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Thought it might be a good idea if we shared our "alternatives to" in one thread so we can perhaps save a few quids?
Marsh guard are selling some chainstay tape which is 3M 2228.
The good heli tape (Milspec, 0.36mm thick) is 3M 8671HS.
Tubeless tape; 3M 8898. I think this is same as the Roval stuff.
Any more for any more?
Gorilla tape in the 'handy 1" roll' variety makes great, and dirt cheap, tubeless tape.
Tesa 4289 Tape - Same as Stans, but 1/6th the price.
I love this idea. This sort of thinking is quite big in older motorcycles where the same bearing or widget for ur Ducati is 1/10th the price as its the same as a component in a different bike. I hopwe we get lots of suggestions
Torco engine assembly lube (the stuff in a bottle) is same as rockshox redrum, but for about 1/3 the price, been using it for the last 2 years and it's great!
Tesa 4289 Tape - Same as Stans, but 1/6th the price.
That's a really good one. £9.95 for 66 meters!!!!
Certainly interested in oils and lubricants. I have been using Castrol LHM+ in my shimano brakes and it's been spot on.
Any cheap wet chain lube? Fox sus fluids? bike cleaning/mukoff stuff?
Everyone probably knows this one -
Halfords own brand Citreon LHM brake fluid - works in Shimano (and other mineral oil based) brake systems. And it's a nicer colour.
(Just checked and the Shimano stuff is only £1 more per litre from CRC these days!)
I have been using Castrol LHM+ in my shimano brakes and it's been spot on.
But then again I know someone who ran cooking oil in some of the previous gen XT brakes for about 3 weeks while touring across russia!
good thread. I use LHM mineral oil from the car parts place in my shimano brakes, no issues to date.
I have nothing to add but I'm bookmarking this.
Bearings ought to be a rich vein on this thread.
Gorilla tape in the 'handy 1" roll' variety makes great, and dirt cheap, tubeless tape.
+1. I combined with some of [url= http://www.affixit.co.uk/Foam-Tape/Specialist-Foam-Tapes/Draught-Excluder-Tape/Draught-Excluder-Tape-BR-Narrow-8mm.Html?gclid=CPjg7f_OxcMCFSXnwgodT6UAEA ]this[/url] draught excluder tape in the well to give a flatter profile and aid inflation. Works well.
Helly Hansen LIFA base layers make excellent cycling tops and are much cheaper than cycle specific stuff.
Buy suspension fluid from you local motorbike shop, typically its around £10 a litre rather than a fiver for 120ml
I use LHM mineral oil from the car parts place in my shimano brakes, no issues to date.
+1
Clothes - lots of fleece/baselayer/waterproofs that are not bike specific.
Tick.
All fork oil. Check wikipvd for a list of alternatives.
Can anyone share a bearing supplier they recommend with good prices and service? It's been hit and miss with Eriks, sometimes they try and rip you right off.
Non bike specific DOT fuild (from a car parts shop) is obviously a lot cheaper, I expect everyone has figured that.
Nike or UnderArmour thermal base layers can be picked up very cheaply from Sports Direct and are as good if not better than cycling specific brands. I suspect the Karrimor jobs are very similar and defintely cheaper as well.
Silk glove liners can be picked up from most outdoorsy type shops very cheaply and make winter gloves very, very warm.
In general, Decathlon clothing (cycling specific and otherwise) is generally very good and about 1/4 of the price of equivalent stuff with a proper brand on it.
Bearings - I've always used simplybearings. Don't know how they compare for price but they always deliver next day.
20L of bike cleaner for £30
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/motocross-Enduro-20L-DBC9MX-DIRT-BIKE-CLEANER-ktm-kxf-crf-kx-yzf-/251816124098?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3aa1691ec2
More cleaner here;
http://www.motocleaningproducts.co.uk/special-offers/2-x-mukjunkie-off-road-dirt-bike-cleaning-2-x-5-litre-2xmj250015mb
Beats £30 for 5L!!!!! suspiciously pink too.
Check wikipvd for a list of alternatives.
Wikipvd?
Army surplus gore tex
Screwfix safety glasses
Nearly-empty bottle of white spirit to drop chains into and shake instead of expensive, messy chain cleaners.
Engine oil makes decent enough chain lube and is vastly cheaper of course. Also gearbox oil which is really thick - you might experiment.
General purpose grease works well enough and is vastly cheaper than bike specific stuff.
Generic maltodextrin can be had in 5kg bags for about £8 off ebay - just as good in normal usage as expensive energy drinks but far cheaper - and you can add your choice of squash to taste (although I do prefer flavoured Torq for racing).
Liquid latex is £15 for a litre which makes it cheaper than Stan's, but Stan's does have other stuff in it so this may not be worth the savings.
Just bought some plain old 0w-30 motor oil for my Pikes.
Mastic tape makes many many many sweet chainstay protectors.
The cover of plastic folders makes a Bender Fender.
Bleed kits for anything with a proper bleed nipple- a syringe from a vets (never more than 50p) and fish tank tubing (£1).
5w fork oil from halfords in my rockshox dampers. Works great!
15 wt engine oil in my lowers
Citroën lhm oil in my brakes
80w gear oil is the same as float fluid just not coloured blue! Use this in my rear shock
Self elamgilmating tape for chain stays
Gorilla tape for tubeless
Fence sprayer compressor for pumping up tubeless tyres.
Bearings I use marksman industrial / simply bearings. Frame bearings for my spesh come to about 20 quid vs 70 for OEM set.
P600 grease for all bearings and cup and cone hubs.
Download template off Google and cut out your own enduro guard / fork protector. Choose lime green 0.3mm thick plastic sheet if you are enduro. Anyone else can use black. Secure with zip ties.
Again, use the same plastic sheet to cut out little discs to be used as crush washers.
Fork O rings - don't spend 29 quid on a small bag..... Measure the ID, OD and cross section and buy them for 10p from local hardware store.
Oh edit, one more.... Chainsaw lube for all my chains. Cheap as chips and works brilliantly! Far superior to any branded lube I have used.
I've been using M&S thermal tops for ages on the bike when it's really cold. Cost about £12.
The main problem with saving money on Dot brake fluid is that it meets the atmosphere it starts 'going off' so whilst you can buy a lot more, for little more money it's not really worth it - or at least that's what I've been told.
Great post doncorleoni
http://www.radmoretucker.co.uk/category/Chain_Oil/product/Stihl_Chain_Oil_1_Litre/?gclid=CJHLxLHWxcMCFYTItAodXAwAQQ
That's pretty damn cheap.
Ok , so it's supposed to be 'bike' specific, but Tesco puncture kit, about half a matchbox in size, 99p when I bought one, carted it round in me Camelbak for three years , bailed a mate out of trouble when last tube had been used on an Élan Valley ride. Still owes me next to nowt and lives to fight again.
Tesco puncture kit, about half a matchbox in size, 99p
They're now £2 🙁
Helly Henson from Screwfix, £10 a pieces according to their last email.
Lots of tools, go Were, Knipex, Bahco etc.
Magma technicians bag for tools from Amazon.
Disc brake cleaner, degreaser, water displacer etc etc £1 per 600ml aerosol from the local pound type shop.
IKEA bags and Gorilla tubs for the car. Milton for water bottles. Vets tape for injuries. Prescription safety glasses (through work if you can).
Katec for bearings.... Good stuff, good prices. On Ebay.
Sorry, pvdwiki. (peter verdone) for suspension fluid info.
Katec for bearings.... Good stuff, good prices. On Ebay.
Used Keasea a few times. He's a good egg.
I usually buy multipacks of stainless steel hex bolts from toolstation, roughly 50 for £2.50 depending on size, or there's a boltintheblue on ebay, every size you could want, from stem bolts to water bottle cage bolts. There's also the ghetto tubeless brew which is said to be superior to stans on mtbr forums though I haven't tried it myself! Thanks DonCorleoni, will try printing out a fork mudguard template! (:
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^ arts and craft fun for all the family.
the brush from a dustpan & brush set from home bargains/wilkos/poundland for cleaning the bike while spraying with water. lol
Nothing to contribute besides always buying DOT fluid from a motorfactors. Fork oil too.
Keenly reading the rest though.
[url= http://www.halfords.com/cycling/tools-maintenance/cleaning-lube/muc-off-trigger-bike-spray-1-litre ]Muc-off[/url] £6.99 per litre
[url= http://www.halfords.com/car-seats-travel-equipment/camping-caravanning/caravanning/fenwicks-caravan-cleaner ]Caravan Cleaner[/url] £11.99 per litre, but concentrated, so 2 cap fulls makes 5 litres of useable liquid = about 100 litres.
Plus [url= http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/trigger-sprayer---1l-694790 ]one of these[/url], obviously
Isn't it mandatory in this day and age for the word "hack" to appear at least somewhere in thread title / OP?
Isn't that for 'puters?
Mechanics gloves from about £10 at loads of places.
Padded, abrasion resistant, a variety of types with full fingers or half, perfect as riding gloves, they last forever.
Aldi have some gloves coming soon that look ideal, think its this Thursday.
Missus's stretchy over-knee socks had the feet cutoff and now became arm warmers 🙂
And this military drinking bottle got ziptied on a seat tube. It takes all types of bottles, even good for carrying beer back from shop, if you take it easy.
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Does anyone have a source for cheap but decent cable outer (maybe a box)?
How often do you need to be bleeding shimano brakes to make it worth buying LHS fluid from Halfords? Once it's opened, you have to use it, as it draws in moisture, plus the amount you need to bleed a set a brakes in teeny. So by the time 5-6 years has rolled by and you need to bleed the brakes, you'll buy another litre of fluid from Halfords?
false economy really.
bike cleaner? erm that'll be fairy liquid then.
I'm all for saving money, but some of these are a waste of time.
Does anyone have a source for cheap but decent cable outer (maybe a box)?
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I wouldn't use fairy on a bike, or car. It contains salt.
Once it's opened, you have to use it, as it draws in moisture,
Not really, it's mineral oil. I also bleed my friends brakes for them. For me it's worth it. Having said that, you can get 1L of shimano stuff from halfords for £13 (£1 more than the equivalent amount of LHM). It's the little tiny bottles which are a complete rip off.
It could only draw in whatever water moisture was in the bottle so it is hardly going to be useless as a result.
Do you think say a Citroen garage buys it in teeny tiny bottles or massive drums?
Fox Fork Oil = Torco RSF
To confirm, mineral oil is hydrophobic - it does not draw in moisture. Buy as big a bottle as you want and leave the lid off if you like. One of the big advantages over DOT fluids.
No Fear snow board gloves are great on the bike in winter ,come with a fleece liner and are cheap from Sports Direct
Oh, yeah that's DOT that's hydroscopic innit, always get them confused. I guess if you're doing loads of brakes at a time, makes sense, for the occasional user though?
A squirt of fairy has so little salt it makes no difference, my bikes are still here after all these years...don't sem to have rusted away toa pile of filings yet.
[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Viro-Sol-Citrus-Based-Cleaner-Degreaser-5-Litres-/281584805797?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item418fc327a5 ]citrus degreaser[/url]
must be alright my mate uses it to clean engines!
Or just use petrol as a degreaser, much cheaper.
[i]Caravan Cleaner £11.99 per litre, but concentrated, so 2 cap fulls makes 5 litres of useable liquid = about 100 litres.[/i]
Oh god not this again!
Fenwicks bike cleaner is [url= http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fenwicks/fs1-cleaner-concentrate-ec020494 ]cheaper [/url]and designed for the job. I have a letter from the Fenwicks MD giving the facts about why it's better.
And people only use Muc Off cos they get bought it for Xmas..
I have a letter from the Fenwicks MD giving the facts about why it's better.
Thankfully no business owner would ever tell a lie about their products in order to sell stuff so this must be scientific fact.
Precisely! 🙂
Fenwicks bike cleaner is woefully bad
Or just use petrol as a degreaser, much cheaper.
Until your face explodes.
For the last 2 month I've been trying to use "cheap alternatives" to muc-off. All different stuff: fairy, eBay "concentrated awesome cleaners", etc...
I bought muc-off again last Friday to compare. All set: bike cleaner, chain cleaner (I use chain cleaning device), disc brakes cleaner... I gotta say - there are cheap alternatives. But they are not as good as the real thing. Not even close.
Using non-Shimano Mineral oil will invalidate your warranty apparently.
It also makes brake a bit more of a pain to bleed due to the higher viscosity.
You probably won't die in a blazing fireball of death though!
I have a letter from the Fenwicks MD giving the facts about why it's better.
What does it say ?
What does it say ?
Our stuff is better mkay.
I have a letter from the Fenwicks MD giving the facts about why it's better.
What does it say ?
"I didn't get where I am today..."
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Does anyone have a source for cheap but decent cable outer (maybe a box)?
Singletrack bikes, Shimano SP41, 15 quid for 10m.
[url= http://www.singletrackbikes.co.uk/m7b0s418p14363/Shimano_Spares_SIS_SP41_outer_gear_casing_with_silicon_grease_black_4_mm_%2810_metre_roll%29 ]LINK[/url]
Lucemill Plastic bottles for IPA, Acetone and any plastic bottle you could possibly want.
[url= http://www.southstarbeauty.co.uk/ ]LINK[/url]
I carry some pre-injection wipes from the chemist too, 70% IPA and good for cleaning oily fingers after a trail side chain fettle.
Nitrile gloves from hardwear shops, leyland SDM, the latex ones are even cheaper but make my hands sweat. Cost about £10 for a box of 100, less than half price of the Park Tool branded ones.
[url= http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=121399886417 ]Tubeless sticky worms from eBay [/url]
When your weldtight kit runs out and you already have the tools these are great, cut em in half..
good thread this, stingy old misers.
This is a far superior degreaser:
[url= http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/engine-and-exterior/exterior-degreasers/meguiars-super-degreaser/prod_382.html ]Meguiars [/url]
it's cheaper too.
This is a far superior degreaser:
Meguiars
It is great, also recommend Comma Hyper Clean, beats pretty much everything else available.
Similar price. But available in 1litre size for under £5, so cheaper if you don't use a lot.
I've been quite happy with my litre of 'No More Dirty Bike' from poundworld. It even looks like Muc off.
Use baby stuff sterilisation tablets (50 for 90p) instead of Camelbac cleaning tablets.
Singletrack bikes, Shimano SP41, 15 quid for 10m.
Not available as a kit then with the ends and inners and whatnot?
Camelback cleaning ? thin cheapo bleach heavily diluted
"I didnt get where I am today" .Wasnt that Reggie Perrin`s boss and that pic is the Major from Fawlty Towers ?
thomthumb - Member
citrus degreasermust be alright my mate uses it to clean engines!
This. Virosol is pretty decent, cheap, and apparently safe to pour down sinks. I started using it after googling for citrus degreasers and ending up in an old thread here.
Diluted fruit juice and a pinch of lo-salt for ghetto kind-of-isotonic energy drink. lo-salt has potassium chloride as well as sodium salt so tastes funny on your chips but in the right doses better than normal salt in your drinks imho.
+1 for poundshop dustpan brush, see also poundshop kitchen/scrubbing brushes and toothbrushes.
Plumbers silicon grease for disc brake pistons, and the pointy end of a slender ziptie to apply it: even a little pot for a fiver will last you forever.
Milton for camelbaks, and a track pump and wodges of kitchen roll pumped through if you ever need a fun way to de-mould a camelbak tube (but sterilise it afterwrds too)
Sugru and shoe-goo for a multitude of bodges and repairs.
Duct tape wrapped many times round a credit-card sized card, makes a tyre boot and also useful first aid for helping keep anything really gapey closed on your way to hospital.
Napisan as sports wash.
Babywipes clean all sorts really quickly.
Not really a non-bike product, but disc brake cleaner is also great for getting your rim brake rims even cleaner than you though they were when you washed your bike, improves braking performance ime.
[b]molgrips[/b] - Not available as a kit then with the ends and inners and whatnot?
I'm sure they do kits too, or you can buy the inners and ends from Singletrack Bikes in bulk too.
Edric 64 - Member
"I didnt get where I am today" .Wasnt that Reggie Perrin`s boss and that pic is the Major from Fawlty Towers ?
that's the problem with Google...its free what do you expect?
Ok then what oil is rock shox 15wt?
Lhm is fine in shimano
Normal greases are ok
No frills polish is just silicone and ace for wiping your frame down.
Lidl do some diy gloves at 3quid. They've been my winter glove of choice.
Aerosol brake cleaner is a handy solvent and is ideal for decreasing mechanical stuff.
+1 for Screwfix Bolle safety glasses - £10 a pair, tinted and impact rated, even come with pouch
+1 for pound shop for bike wash, white spirit for chain cleaner, brake cleaner spray and baby bottle bleach for camelback