Autumn essentials on a budget for you and your bike

Whatever cycling you enjoy most, autumn and winter have similar demands. Mudguards. Suitable tyres. Lighting. Clothing for when it’s colder and wetter. The products that meet those needs vary a lot by rider type.

I’ve written shopping lists for a club road rider, commuter, family e-biker and mountain biker with an arbitrary limit of £100. The aim is to show what it’s most worth spending your money on when the budget is tight.

That financial pressure means that stores like Decathlon, Evans Cycles and Halfords get multiple mentions here. This isn’t to say it’s not worth spending more or that these are the only options. (Do let us know your own seasonal essentials via Cycle magazine’s Letters pages or the Cycling UK Forum.)

Prices are RRP at time of writing, unless noted. Discounted prices have been included where a store has brand exclusivity. Don’t forget your Cycling UK member discounts at Halfords, Evans and other retailers.

Autumn is a good time to service your bike to head off potential problems. As a member, you can get a free bike check from Evans.

Club road rider

Mudguards – proper mudguards, not saddle flaps like Ass Savers – are vital for any year-round roadie. They stop dirty water from spraying over you and your bike. On a group ride they’ll also keep your club mates clean. Common courtesy requires them on wet roads.

If your road bike has the clearance and mounts, a set of SKS Bluemels mudguards in a size 10mm wider than your tyres is a good choice. Expect to pay £30-£40.

Otherwise you’ll need road-bike-specific mudguards. Crud Roadracer Mk3 guards (£34.99) are Cycle’s favourite among these. You can make the fit even more secure by adding cable ties.

To fully protect you and following riders, mudguards need to extend below hub height. Most don’t so you’ll need mudflaps. You can Blue Peter your own from, for example, dampproof course membrane or cut-up ice-cream tub lids.

Bore two vertically positioned holes in each mudguard and attach the mudflaps with small nuts and bolts. Alternatively, buy some ready-made ones from Raw Mudflap (£11).

In the days when road bikes came with 23mm tyres, it was standard advice to go up a tyre width for the winter. You can run a wider tyre softer, meaning more rubber in contact with the road for grip. These days road bikes typically come with tyres at least 28mm wide so there’s no pressing need to size up.

There is value in having tougher, grippier tyres for autumn and winter. But a second pair of tyres is not cheap; Continental GP 4 Seasons, for example, are £70 each. To save money on road tyres, run longer-lasting four-season tyres all year round instead. (I’m on Continental GP 5000 AS TR.)

As for lower pressures: not having rock-hard tyres is common practice now. Try dropping yours by 10psi, initially, if you haven’t already.

While group rides tend to take place in daylight, overcast days and poor weather limit visibility. To make yourself more conspicuous on roads with fast-moving traffic, a rear light is a good idea. The Btwin CL 100 LED USB Rear Bike Light 5 Lumens (£7.99) is cheap, rechargeable and has steady and flashing modes.

You’ll need to keep your bike’s drivetrain relatively clean and well lubricated. (See the mountain biker advice lower down for more on cleaning.) For lubrication, any chain lube used regularly enough is sufficient. Halfords All Weather Lube 100ml (£5) will do the job and is PTFE free.

Upgrading your summer cycling outfit for autumn can just about be done for less than £50. Here goes: Forclaz Multi-Position Tube Scarf (£4.99); JSP Stealth Amber Lens Safety Spectacle 731FR (£3.67); Planet X 365 Glove (£7.49 – RRP £14.99); Boardman Windproof Removable Sleeve Jacket in yellow for men, blue for women (£20); Pinnacle Knee Warmers (£8 – RRP £29.99); Carnac Neoprene Toe Covers (£4.99 – RRP £9.99).

Road rider essentials

Commuter

For a commuter, mudguards aren’t something you attach to your bike in October. They’re a permanent fixture. Bikes designed for urban riding such as Bromptons and city hybrids often come with them. If you’re riding to work in normal clothes, you always want to arrive clean and dry.

That’s the reason Carradice’s Pro Route Cape (£49.95) tops my list of commuter essentials after mudguards. Capes have fallen out of fashion but unlike most waterproofs they do actually keep you dry when it’s properly raining – at least from the knees up.

Since air can circulate, you don’t boil-in-a-bag like you do in a waterproof jacket and trousers. The cape covers your hands so, on days that are wet but not especially cold, you can go without gloves.

While the cape comes with a hood, a traditional cycling cap like the Van Rysel RoadR 520 (£7.99) keeps the rain out of your eyes (or off your glasses) better and doesn’t restrict peripheral vision. It can be worn by itself, under a helmet and with a snood/multi-tube to keep your ears warm.

Waterproof cycling luggage is the best option for regular commuters. But a single Ortlieb pannier would consume most of our £100 budget and a Brompton-specific bag would smash it. The next best thing is a rain cover.

The Brompton Rain Resistant Front Luggage Cover (£11) is one option. For non-waterproof panniers – or backpacks, though they won’t work with a cape – there’s the Altura Nightvision Waterproof Cycling Raincover 20-30L (£20).

Lights are non-negotiable for commuting in autumn and winter. We’ve tested some for urban riding. Although not super expensive, the better ones in this review would leave little left over for other commuter essentials.

So it’s back to Halfords, where you can buy a pair of reasonably bright, rechargeable be-seen lights for £20: the Halfords 50 Lumen Front Bike Light and the Halfords 25 Lumen Rear Bike Light. They won’t light your way on dark lanes but they’ll make you conspicuous around town.

Reliable journey times are more important than ride feel or rolling efficiency for commuting, so tougher tyres are a wise investment. Schwalbe’s Marathon Plus is £43.99 per tyre and Continental’s Contact Plus £41.95. Either should last for ages, while shrugging off shards of glass or other urban detritus.

But with insufficient cash in the £100 commuter kitty, Zefal Puncture Repair Spray 75ml (£4.99) should at least get you rolling again if you suffer a flat. It’s designed to seal the hole and re-inflate the tyre. Buy tougher tyres when you can.

Finally, you’ll need some chain lube. To keep costs down, Halfords’ own again gets the nod.

Commuter essentials

Family e-biker

When you’re transporting a child by bike in autumn and winter, the priority is to keep them warm and dry. That’s easiest with an enclosed child trailer from the likes of Burley or, if you have an e-cargo bike, a passenger rain canopy such as Tern’s Storm Shield. Neither is affordable on a £100 budget.

If you’ve already been ferrying your child around by bike, you presumably have a child seat. To make that weatherproof, you need the Hamax Rain Poncho (£40).

This covers both child and seat, similar to an adult rain cape, and it will keep off the wind as well as rain. You’ll need to something bigger for a larger child on an e-cargo bike’s bench seat, such as a cycling cape or rain suit.

For warmth, add one stretchy snood/neck tube under your child’s helmet and another around their neck as a scarf. You can buy a pack of three Aquarius Neck Warmers from Decathlon for £3.99. You can wear the third. Your child will also need warm outdoor clothing, like gloves and those padded all-in-one suits, but you likely have those already.

As you’re riding an e-bike, you don’t have to have cycling-specific clothing to stay warm and dry yourself. The raincoat and boots you’d wear for a wet walk will be fine as you can cruise along at an effort level that won’t make you sweat. Given your precious cargo, you might want to stand out more on dull days. A Halfords Adults Hi-Vis Waistcoat is £5.

E-bikes often come equipped with mudguards and lights, usually powered by the main battery, so I’m skipping over these. If your e-bike has chaincase or a belt drive you won’t need much in the way of bike lube.

More than any other cyclist, you don’t want your journeys disrupted by punctures. Schwalbe’s Marathon Plus (£43.99) is approved for e-bike use and is available in a huge range of sizes. If you can’t afford a pair, buy one and fit it to the rear wheel.

That’s more likely to puncture as it bears more weight. It’s also more awkward to fix, especially if your e-bike has a rear hub motor. For the front tyre, pack some puncture repair spray – in a larger size if your e-bike has high-volume tyres.

With the bike’s rear rack occupied by the child seat, front luggage to carry child-related paraphernalia would be useful. That’s not feasible if £100 is an absolute limit. If you can spend a little more, a front basket that will carry around 3kg is the cheapest option. Halfords sells a wire basket for £20, Decathlon £17.99.

E-bike journey range falls in cold weather as batteries don’t work as well at low temperatures. They also shouldn’t be charged when they’re cold, as it can damage them. We have some great advice on looking after your e-bike battery.

Family cycling essentials

Mountain biker

To stay upright on a mountain bike through a muddy British autumn and winter, you need balletic bike skills or tyres with a decent amount of tread. Some trail tyres are grippy enough for year-round use. Lightly treaded summer or XC tyres aren’t.

If you can’t afford a pair of grippy tyres, buy just one and put it on the front. Front wheel slides are way worse than rear ones. While some mountain bike tyres cost £80+, Specialized’s are uniformly good value.

The Specialized Hillbilly Grid Trail 2Bliss Ready T9 (£45) is excellent even before considering the lower cost. It’s available in 29×2.4in and 27.5×2.4in.

Mudguards help prevent bike wear as well as keeping you cleaner and drier. Many riders use a fork guard all year to keep dirt out of eyes and fork stanchions. Rear guards are frowned on by fashionistas but do an even better job, keeping mud away from your bum, back and dropper seatpost.

The Rear Mudhugger Mk2 offers extensive coverage and secure, stable mounting. Yet the older Small Rear Mudhugger (£24.99) is £10 cheaper and nearly as good. Don’t be misled by the name; it works with big tyres, too.

If you’re not going to use a rear mudguard, at least protect your dropper seatpost from rear wheel spray with a strip of old innertube. Cable-tie it to the saddle rails and to just below the seatpost clamp.

Lights aren’t on this list because, unlike commuting, mountain biking in the dark isn’t a given. Having said that, night-riding need not cost a fortune. The Halfords Advanced 1800 Lumen Front Bike Light is £60, while there are 1,000−lumen lights from about £10 on eBay.

A more tenacious wet lube is worthwhile for off-season mountain biking. My favourite is Nzero Wet Lube (100ml £9). Don’t just keep dumping it on the chain. First remove the gunk after each muddy ride. Two old toothbrushes taped together, heads facing, will get the worst off the chain.

A flat-bladed screwdriver, an old nail brush and a rag can remove oily paste from jockey wheels, chainring and cassette. For the rest of the bike, water, washing-up liquid and brushes are all you need. Sluice off with plain water to remove any residue.

In terms of clothing, winter boots that are both warm and waterproof are the hardest to come by on a tight budget – except at Decathlon. Quechua Warm Hiking Boots NH100 Mid (£29.99) are fine in rain, mud or freezing conditions. While not designed for cycling, grip is good enough on flat pedals with pins.

Long-finger summer biking gloves will be OK in milder autumn weather. As it gets colder, you will of course want thicker gloves, an extra layer up top and either three-quarter shorts or trousers for knee cover.

Mountain biker essentials