Looking for cheaper but still high-performing gear? We select our top 20 pieces of wallet-friendly kit to help you enjoy more for less
Buyer’s guide
The pincer movement on bank accounts in the UK and beyond means that it’s especially imperative right now to find the best cycling purchases that you can buy… without stretching or breaking any budgets. That’s why we’ve produced this round-up of some of the best bike tech bargains of 2023.
Compiling some of our top products from recent Cycling Plus tests and adding some fresh reviews, we’ve collated what we think are the 20 best-value clothing and tech products – from track pumps to bike lights through to bib shorts and summer jerseys, road and urban helmets, tyres, bikepacking, indoor cycling tech and more.
The following reviews cover nearly everything you need to ride, with many items costing well under £100, and just three that cost more than that (and that’s a pair of wheels and two turbo trainers – we wouldn’t recommend going sub-£100 in those categories!).
These products are proof that you don’t have to break the bank to enjoy cycling while improving your performance. And remember that once you’ve got all your kit in place and have set aside the mid-ride cake monies, cycling is one of the cheapest and most mind-and-body-boosting ways to exercise and escape into a world free of fiscal headaches. Happy riding!
1 Fulcrum Racing 5 DB £399
The latest Racing 5 DB (disc brake) wheelset has some useful improvements. Increased external and internal rim widths (to 25mm and 20mm respectively), help cope with wider tyres, while rim depth has decreased to 24mm and stiffness is toned down. Hand assembled and finished in its Italian factory, the wheels are compatible with up to 700 x 28c tyres (they could only take 25mm-wide before). This all helps boost ease and comfort for newer riders looking for a first upgrade of their wheelset, or those needing an all-day, all-weather training option.
Rim tape comes pre-installed, so the wheels are tubeless-ready. Mine weighed 1,736g per pair, including the rim tape and lockrings. When I fitted some Specialized Turbo 25mm-wide clincher tyres onto the rims I didn’t need to use tyre levers. I also ran 28mm-wide tubeless Pirelli P Zero Race TLR tyres with Orange Seal sealant. These fitted nicely onto the rims and both options inflated and locked into place easily.
Once out on the road, the wheelset felt free-rolling and sprightly. When I was seated, they wound up to speed very responsively under bursts of power. As for riding out of the saddle, the wheels felt reassuringly stiff. The freehub enga
