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My personal favourites are Bolle safety specs for 6 quid or so and as I lose around 4 pairs a year it's a good thing they are so cheap.
What else have the STW collective found over the years?
ex military goretex
Duct tape. Wrap some round your pump handle, use it to fix ripped shorts, secure rattling things, finish off bar tape on the road bike, stop cable rub, or even as tubeless rim tape (if you get the fancy waterproof stuff).
Chalk bag (£3 podsac one from planet-x) on the bar for stashing camera and sweeties.
£9.99 LED torch form Lidl ( might have been Aldi). Jubilee clipped to the rack under the wife's basket on her shopping bike gives here more than enough light for the canal tow path ride between home and the train station when the evenings close in. Which is right about now!
Leftover (new) engine oil, best chain lube I've found.
Decathlon football base layers. Cheap, do what's needed, fit well, sorted. They also work well for skiing.
Skinny zip ties, about 99p for 100, keep a couple in the saddle bag.
The small bandages you get from the dentist after an extraction came in useful when my mate came off a while back, he was on heart meds so his blood didnt clot, and was bleeding pretty good for what was a fairly minor cut on the leg, not bad enough to need stitches, but a decent cut... strapped him up with that and some gorilla tape, he didnt appreciate it when we pulled the tape off back home!
Ungreatfull git hahah
Leftover (new) engine oil, best chain lube I've found.
Just no, I tried that once, and it was just a dirt magnet, maybe it depends on the type of oil, I used castrol gtx synthetic, and it was the first and last time I did that.
+1 on the duct tape. I have lost count the number of times I have used it for trail side bodges.
Anything from first aid to fixing a knackered zip on a waterproof jacket to puncture repair - it got me home as well!
zip-loc freezer bags to keep phones, cash, other valuables together and bone dry
we could also do the lemonade bottle/ghetto tubeless inflator thingamajig
[url= http://singletrackmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/10-winter-riding-tips-brought-you-you-by-cling-film/ ]Cling film[/url].
Zip ties.
Good freezer ziploc bags.
Military surplus canteen flask complete with belt-pouch. I ziptied pouch onto seat-tube of utility bike. The plastic flask eventually developed a crack but the pouch has press-studs so it now carries a variety of bottles, jars or cartons - ie milk, beer or even big bottle of malt vinegar on the chippy run 🙂
May get the alu flask with cup/billy can-next-time!
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I lose around 4 pairs a year it's a good thing they are so cheap.
Not losing things.
Just no, I tried that once, and it was just a dirt magnet, maybe it depends on the type of oil, I used castrol gtx synthetic, and it was the first and last time I did that.
Apply lightly, wipe off.
I could post a picture of my gleaming drivetrain if I cared enough.
Aldi builders gloves as cycling gloves - they work really well
Perfect Curve Glacier neoprene gloves. Only for the very coldest days but these neoprene window cleaning gloves are the warmest I've ever tried.
Decathlon skiing base layers and glove liners. Cheaper and warmer than their cycling versions. Also running jackets and 3/4 lengths make good lightweight baggies.
Ziploc bags for keeping phones dry in pockets. Until I discovered Velopac.
Our office is paranoid about first aid kit going out of date. My Camelbak carries a range of past their use by bandages. HTF does a bandage go out of date?
Ziplock bags -1
Great, untill your £500 phone goes straight through the bottom of the £0.01 bag because it didn't get sealed at the factory. Onto the kitchen floor and into a thousand pieces.
Cost of a cheap waterproof case ~£5, Cost of a new phone when not 'free' on contract - HOW MUCH!!!!!
I use a 100% waterproof phone case designed for use with snorkelling. Don't have to worry about trashing my phone from my sweat or when caught in a downpour.
The engine oil chain lube thing, it works ok, but is not as good as good chain lube which although expensive a bottle generally lasts years. I use engine oil for lubing spoke threads though.
Perfect Curve Glacier neoprene gloves. Only for the very coldest days but these neoprene window cleaning gloves are the warmest I've ever tried.
See also Skytec Argon. £6 a pair, perfect for the winter commutes. Even come in a lurid yellow for safety.
just received a pair of hot glove and hot socks from rooster. a sailing place I think.
they feel ace, so hopefully they will be good for the winter.
https://www.roostersailing.com/pd/Hands-and-Feet-Bundle_105373.htm