Life In The Saddle

You have started cycling and have your first proper bike. As with many a new toy though, there are a few niggling problems—such as skipping gears, misaligned handlebars, or annoying punctures. You will need some home bicycle workshop tools—to avoid making a trip to the local bike shop every five minutes. These are your workbench essentials. Before getting on to the tools themselves, it is worth mentioning a good maintenance book—so that you have a reference point before getting to work. I have the Park Tool Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair —an in-depth tutorial of all the jobs you are likely to attempt, as well as lots of colour photos. Another excellent choice is Leonard Zinn's Art of Road Bike Maintenance and Leonard Zinn's Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance books. Make sure you know what are taking on, before you start work. In this post, I outline my recommendations for a starter bicycle maintenance tool kit. These are the kind of tools that every cyclist should have ...

Cyclists can be a difficult bunch to choose birthday and Christmas gifts for. I hope that this selection of products will offer some new and interesting options for stocking fillers or birthday gifts for the two-wheeled fanatic in your family or friend group. From bar tape to body lotion, and hip bags to hand torches; there is sure to be something in this gift list that would be a good present for the cyclist you know and love. Marvellous Maps Great Britain Adventure Map I love maps and I love adventure. This Great Britain Adventure Map provides incredibly detailed coverage of the best adventure possibilities that the UK has to offer. From ideas about hiking trips, to beaches, historic highlights, sea kayaking destinations, bicycle touring routes, and long-distance driving routes; there is sure to be something that tickles your fancy and inspires your next adventure. I have spent hours poring over it, and each time I find another highlight that I add to my bucket list of places to ex...

This autumn, I have been testing out three of the latest lights from Lezyne – a brand that I have relied upon heavily in the past to provide reliable, long-lasting and high-powered illumination of my rides. The trio of lights that I have on test from Lezyne is comprised of the Lezyne Micro Helmet Drive Pro 800XL, the Lezyne Lite Drive 1000XL headlight and the new Lezyne Strip Pro Alert Drive rear light. I have been consistently impressed by the individual performance of all three lights, as well as how well they work together in tandem to increase your visibility and provide superb illumination of the trail or road ahead. Review – Lezyne Micro Helmet Drive Pro 800XL First up is the lightweight but powerful helmet mounting Lezyne Micro Helmet Drive Pro 800XL. The Helmet Drive has that distinctive Lezyne CNC-machined shell, with built in cooling fins for heat management and optimal performance; it mounts to your helmet using a versatile Velcro mounting strap with a plastic composi...

The Lezyne Pocket Torque Drive is a compact torque wrench that you can easily slip into a jersey pocket or race-day tool kit. Presented in its own soft-shell case, it gives you with the tool-bits and confidence you need to adjust delicate bike components accurately and easily. When it comes to adjusting stem bolts, seat post clamps, saddle rails and even gear lever clamps, you need to be careful not to overtighten or under tighten the bolts; overtightening could result in stress fractures, whilst under tightening could result in slippage between components. A torque wrench allows you to easily adjust a bolt to the correct torque level. Traditional torque wrenches are bulky items though; they are made for workshop use and not for taking with you on a ride; this presents a problem for ad-hoc adjustments on the go. Leyne's new Pocket Torque Drive is the brand's solution to torque wrench transportation; small and light enough to take with you on your travels. Oozing the fame...

We have all had that sinking feeling. Flat tyres are something you accept with bike riding, but there are several ways to prevent and reduce the chance of a puncture on a bicycle tyre. Whether you are running tubeless tyres or an inner tube there is still a risk of a puncture, and several ways to repair a flat. This blog post considers 7 Tips for preventing, fixing, and repairing a bicycle puncture on all kinds of wheel setups. Prevent Punctures – Tyre Choice The single most influential factor in preventing a bicycle puncture is your choice of tyre. Not all bicycle tyres are made equal. Most confusingly, even those with the same name are often not of an equal quality level. Some tyres feature inbuilt puncture protection belts made of Kevlar or a similar fibre—these help to avoid penetration of the tyre and puncturing of the inner tube. When looking at tyre reviews and choices, look out for those tyres with inbuilt puncture protection. It is worth noting that when you bu...

The new Rapha Handlebar Bag has fast become a favourite bikepacking 'day ride' handlebar bag. Rather than just write a product review of this compact handlebar bag though, I thought I would also look inside—to see what comes with me on a solo self-sufficient gravel ride. This is my pack of essentials to keep you riding all day… It has become increasingly important for us to become self-sufficient on our rides; the outbreak of Coronavirus in March 2020 closed most shops, cafes, and even public conveniences, as well as making solo riding a necessity. Luckily, experience with off-road and back-of-beyond bicycle touring has taught me a few tricks to avoid needing to depend on support or re-supply stops when out on the road or trail. I used to favour a saddlebag as my on-bike bag for carrying spares and tools, but that choice has evolved over time; a small handlebar bag does not restrict your view of the front wheel at all, it is a lot more accessible than a saddlebag, and it...