Eucalyptus Oil is another lesser known thing that works for sticky stuff, leaves your house / shed smelling fresh too
With the forks it's a great idea to keep the stanchions clean (you know the bits that slide in and out of the lower legs). Even if you don't wash your bike as often as you should at least give the stanchions a regular wipe over with a dry rag. CRC Silicone Spray although expensive ($20 a can
) seems to do a good job at cleaning and lubing the stanchions at the same time, and doesn't tend to attract any more dust than normal. If they start to feel like they're not going in and out as smoothly as they used to then you would look at getting either silicone spray (hardware or car shop) or a specific product from your bike shop (like Triflow or something similar), it keeps even the most basic forks working well for longer - and it took me a while to figure out that using chain lube was not the best way to do it
.
You can get by with tools you have at home easily unless you start doing more specific stuff on the bike yourself (like removing the cranks and installing new ones, head set etc, basically all the bits you shouldn't need to worry about anyway). A $10 Allen key set can be one of the best investments if you don't already have one at home. The multitool is just like the bike version of the Leatherman or Swiss army knife, most of the tools you are likely to need to do a trailside repair (like change a tire say, or tighten something that's come loose).
I don't always wash my bike as often as I should these days, but that's because it gets pretty dusty after just about every ride. But I certainly understand now why men like to be out in the shed tinkering with their cars, because doing something on my bike (cleaning or servicing) is kind of like therapy when you're not out riding.
