WD-40 is doing close enough to nothing in terms of actual lubrication. Or maybe you bought your bike second-hand...
Seeing as normally you need to replace your chain every 2000-3000 miles, I'm gonna go ahead and guess it's the latter. Because if I give you the benefit of the doubt and say it's 10 miles total (5 in each direction), a properly-maintained chain should be replaced after a little longer than a year. 1 year of riding 5 out of 7 days for 11.5 miles/day = 3000 total riding miles.
With your claimed amount of riding, a properly-maintained bike that you've owned since 2008 has had its chain replaced 13 times. Of course that's assuming it's 10 miles total riding per day. If you ride 10 miles each direction, your chain should be getting replaced every 6 months.
But you said you've only replaced it once. If you've been riding that bike since 2008, your chain wear has to be at, what, somewhere between 5-10% by now? Yeah, no. Even giving you the benefit of every doubt you've been riding that bike for about 2 years. My guess is you started bike commuting during the pandemic.