Wash your bike

Ask any mechanic what their number one tip for keeping your bike in order is and they’ll tell you to wash it more.

Simply put, the longer between washes, the quicker components wear out and the more you’ll have to fork out on new kit. It only takes five minutes after a ride to give it a wash and rub down, so you’ve nothing to lose.

Take your own food

“Fuck you overpriced burger with stale bread and dry meat, that only tastes nice because I’m knackered” is what you’re going to start saying next time you head out on the bike (apart from Bike Park Wales lamb burgers, some things are too hard to resist).

We’ll stick to a sweaty cheese butty and some squashed malt loaf. Mmmm tastes like savings.

Build your own tracks

If you want to take this one step further, don’t even bother going to bike parks and build your own tracks. Make sure it’s somewhere legal (or at least well hidden) and pack some turns into the dirt.

You’d be surprised at how much fun you can have just from a slimy rut in the ground. Plus you get to moan at other riders all year for ruining it by riding on it.

Buy second hand

This is the obvious one but you don’t have to sway to the whims of ‘the industry’. Yes, we know new things are shiny, but old things work just as well.

Head over to eBay and shop around for a bargain. Obviously there are pitfalls to doing this but as long as you don’t pick up one of these you’ll be doing ok.