7 Affordable Amazon Cycling Tools You Should Try | Cycling Weekly
Amazon is full of fantastic cycling products so we have dug out some of the best. Sam Gupta has been trawling through some of the most popular bike maintenance products on Amazon to test and find out which are actually worth purchasing. Some are very small and cheap like the AirTag holder, others may cost a little more upfront but still deliver incredible value compared to other options on the market like the Cozyroom tool kit.
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00:00 I've been doing some digging and I have found six of the best cheap cycling products on Amazon,
00:05 all of which are linked below. You may remember we made a similar video last year and since you
00:11 all loved it the first time, I decided to go in for round two, but with a slightly more bike
00:16 maintenance focused approach. Which is why today I'll be testing and rating this tubeless repair
00:22 kit, this jam-packed tool kit, this tire lever, this sneaky air tag holder, this tire glider,
00:29 and lastly this smart pump, which might be one of the best things I have ever spent money on.
00:34 So let's dive in. First up, let's start with this weld tight tubeless repair kit. Here in the UK,
00:42 it came in at a pretty reasonable price, but the tools inside are incredibly functional.
00:48 You get a crayon to mark out your puncture spot so you don't lose your place mid-repair.
00:52 You get glue to ensure a strong and stable repair job. You get a file tool to clean up
00:57 and smooth off the punctured area. You get a grab tool for inserting the plugs.
01:02 And you get five 10 centimeter long plugs along with a mini knife for trimming down.
01:07 Compared to other plug kits on the market, this is slightly on the bulky side, but I found this
01:13 to be a little more versatile. Having two separate tools to prepare and insert the strips is really
01:20 handy and the length of the plugs themselves make for a really easy installation. The box that
01:26 contains all of these parts would happily sit within a jersey pocket or saddle bag. Or if you
01:31 have internal frame storage, these bits and bobs would all tuck away really neatly into a tool roll.
01:37 I like that this tool set is slightly more utilitarian because when tubeless does go wrong,
01:43 having tools and spares that are easy to use, even when your hands might be covered in sealant,
01:48 makes a huge difference. The ability to plug a hole and get riding faster is far more valuable
01:54 to me than having some small sleek unit which, when you actually need to get yourself out of
01:59 a sticky situation, may be a complete hassle to use. When I bought this tool kit, I had a certain
02:07 level of expectation for its quality and it is safe to say that it has met that expectation,
02:13 but also exceeded it in some areas. However, before we get on to practicality and what the
02:19 tools are actually like to use, I'd just like to appreciate how many tools have been packed
02:24 into this tiny box. For, again, a very reasonable price, this has pretty much everything any new
02:31 cyclist would realistically be after to get them going on completing some simple at-home jobs.
02:37 There's also a few things in here that a seasoned cyclist would actually really appreciate too.
02:42 My mantra is generally to buy the best you can reasonably afford and I'm fortunate enough to
02:49 have been able to pad out my tool kit with some really solid pieces from Park Tool. However,
02:54 the majority of cyclists won't be working on their bikes as much as a self-proclaimed obsessive like
02:59 me will be, so spending loads of money doesn't actually make too much sense, which is why I
03:05 think this set serves a great purpose. Whether you need to undertake simple jobs like tightening
03:10 bolts, changing a cassette, changing a chain, or even swapping out a chain set and bottom bracket,
03:17 these tools will have you covered and are totally practical for completing those jobs.
03:22 They're the types of jobs you don't necessarily want to go to your local bike shop with because
03:27 when armed with a bit of knowledge you can quite easily do yourself and save yourself the cost of
03:32 labor. If you do want to get more seriously into working on and building bikes then you'll find
03:38 you'll want to add some more specialist tools to your kit, but as a starting point to get you going
03:43 or for those who only need to undertake the occasional job, I think this set would be ideal.
03:49 Again, if you want to find this very set for yourself then I have linked it below.
03:53 Next up I found this nifty little tyre lever from True Tension. It's a company that's been around
04:00 for a while and this particular lever has been as well. However, it was only up until recently
04:06 that I got my hands on one and decided that I really should try it out. It's made of solid
04:12 plastic but thanks to the structure on the underside it's incredibly robust. The width of
04:18 the lever helps get a really decent purchase on the tyre without slipping out too easily and it
04:23 means that when you get the hook of the lever behind the tyre it's easier to slide around and
04:29 lift the tyre off the bead. It also has a feature to help you remount the tyre. You simply hook the
04:35 lever onto the rim and then slide the tyre back into place. I really like how compact this tyre
04:41 lever really is, meaning that it sits inside a jersey pocket quite easily. However, some may see
04:47 the size as a downside for leverage, so swings and roundabouts, but for such a simple product
04:53 it does exactly what it says on the tin and it does it pretty well too. Continuing in the vein
05:00 of small and neat is this little air tag holder. It's been designed to be stealthy and sit underneath
05:06 your bottle cage. Happily, it also comes with some new longer bolts to cater for the holder itself.
05:12 But the one touch that I really appreciate is that the bolts use a torx head rather than an
05:19 allen key, so it just makes it that bit harder to remove from the bike. Because let's face it,
05:24 not many people will be walking about with a torx t25 head. For me, this is just a great example of
05:30 a small product that will give you an extra fighting chance should your bike go missing,
05:35 or if you just need to keep tabs on where your bike is in the world.
05:39 Much like the tyre lever, I have this tyre glider from Rehook. While this unit is a lot more bulky
05:47 and wouldn't be something that I'd really want to carry with me, it stands to be something that
05:52 would sit at home for those more stubborn tyre installs. This tool works in a similar way and
05:57 has two uses. For removing a tyre, you simply hook this part under the tyre like a normal lever
06:03 and then push it all the way around. But you can also use it to put a tyre back on by hooking the
06:09 tool onto the rim and then pushing it all the way back around. I'm sure some tyre and rim combos
06:14 would really test the limit of this tool, and for some it may not be enough. But so far, I've had
06:20 really good luck with it and it's made switching tyres at home a fair bit easier. Lastly, we have
06:27 what I thought would be the biggest gimmick ever, but surprisingly has become my go-to pump. I was
06:34 really intrigued to see how quickly it would actually inflate tyres and what the user interaction
06:39 would be like. And I'm surprised to say that it was far more intuitive than I thought it would be.
06:44 In the box, you get the pump itself, a connector hose, a few adapters, a charging cable,
06:49 and a carry bag. Before I used it, I popped it on charge and made sure the battery was completely
06:55 full. Then, when it comes to inflating a tyre, you simply pop in the pressure that you want,
07:00 ensuring it knows what it's inflating as it will work on motorbikes, footballs, and cars. Then,
07:06 press go and it will keep inflating until it hits its target. It's as easy as that. It has no issue
07:13 getting up to the 90 to 100 PSI mark, but these days most people have more sense and run a lower
07:19 pressure. The best thing is, since you can just pop it on and let it inflate, all you need to do
07:25 is make sure that the tyre is seating correctly. It's just so easy. So there we have it. Six of the
07:34 best cheap bike tools on Amazon. They are all linked below if you want to go and check them
07:39 out for yourself. But do let me know down below, which would you buy? If you enjoyed the video,
07:43 then please do drop it a like. Subscribe to the channel for more content and I will see you again
07:48 very soon.
07:55 [Music]
08:05 (whooshing)