Oh, ye who ride of the bicycles and know wot of - what accessories, accoutrements, or appurtenances might you...
Oh, ye who ride of the bicycles and know wot of - what accessories, accoutrements, or appurtenances might you recommend to the recreational/casual rider?
I might do some light errand running (groceries, or take-out) or picnic spotting, but otherwise this is just about being physically active for my own health. No commuting, no off-roading, no bicycle bro-ing. The bike I'm getting is a step-through frame.
I'm getting a helmet, obs, although I'd rather not spend limbs on one. From what I've read unless I decide to do more than casual or recreational road riding, the main issue is fit. If you have any thoughts on that it would be useful. I also wouldn't mind if there was some sort of sun visor-ish type deal to shade my vision a bit, but I haven't seen any helmet/hat combos. How do you deal with that?
Various thoughts re: tool kit or tire patch thing to have and if that exists in a form you attach to the bike, or if this becomes a thing to put into a basket/pouch? Speaking of which, I mostly see fender/back basket things, but are there old fashioned up front things? Does it matter? I will probably want to carry a beverage somewhere on a longer ride, and maybe even keep it cold.
Riding in the dark will not become an issue until fall, so I'm not investing in any fancy headlights or anything at present. There's endless amounts of fiber optic, LED, and other lights, as well as reflectors.
I'm sure there's other stuff. Thoughts welcome. Plz and 10q.
(As I recall, Michael Steeves might particularly have experience with this bike stuff?)
I might do some light errand running (groceries, or take-out) or picnic spotting, but otherwise this is just about being physically active for my own health. No commuting, no off-roading, no bicycle bro-ing. The bike I'm getting is a step-through frame.
I'm getting a helmet, obs, although I'd rather not spend limbs on one. From what I've read unless I decide to do more than casual or recreational road riding, the main issue is fit. If you have any thoughts on that it would be useful. I also wouldn't mind if there was some sort of sun visor-ish type deal to shade my vision a bit, but I haven't seen any helmet/hat combos. How do you deal with that?
Various thoughts re: tool kit or tire patch thing to have and if that exists in a form you attach to the bike, or if this becomes a thing to put into a basket/pouch? Speaking of which, I mostly see fender/back basket things, but are there old fashioned up front things? Does it matter? I will probably want to carry a beverage somewhere on a longer ride, and maybe even keep it cold.
Riding in the dark will not become an issue until fall, so I'm not investing in any fancy headlights or anything at present. There's endless amounts of fiber optic, LED, and other lights, as well as reflectors.
I'm sure there's other stuff. Thoughts welcome. Plz and 10q.
(As I recall, Michael Steeves might particularly have experience with this bike stuff?)
Re: moisture: ideally your bike has mounting posts on the frame for bottle holders (usually on the downtube, about five inches apart per pair). Clamp mounting is also possible. You don't want to carry it (or anything really) on your back, if you can avoid it.
ReplyDeleteFront baskets are possible, if you can get them, but they increase the moving weight and might make it harder to go around corners Fast.
A bicycle bell helps, but only if other traffic participants with ears know what it is.
You'll also want at least a lock.
Re: tools/spares/etc, it all depends on how likely various things are to break and how much you want to be able to fix on the road. This is obvs influenced by how much you want to keep going and on how easy it is to get professional assistance: going out on a week long bike ride? More tools. Staying within walking distance? Good public transit, so you can lock up the bike and go home, come back with tools day after? Someone available just about always to come pick you up in a car, with or without room to take the bike home? Fewer. Poor, so you can't afford any of the above? Then you need more tools. Etc.
If I were smart, despite most of the above applying, i'd take at minimum a pump, tire levers, and a spare tube. I'm not, so I've done the "lock it up and come back later with tools" more than once. The next thing to add would be a patch kit, to deal with the second flat (or you can leave out the spare tube and use it from the first). After that, tools that can work most of the fasteners on the bike. After that, a folding outer tire (the better ones come with either steel or Kevlar beads, the latter can be folded up and are actually stronger, though also slightly more expensive).
1) Get a simple, robust bike, with good tires. Easier to work on and handle, handles weights better, and less likely to break.
ReplyDelete2) Some bikes have fasteners for tools and a pump, but it's not that common.
3) Do you know how to fix a flat tire yourself? It can be a bit of a hassle if you're not used to it. A simple patch kit is quite small, but you need a small spanner (an adjustable one is fine), and preferably something to hold a nut in place, to get the wheel free.
A bell on the bike is good, but be aware that plenty of people won't hear it, and those who hear it are going to look around themselves and walk all over the place. (There's a reason I used an old postman's horn as my "bell" when I worked as a mailman. It spoke with authoritah.)
In addition to what Jasper Janssen and Karl-Johan Norén said, I'll also note that a Leatherman Wave with the bit set seems to fit just about every last nut, bolt and screw, and is light and compact.
ReplyDeleteThere's also a couple of different valve stem types, so make sure you match the pump to what's on the bike, I've got a portable pump that won't go on to the valves on my tires.
You can get battery powered lights for as cheap or as fancy as you want, and could get a cheap set at someplace like Target or Walmart (I got a front and rear set, powered by AAAs).
If you're into metrics at all, and have a smartphone, Strava is a great app for mapping out your rides.
- For sure a lock :)
ReplyDelete- I guess I'll look at the back end pouch/basket things, then. This also seems to get silly expensive quickly, but I haven't looked at big box places, yet.
- Good point about making sure things work with/fit the bike.
Any thoughts on the headgear? It seems like they are all safe, but they start getting expensive quickly. I assume fit is pretty important, and the only other thought I had was about how you do wear safety head gear and have some sort of sun visor deal, or if that's just not possible.?
Thanks!
I'm in the no-helmet camp myself, but what I've heard is that they're all equally safe (short of things sold unofficially off the back of lorries or straight from China), but they differ in a) how much airflow you get to your head through them and b) fashion (and as you say c) fit).
ReplyDeleteA big problem with sun visors is that they're probably going to blow off your head very quickly.
Some helmets have integral or attached sun visors. You likely won't need anything fancy.
ReplyDelete