10 Hacks for Mountain Bikers in a Pinch

10 Bike Tricks If you've ever carried your bike around your house or apartment this way, you know how difficult it can be to navigate tight spaces. So next time do it like a professional mechanic: stand your bike upright. This gives your bike a smaller footprint and reduces its turning radius, keeping your home mess-free. If you need to go up a step, simply push the seat with your knee. Zip ties are useful for all types of emergencies, which is why many of us keep them in our bags. But if you travel without a bag, you can store zip ties in the hollow crankset.

Simply push them in so they bend, and that should be enough to keep them in place. Although it may be difficult to get them back out, it is best to let them loose. Someday you'll be happy to have zip ties on hand. These little crimps keep the derailleur cable from fraying, which is why I always have a bunch of them in my shop. But if you don't have access to crimps or a bike shop to buy them from, you can find suitable replacements at your local hardware store. There you will find a wide variety of extremely ugly substitutes, from hollow rivets to electrical connectors.

All of these will cost just a few cents and will function more or less as if they were the real thing. One of these might even be a great way to troll if you're into that sort of thing. It's easy enough to just lay your back on the table to carry it, and actually carrying the backpack isn't a problem that needs solving, however... I really like hanging mine on my vise. This helps get the backpack out of the way while I place my supplies on the bench, and the little bump on the crank serves as a perfect hook.

Of course, if you don't have a vise, you can use a real hook. This can even be a great place to store your backpack while you're not using it. In another video, I showed how an adjustable wrench with these markings can be used as a gauge to get rough measurements of things like seatposts, bolts, and other bike parts. But it is only good to measure the outside diameters. For inside diameters, you can fit a few short pieces of flange into the jaws. This is not pleasant and if you use this trick frequently, it's probably time to invest in some calipers.

But it can help you in a

pinch

. If you need to film yourself while driving, you can use a multi-tool as a phone holder. Simply open the keys and place your phone between them to get the right angle. This isn't ideal for all shots, but it's better than trying to place the phone on a rock or something. You'd also be hard-pressed to find a multi-tool that this doesn't work with. The next trick is not so much a trick, but a tip: use waterproofing spray to protect your things. They sell products like this in outdoor stores that can be used on all textiles, including bags, tents, shoes, or anything else made of fabric.

Simply spray it on your equipment and leave it for about an hour to dry completely. At that point, the water will simply bead up and drain away. So if you get caught in the rain or splash in a stream, the water won't have a chance to soak your gear and keep you wet all day. These products are available in equipment- or apparel-specific varieties, so make sure you get the right thing. The coating doesn't last forever, but you can always reapply it. If a Charley horse has never brought you to your knees, you haven't pedaled enough. But do you know what can give you temporary relief from these dreaded leg cramps?

Pickle juice. I'm usually quick to dismiss natural remedies as junk science, but this is actually a real thing. However, it is not the electrolytes in pickle juice that stop muscle spasms, as once thought. It's actually the strong flavor of pickles that overwhelms the sensory neurons in your mouth, throat, and stomach. It's like a kosher defibrillator for your leg. For a more portable cure, you can use mustard packets, which have the same effect and are much easier to transport. This adapter will allow you to use a Shraeder pump, like the ones you'd find at a gas station, with a Presta valve stem.

But in a

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, you can make one from a valve cover. First cut off the top of the cap just above the grip part and then screw it onto the stem upside down. Make sure the valve is open and positioned slightly below the edge of the lid. Now a Shraeder air pump should offer a good enough seal to inflate the tire. This works even with those big gas station pumps. Of course, the cost of using one of those pumps may be more than an actual pre-shredder adapter, so it might be a good idea to buy one and carry it with you.

Picks are extremely useful tools that everyone should have on hand. And if you want to get crafty, you can make one out of a bicycle spoke. First, grind the spoke to a point with a file or grinder. If you heat the metal too much, it will become brittle and crack easily, so try to do it a little at a time and maybe even keep it cool with a little water. I like to bend the tip at a 45 degree angle to make it more versatile. Also, place a fork-shaped bend on the other side to prevent the pick from rotating in the handle, which you can make from a piece of poor-quality wood from your backyard.

You can pretend you're one of those restoration YouTubers and get fancy, but at the end of the day this is a pick made out of a radius. It will only be good for light tasks, but sometimes that is more than enough. At least it will look cool and you can say you made it yourself. I hope you found these ten bike

hacks

entertaining or even useful. Many of them were suggested by you, the audience. So check out the playlist at the end of this video and if you can think of any tricks that I haven't done yet, put them in the comments below.

If your trick is added to my list, I'll give it a heart. Thanks for traveling with me today and we'll see you next time.