Cycling on a budget: how to spend your money wisely

It’s an unfortunate reality that cycling has quite a high barrier to entry when compared to other sports. Firstly, there is buying a bike, then there's the clothing plus a helmet and shoes. Before you know it you have fallen fully down the rabbit hole and are looking at a second or third bike, kitting out a pain cave and making everything that little bit more aero.

In the natural development through your cycling journey, it is easy to get sucked into spending thousands on cycling paraphernalia. It really doesn’t have to be this way. First of all, as long as you are enjoying riding your bike, you are doing it right. Secondly, there are a few smart choices you can make to stretch your cash that bit further.

All-road bike

Of course, this is only something that can make your money work better for you if you are in the market for a new bike. If you aren't right now, just bear this in mind when the time comes for you to upgrade to a new steed.

Choosing an all-road bike has the ability to condense a multi-bike collection into just one bike. Modern all-road bikes have the potential to be run as anything from a full-on racing machine at your local crit all the way through to being used as a gravel bike on those long adventurous rides, escaping the rat race of everyday life.

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Choosing an all-road bike can give you the versatility of multiple bikes without the added cost

If you are the type of rider who likes to dabble in some cross-discipline riding, an all-road bike could be a really cost effective solution. Instead of having two bespoke bikes for individual purposes, having the one all-road bike with two pairs of wheels can give you the same scope as a two-bike setup. Having one set of wheels that are configured with large volume gravel tyres and potentially a larger cassette will give you gravel-like performance whilst a traditional road tyre and cassette configuration will allow you to smash out endless tarmac kilometres.

• Read more: Why Conor has swapped out his aero bike for an endurance bike.

Durable equipment

Durability often comes at the expense of lightness and speed. A race tyre is going to offer the lowest rolling resistance and the ultimate combination of speed and grip, however it'll probably wear out relatively quickly. A training tyre or an all-weather tyre, meanwhile, will have a bit more weight and rolling resistnace than a race-specific model, but in terms of cost per kilometre, it'll offer a far better package.

As the old adage goes, ‘look after your bike and your bike will look after you’ - this is never more true than when it comes to saving some pennies on unnecessary parts and replacements. A dirty bike is going to wear considerably quicker than a well maintained and clean one. Spending some time after rides to restore your steed back to its original gleaming self will not only have you looking like a pro on your next ride, but will also ensure that you get the maximum life out of your components.

For some parts, spending more can actually work out more cost effective over the whole life of the bike or components. A higher spec chain, for example, will last considerably longer than a cheaper alternative, and if you use a high quality lube or wax, you'll get even more life out of it. So spending a bit more on your chain and lubricant will mean every part of your drivetrain will last longer, saving you money on chains, cassettes and chainrings.

Replace parts consistently

Keeping on top of your bike's maintenance schedule and replacing any parts that are beginning to deteriorate is a great way to avoid expensive trips to your local bike shop. Using something like a chain checker will allow you to monitor the wear of your chain, allowing you to replace it once it has worn. By doing this you will be saving yourself from needing to replace your whole drivetrain in one hit. Running a worn chain will greatly accelerate the degradation of your cassette and chainrings to the point where a new chain simply won’t mesh with them.

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Staying on top of your maintenance and replacement schedule for consumable parts is a surefire way to dodge avoidable costs

The same principle can apply to other areas of the bike such as brake pads where replacing these too late can cause damage to the rim, or the calliper. Spending a few minutes inspecting your bike after cleaning it, is the best way to capture any of these issues before they develop into more costly replacements.

We would love to hear your thoughts on ways to save money and make it go further on your cycling exploits. Let us know in the comments below if you think we have missed any golden gems of advice.

Make your own nutrition

Specific cycling nutrition is incredible at delivering exactly what you need to fuel throughout all the stages of a ride from pre-ride all the way through to post-ride recovery. The tailor-made nutritional products for endurance sport combine balanced nutrition with an easy-to-carry package, making them the go to choice for many riders.

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Making your own riding snacks for those long and easier riders is a great way to cut back on the need to buy expensive nutritional products

If you find yourself reaching for pre-made nutrition products on every single ride, you might find that very quickly fuelling for a ride becomes a cost that is hard to swallow. Although they definitely have a place for target events or where space is at a premium, making your own riding snacks can be an easy way to reduce your cycling-related expenditure.

• Read more: Beer, milk, and pickles – the method to Lachlan Morton’s nutritional madness

Things like rice cakes, flapjacks or even the humble jam sandwich can be perfect riding fuel that costs a fraction of what the specific sports nutrition alternatives do. Swapping out a few energy bars to these will keep you expensive energy products lasting far longer for when you need them most.

Social rides rather than events

There are more events than you can shake a stick at these days. Whether you want an alpine epic or a gravel adventure you are well catered for in 2023, the only drawback to these events is that they don’t come cheap. We certainly encourage you to participate in cycling events, however using them as the crowning glory of your year might be a way to keep costs lower.

If it is the feeling of togetherness and socialising with like-minded people that attracts you to the events, try finding your local chain gang, group ride or cycling club. These will give you a similar feeling to a bespoke event but either at no cost at all, or a very small yearly membership for some clubs. This should quench your need to participate in quite so many events, keeping your money firmly in your pocket.

• Read more: Lachlan Morton sets sights on the Tour divide FKT

For those that love the challenge an event poses, there are also plenty of alternatives to give you than sense of accomplishment that are once again relatively cost free. Finding an established route and trying to set an FKT (fastest known time) or a personal FKT can challenge you to push yourself beyond your perception of what is possible.

Ride to your destination

Using your bike as a mode of transportation is a great way to travel to a riding destination. Doing this can remove expensive travel costs. For example travelling by ferry as a foot passenger with a bike is almost always considerably cheaper than taking a car.

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Turning the journey to a riding holiday or event in to a bikepacking adventure is a great way to explore whilst saving some cash

By riding to you destination, the journey to where you are heading becomes part of the adventure. Bikepacking across the country to get to where you want to ride adds a new element to your riding and you will experience a lot more this way than just sitting in a car.

GCN’s very own training sessions

We aren’t going to pretend that riding outside is amazing all year round, and even for the hardiest of riders sometimes when snow, ice or fog roll in, it just simply isn’t safe to ride outside. Naturally we find ourselves reaching for the indoor trainer to keep our sessions going but paying for virtual training tools can fast rack up.

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Joining in with one of the many training sessions on GCN Training is a great way to boost your indoor training, and best of all it is completely free!

Fortunately we have a complete channel for just this: GCN Training has a complete library of training sessions that you can access for free. These allow you to ride along with the GCN crew and follow our curated workouts without needing to spend a penny.

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