Best value things that have increased your enjoyment of cycling

This is essentially an anti-buyer thread. So forget fads, and lets focus on what cycling products/items have been the best value in terms of the rewards you've reaped in your enjoyment of cycling.

Carradice Saddlebag, I bought a small one with a saddle mounted support. Now I don't need a bag to ride to work, which is great in the summer. When riding for fun, I no longer need to to try to pack everything into jersey pockets. I have room for sandwiches, camera, a waterproof that is actually waterproof (vs being packable), tools, and so on. You can do weekend (out saturday, bnb/hostel, back sunday) rides and fit everything you need in it.

Garmin hiking GPS, my first foray into cycling GPS, cost £100, never bothered with bike computers, and still don't care much about stats. The ability to quickly grab new routes off ridebygps, and then go out and ride completely new roads without having to stop to check directions or get lost and end up on a busy A-road has been incredible. It's also handy for hiking obviously. Only trouble has been the mounts have been shit for bikes so I have now upgraded to a Touring Edge.

Assos Blitzfeder gilet probs the best item of clothing I have bought. I don't leave home without it, perfect emergency she'll on a summer day, windbreaker for spring/ Autumn mornings/eves and a winter top layer if its going I be dry and I haven't taken my rain jacket.

Hestra windstopper gloves. Expensive at £50-ish, but definitely worth it for me.

Hope lights . From the original r2 to the current r4

20 years ago the first led flashing rear light .

Prescription glasses

Garmin 800 so I can plot and follow routes. I'm absolutely useless at directions and just wouldn't be able to go on rides out in to the countryside without it.

Garmin hiking GPS

Intrigued by this. Which one do you recommend?

Ortlieb gear. I've got too much of it to use at once (big and small backpacks, a back roller pannier and a saddlebag) but it's really well made, and knowing that if the weather is really shitty my stuff will be totally dry has allowed me to go touring in all weathers without ever worrying about that.

an anti-buyer thread

No such thing

Prescription glasses

this

Garmin 800

and this

also powermeter which I don't own at the moment. But it made me realise how below average/shit I am at riding bikes. It helped me get better and understand my body. It also helped me to kinda enjoy cycling more as I went to the deep end of quantification and thought to myself its not about this, I am not a pro so sold it and now I have 'downgraded' to heart rate monitor for the same purpose as I feel its much more accurate for me as I know exactly how to interpret my HR. Now I just ride for cake and coffee essentially. Same reason I don't own a turbo, cycling can't be a chore.

It was a great enabler.

Anti-theft spray

You guys mean prescription cycling specific glasses or just glasses?

Which ones if cycling specific??

Both

On 200K and above rides I use disposable contact lenses and Bloc Titan. I find this most comfortable.

Anything less than that I use the prescription insert for the same shades. They charged I think £120 overall with 3 shades and prescription insert.

For commute and daily Rapha Classic II prescription.

Endura glasses. They look shit but only cost £14 and i am no longer blind on winter rides
https://www.evanscycles.com/endura-spectral-anti-fog-glasses-00121019

Specialized BG insoles and bar phat squidgy stuff for under the tape.

Bridge Street Saddlebag has been great for work and also functions as a training aid - it's like a very small parachute on the back of your bike.

Probably SPDs. First clipless pedals. Still using them. Wouldn't be into fixed or proper roadieing without them.

^ so much this. I bought a pair of M520 when I started commuting proper miles. They make cycling so much more pleasurable and are so well engineered they may outlive me.

Panniers (most recently Ortlieb) and a heavy duty rack (Tubus). The ability to ride without a rucksack is just lovely and I can carry almost more shopping on my bike than I can carry by hand, with minimal effort.

Good gloves for warm hands and shoe covers. You don't need them often, but being comfortable on a bike when it's cold and wet makes cycling in the winter a pleasure.

So basically buy nice, expensive things?

So basically buy nice, expensive things?

/thread

Garmin Dakota 20, found it cheap on ebay, rechargable batteries via micro usb, or if they run out, you can remove them and chuck in 2x AAs. It's fine if a car drives over it, but a lorry will write it off unfortunately.

Not blazingly fast but will do the job. The only significant downside is that the bike mounts seem to work well for a few months, and then lose their gripping ability.

Brilliant thanks. I'll look into this for sure. Find regular gamins shit and I basically just need maps when touring

Titan looks nice, I'll order a pair and try them on for size. I basically just need cycling specs for racing, commute and touring I do in my prescription sunnies or regular specs

You won't be disappointed. @Cazakstan led me to it, she uses the same. Maybe #NLTCBMBC have a code ;)

What has had a positive, transformative effect on the way you cycle? I'd be more interested in hearing about cheaper things versus more expensive things personally. But I've always viewed cycling as something that should be affordable, never paid more than £400 for a bike for example.

My first water bottle and cage . Nothing special but it meant i could ride more than ten miles without dying of thirst.