When cyclists think of cycling gear , bike-specific products and brands typically come to mind. However, we can't live our best life on a bike without many everyday items.
Some of the most ubiquitous products in everyday life are part of cycling culture. For example, there's nothing better than a cold Coca-Cola, preferably bottled, after a long drive on a hot summer day. Coffee is another part of everyday life that is related to cycling. Coffee breaks while riding are a tradition for cyclists, some bike shops have on-site cafes and several brands even market coffee beans and products to cyclists.
Some items can serve as tools for bicycle repair and maintenance. Sharp scissors are useful for cutting handlebar tape and toothpicks are more useful than you think when working on your bike. Unwaxed dental floss, old toothbrushes, and microfiber cloths are great for cleaning or detailing a bike. Old-school cyclists may even remember using a butter knife to remove tubing cement from tires.
However, some lesser-known or forgotten items you may have at home also provide great alternative uses for cyclists. Some are perfect for cleaning or maintenance , others are useful solutions in an emergency or on walks. Here are ten of our favorite household items with useful uses for cyclists. We want to get to know yours.
Liquid dishwashing liquid
One of the best bike cleaners is the dish soap you use in your kitchen. While expensive, bike-specific detergents work well, nothing beats the low price and value for money of liquid dish soap. Dishwashing liquid is very effective at removing grease, dirt, road salt and sweat. It is so effective that it is used by professional mechanics in many bike shops and events. At Bicycling HQ we keep a Costco sized bottle in our bike wash area.
magic eraser
Are your bottle holders leaving marks on your beautiful new bottles? I learned this tip from a mechanic on a MTB World Cup team: Clean the outside of your bottles with a melamine sponge (aka Magic Eraser) to remove residue. These sponges are also suitable for removing heel marks from chainstays, stains from white cycling shoes and dirt from light-colored handlebar tape. They change the game and keep your gear fresh.
Bottle brush and clothesline.
Use a magic eraser to keep the outside of your bottles fresh. Use a bottle brush to clean the interior of drink mix residue and prevent mold. Another tip comes from Reviews Editor (and new dad) Dan Chabanov: Use a bottle dryer to air dry them.
Insulating tape
Every road and gravel cyclist should have tape at home or in the garage. While bar tape usually comes with short pieces of "finishing tape" to complete the wrap, these pieces never conform neatly to the shape of the handlebar and often look odd. Use electrical tape for a professional looking result. And if the tape comes loose a bit or you want to move the levers, the electrical tape is easy to remove and reattach.
flanges
Cable ties have countless uses in cycling, including securing cable housings and brake hoses to frames and forks, sealing gaskets on suspension forks, securing a broken bike part to the road or trail, and much more. I often use old cable ties to remove dirt and debris from between the teeth of the cassette. Quick Tip: Use nail clippers to cut the cable ties to avoid sharp points after assembly.
Isopropyl alcohol
Disc brake pads and rotors become contaminated from oils in road sprays, excess lubricant and chain cleaner, or contact with greasy fingers. The 99 percent isopropyl alcohol available to you as a disinfectant or household cleaner can clean disc brake pads and brake rotors. I also have nitrile gloves on hand for cleaning with isopropyl. I also keep a few of these in my rig kit for complicated repairs on the go.
Tyvek envelopes
I keep a dollar bill in my repair kit so I can repair unexpected punctures in my tires while traveling. However, my colleagues Dan Chabanov and Matt Phillips have a cheaper and more effective solution: Tyvek envelopes . Grab an extra copy the next time you go to the post office or FedEx (better yet, recycle one from a package you received) and cut it into different sized squares to carry in your flat bag or backpack.
Aluminum foil
Most of us have aluminum foil in our kitchen. Did you know it is useful for cyclists? When cycling in cold weather, I put aluminum foil under the insoles of my cycling shoes. This is particularly useful if you use well-ventilated summer shoes in winter. I also sometimes use aluminum foil to wrap the toes of my street shoes before putting them in my cleats. It acts as an additional barrier against wind.
Another tinfoil trick: a loose battery in a crank's power meter can cause random interruptions during rides (or result in zeros in your data). As a solution, use a folded square of aluminum foil as a spacer between the coin cell battery and the cover.
Button batteries
Speaking of coin cell batteries, buy a backpack and keep it if your bike has wireless electronic shifters (like SRAM AXS or the current generation Shimano Di2 ), a power meter, or a coin cell battery in your heart rate monitor. Although these batteries last a long time, they have a strange way of dying at the most inopportune moments (e.g. the day before a big ride or the morning of a race , both of which happened to me). I buy them in packs of eight or ten so I always have them on hand. However, I avoid Duracell batteries with bitter coatings because they don't work well with some devices .
Sun protection
Sunscreen isn't just for beach days. If you spend time outdoors (and especially if you have children), you probably have several bottles in your house or car. But cyclists often forget to use sunscreen when they're in a hurry to get dressed and head out. Apply sunscreen to exposed skin whenever you ride your bike during the day. As someone who suffered from skin cancer several years ago, I take this seriously on every trip.
As co-editor, Tara Seplavy leads Bicycling's product testing team. After leading product development and sourcing for several bicycle brands, he has led world champion mountain bike teams, worked at prestigious bike shops in Brooklyn, competed in competitions from criterium to downhill, and has cycled on six different continents (he ended up in hospital emergency rooms in four countries and counting). Based in Easton, Pennsylvania, Tara spends a lot of time testing products on roads and trails. She is a familiar face at cyclocross races, test reports and bike parks throughout the Mid-Atlantic and New England, and can often be found racing on weekends for the New York-based CRCA/KruisCX team. When she's not riding her bike or talking about her bike, Tara listens to a lot of ska, punk, and emo music and consumes too much social media.
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