General Blog - Buying Guides

Many products aren't really specialised for just road bikes, mountain bikes or gravel bikes, but instead will perform equally well on any ride. This page is dedicated to our buying guide blog posts for that kind of product, such as bike lights, bike locks, and bibshorts, to help take the difficulty out of finding the perfect product. There are also some articles aimed at finding the right bike for your children and what to look for when buying a second-hand bike.

Are Exposure Bike Lights Good?

You should always run at least two lights on your bike whilst riding in low light and at night - there should be a front facing light & rear facing light - allowing you to both see the road ahead of you, and...

Cycling Overshoes Buying Guide

Cycling on a frosty winter morning can be daunting, but it's much more fun when your feet remain warm and dry. Cycling overshoes are your go-to solution for...

Cycling Stocking Fillers

Finding a smaller gift that isn’t tacky, or that isn’t just going to end up being thrown into the back of the wardrobe can be a tough ask, especially when it comes to cycling gifts. However, it is possible to...

Bike Fork Buying Guide

Bicycle forks attach your front wheel to the main frame of your bike - via a steering tube that sits in the headset of the bike frame. Forks are found on every single type of bike, mountain...

Bike Lock Buying Guide

Bike locks, aside from the usual safety equipment such as a helmet - is one of the most important things that you can buy to protect your bike. These locks are important for all bike owners, but...

Pannier Buying Guide

Panniers are one of the most important and effective ways to travel on your bike - being able to carry everything from your laptop and work files, right across to your camping equipment. Panniers...

Bottom Bracket Guide

There are so many different bottom bracket standards employed by frame manufacturers that buying the correct bottom bracket can be very difficult, and can even put people off replacing a bottom bracket themselves...

Bike Chains Buying Guide

Bike Chains are an essential part of any bike, whether that’s a road bike, gravel bike, mountain bike, electric bike or commuter bike. Chains are metal links which are secured together with pins, as...

Best Bikes for 10-12 Year Olds

At Westbrook Cycles, we understand the importance of cycling with a family - and it’s as enjoyable seeing your children enjoy the freedom of riding a bike, as cycling yourself. Combining the two together...

Orange Kids Bike Buying Guide

Orange Bikes are known as one of the most specialist & best suppliers of mountain bikes in the world, taking a unique approach to their design and manufacturing processes - with...

Scott Cycling Jackets

At Westbrook Cycles, we have an excellent relationship with Scott - stocking and supplying, not only their excellent range of Mountain Bikes, Gravel Bikes and Road Bikes, but also their...

Road Cycling Jersey Buying Guide

At Westbrook Cycles, we do not just supply a range of bikes online - we also supply a massive range of cycling clothing and accessories, with one of the most popular product groups we sell...

Best Bike Travel Cases And Bags

No matter where you live in the UK, there’s some fantastic places to cycle - the call of further off destinations however, cannot be ignored. Whether it’s road cycling across the majestic roads of...

Best Cycling Overshoes

If you cycle in the UK, it’s likely that you have encountered some pretty harsh weather - whether it was out riding when it starts snowing, or battling torrential rain and strong winds in...

Best Bikes for a Coast to Coast Ride

At Westbrook Cycles, our staff and customers love a cycling challenge - and cycling challenges do not get much more iconic than doing a coast to coast ride in the North of England. One of the most...

Cycling Power Meter Buying Guide

At Westbrook Cycles, we get asked a ton of questions about and around cycling power meters - so we have created this blog post looking at what power meters are, how they work and how they can benefit the rider...

Commuter Cycling Clothing

Commuting to work on a bike is a challenge for many - as well as requiring plenty of willpower, commuters will also need the right clothing and equipment for all weather conditions. The correct commuter cycling clothing will allow the rider to turn up to work, safely, comfortable, dry and ready to start the day...

Commuter Bike Luggage

Commuting to work, university or college on a bike is a fantastic way to stay fit, earn the admiration of your fellow students/colleagues and unwind after a long stressful day. Commuting on a bike is the perfect way to avoid busy public transport, tubes and trains - but it’s not...

Shimano Groupset Buying Guide

This post looks at Shimano Mountain Bike Groupsets, which exclude downhill groupsets. These groupsets have been excluded from this article, as they provide downhill performance, not cr...

Used Bike Buying Guide Including Checklist

There are many advantages to purchasing a second-hand bike - with the cheaper purchase price as one of the main benefits. However, one of the...

Second-Hand Bike Buying Tips

Purchasing a second-hand bike, be that a mountain bike or a road bike, can be a fantastic way to secure an excellent bike for under retail price - which is why we have introduced a trusted way of buying a used bike online for customers looking...

Crankset Buying Guide

The Crankset sits at the heart of the bike and comprises a couple of different components, namely the Crank Arm and the Chainring. This post has been created to answer several common questions about Cranksets...

Bike Hubs Buying Guide

All bike components are important, with each playing an important part in the operation of a bike - the hubs, however, are certainly one of the most important!...

Bib Shorts Buying Guide

Bib Shorts are an almost essential purchase for any road cyclist. A simple but highly effective clothing product, bib shorts hold your shorts in place whilst you are in different riding positions without having an uncomfortable and...

Mudguards Buying Guide

Like many components that we discuss here on The Blog, mudguards are not the most exciting bits of kit that we get into the shop here at Westbrook Cycles. Mudguards are however, pretty...

Bottle And Cage Buying Guide

Water is one of the most important elements in any athlete's performance, our bodies are made up of 60% water - and it's easy to know when we are becoming dehydrated - our bodies can...

Headset Buying Guide - Mountain Bike And Road Bike

Welcome to Westbrook Cycles' bicycle headset guide. With so many different types of bike headset available, we realise it can be tricky to find the correct one for your bike. What is a bike...

Bike Brake Pad Buying Guide

Brake Pads are understandably one of the most important components found on a bike - and one of the smallest. Brake Pads, often also known as brake blocks...

Bike Brakes Guide

Bike Brakes are a critical part of any bike, be that a BMX, Mountain Bike or Road Bike. Able to bring you to a safe and satisfactory stop in an incredibly short amount of time, braking systems...

Brake Cables Buying Guide

Brake Cables are used on road bikes, mountain bikes and BMX bikes which use cable pull braking systems. The cables consist of two parts, an inner cable which is made from stainless steel and...

Madison Cycling Jackets

Madison designs and manufactures an excellent range of lightweight cycling jackets, for both road cyclists and mountain bikers. These jackets are both thin and lightweight, often designed to...

Long Finger Cycling Glove Guide

Long Fingered Gloves are perfect for all kinds of cycling disciplines, from fast road riders, mountain bikers and commuters. As with any form of cycling clothing and accessories, the amount of...

Bib Tights Buying Guide

Bib Tights are the perfect item of clothing to wear when cycling during colder months. These bib tights are suitable for all kinds of cycling, including cross country mountain biking. Most often...

Bike Hub Buying Guide

The Hub is the central part of your bike’s wheels. The hub is the component which allows the bike's wheels to rotate. Hubs are the centre of the bike wheel, and are axle mounted in the...

Cycling Arm Warmers Guide

At Westbrook Cycles, we stock and supply an excellent range of Cycling Arm Warmers - which are perfect for months in the UK, when the weather can feel changeable. Arm Warmers are the ideal...

Cycling Cap And Headwear Guide

Cycling Caps and Headwear are designed to keep you riding in a wide variety of weather and riding conditions. As one of the most important parts of the body, we...

2021 Cycling Clothing Guide

Most sports and activities, whether it's running or rock climbing - all have special equipment and clothing, and cycling is no different. There are specific clothing...

Bike Inner Tube Buying Guide

The inner tube is an often overlooked and forgotten about part of the bicycle tyre - doing the hard work in the background. Bicycle inner tubes, whether that’s a road bike, gravel bike or...

Bottom Bracket Buying Guide

The bottom bracket of a bike is hidden away inside the frame of the bike, and it has an important purpose. It has been designed to connect the chainset to the frame itself - allowing the cranks to run smoothly. If you are deciding to replace the bottom bracket of your bike...

Mech Hanger - What's The Point?

It’s not very often at Westbrook Cycles that we talk about making a sacrifice, but when it comes to Rear Mech Derailleur Hangers, that’s exactly what we are going to do. The Rear Mech Hanger is designed to break or bend in order to prevent your bike frame or your bike’s drivetrain when under stress. Mech Hangers are also known under a number of different names - we’ve known them as Gear Mech Hangers, Frame Savers, Derailleur Hangers and Dropouts.

Best Rear Bike Lights

We like to think of ourselves as a hardy bunch here at Westbrook Cycles, and most of us have racked up plenty of miles on dark winter roads and mountain bike trails, so we think we know what a set of bike lights need to do. Bike lights not only need to be bright enough to be seen, but need to have decent battery capacity - all wrapped up in a tough and durable package, which is designed to provide years of use in the elements. In this post, we look at what we think is the best rear bike lights available on the market, as we as looking at exactly what a rear bike light needs to provide to make it onto this list.

Best Front Bike Lights

As the clocks change and the UK Winter Nights draw in even further, it’s more important than ever to make sure that you have a set of bike lights on your bike, allowing you to continue riding through the autumn, winter and even spring months. As well as being a fundamental safety tool for cyclists who head out onto the roads, bike lights are also important for those taking a bike off road - with bike lights being needed to light up the trails for both mountain bikers and also gravel riders.

Best Dynamo Lights

A Dynamo Light is a bike light that uses a dynamo hub on the wheel of the bike, to convert the energy produced from the hub/wheel of the bike spinning, to produce electricity which then powers the light. Think of the dynamo hub as a mini generator which has been designed to provide power to the light. Dynamo Lights are not new, but in 2024 they are brighter and better than ever before - and Dynamo Lights make a lot of sense for many riders, especially those using their bike for commuting as well as touring. Dynamo Lights are most popular with riders who bikepack or take their bike on long endurance rides, where lighting can be required for long periods of time, which would see most battery powered bike lights run out of charge.

Best Budget Bike Lights Under £20

In a world where everything is becoming more expensive and advanced - it’s actually refreshing to find a product group that thanks to technological advances and improvements in manufacturing, is actually getting cheaper. Bike Lights is one of those areas - rare areas in cycling, where value for money and cost seem to be improving. Thanks to the advent of LEDs and more advanced battery technologies entering the mainstream, bike lights are available at cheap prices - and even at the low price points, these budget bike lights perform brilliantly.