Its hard to imagine a better reason to have more than one form of latex below your waistline, but in this modern day and age it may do more for your stamina than you know. 

How does another 5-8 Watts sound to you?  With marginal victories in the low single percents, adding up to 5% improvement on a group ride could be a world a difference.  That's the potential of adding just 10$ latex inner tubes!

Ready to start your annual tithing for a new frame, set of aero rims or some other costly, speculative performance enhancement?  Before making that splurge, you've certainly heard of the 'power to weight' ratio, well its time to think in terms of  'cost to power'.  The easiest and least costly improvements often go overlooked to the buxom improvements of a new shiny frame or deep dish rim.  Well what about those whitewalls?

In this study, we are exposed to the rolling resistance over nearly all major road tires out there.  This should be given heavy consideration on a replacement next time you draw a flat.  Who knew that certain tires could produce such staggering differences in watts per wheel...in some cases, up to 10watts!

So check out the full study <HERE> and see where you're coming up 'short'.  It could mean the difference of many seconds, victories or simply aid in recovery from those Sunday battles through less output.

Note: I hope there weren't too many innuendos...I swear, they were unintentional until I reread.

There is often an invaluable cost associated with bringing your bike to a skilled professional.  Learning to fix something at the cost of potentially destroying it, is not advisable.  As bikes become every more sophisticated in technology, so often do the tools and experience needed to complete even the average repairs.

That said, there is always room for the curious minds, mechanically inclined and otherwise frugal lot to apply a bit of elbow grease toward the overall maintenance of their machine.  Through both print and web , the sources are quite deep and simply googling the phrase for which you need assistance will most likely yield the desired outcome.

One of my personal favorites over the years has been Sheldon Brown.  Having since left this world, he has also done more than most in sharing everything from the obscure in bikes to the practical everyday mechanics one might desire. 

However, technology has opened new doors to the written word with video sites such as Youtube.com and Hulu.com.  With that, one excellent source for video based bike repairs is The Bicycle Tutor.  Several of their bike fix videos are free, while some come at a nominal cost.

So as you ponder the simplest brake adjustments or overhauling your bottom bracket, check out bicycletutor.com.  You may save yourself a few shekels and the potential for hours of headaches and much more expensive repairs to your mistakes.