You don’t need to wheel your beloved into your local bike shop every time you want to make sure the chain is in good order, either.

A chain checker, like this one from Park Tool , will set you back around £15. All you need to do is insert the pins into two links on your chain, then press the swing arm guage tight – whis will give you a reading from 0.25% to 1%. Once you get to around 0.75%, you’ll know to replace your chain.

There are plenty of jobs that are easy to do at home with the right tools – start with cleaning and check out these 5 best cleaning products to have at home.