5 essentials for new cyclists

[Dogtrousers]

If the gel and the ducks had such a great effect, makes me wonder why you bothered carrying the peanuts around.

(I'm pretty sure that any food would have sorted you out in that situation. You don't need gels, or magic elven bread, etc ... )

I forgot to add that I always carry a duck with me now, in case I need a motivational talk.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I cycled about 5,000 miles last year without helmet, specific cycling shoes, without padded shorts, without GPS, video camera or electrolyte tablets.

I wish people would stop saying you need these things as it makes cycling appear complicated, expensive and dangerous to potential newcomers.

 

[contadino]

When it comes to snacks, am I the only one that swears by bananas and battenberg?

 

[Fab Foodie]

Are you a naked rider???😶

Beware they cycle are among us...

 

[mudsticks]

I have never been able to replicate a "going ovet the handlebars" crash. All of mine have been sliding sideways or vehicle ind


You can get a sextant app for android phones which enables you to determine latitude using nothing more than your mobile phone. It doesnt give you Longitude but your mobile phone has a fairly accurate chronometer. As long as you have your mobile phone handy and can see the sun or stars, you need never be lost.

It was horrible, from what we can work out her front wheel turned a full 90..

As she instinctively went to catch her woolly hat that was flying off (no helmet).

Then straight over the bars - face plant at speed.

Several ops to remove deeply embedded gravel from her face, and hands.

Could barely see for a couple of weeks with her face being so swollen.

She's fine now though..

I'm rarely 'properly' lost.. I'm just here and this is just fine.

Maybe that's why I prefer touring with a tent, if push come to shove, you just pitch up somewhere, and refind yrself in the morning.

I did navigate myself out of a roadworks infested Spanish town, one time by keeping the sun on my left elbow continuously.

Not such a reliable method for for UK Nav though.

 

[matticus]

When it comes to snacks, am I the only one that swears by bananas and battenberg?

That sounds like the title of a charming book of memoirs about cycle racing and touring back in the Good Old Days.

(haven't had battenberg in ages ... that's a real cake from my childhood, that is!)

 

[figbat]

This is one of those topics where the question is too vague, hence the difference in answers. "Essential" is not defined and can be interpreted in a couple of ways:

• strictly: essential meaning absolutely required, fundamentally needed to enable the activity
• objectively: essential meaning personally believed to be important enough to be necessary due to specific benefits
• financially: essential meaning I am being paid to promote this.

Some of the responses here use the first definition - the only essential equipment for cycling is a functioning bicycle.
The correspondent in the OP appears to be using the second definition (with perhaps a whiff of the third...?) and since this is subjective it will generate differences of opinion and experience. So rather than me telling you what is essential, I'll outline my subjective reasoning and experience.

Well, for one thing it depends on what bicycle I am riding and for what reason. For my shopping bike I'll ride it in whatever I happen to be wearing that day; jeans, t-shirt, a coat if it's chilly, trainers etc. The only adjustments I'll make for riding are a helmet (most of the time), mostly because I believe in their ability to reduce the severity of head injuries and to set the example to my kids, and gloves if it's cold.

For cycling that is for fitness and leisure, I will specifically get dressed up for it:

• MTB:
  • compression base layer - always, all weathers, short-sleeve or long (I have even been known to wear ONLY this in really hot weather)
  • mid layers as required for the cold
  • some sort of cycling jersey
  • soft shell if required for the weather
  • merino socks
  • SPD shoes
  • padded undershorts
  • baggy shorts or trail trousers
  • gloves - fingered or not dependent on weather
  • heart rate monitor
  • MTB helmet
  • sunglasses if sunny; I have used clear glasses for non-sunny days but found they are more trouble than benefit in terms of getting mud spray and sweat on them
  • Wahoo ELEMENT Bolt plus phone in jersey pocket
  • tyre stuff, multitool and hydration bladder in small backpack
  • offroad front light, generic rear (if dark)
• Road and gravel
  • compression base layer - always
  • mid layers as required for the cold
  • some sort of cycling jersey
  • soft shell if required for the weather
  • merino socks
  • SPD shoes
  • padded bibs; short or long
  • gloves - fingered or not dependent on weather
  • heart rate monitor
  • Road helmet
  • sunglasses if sunny, clear if not (not for gravel usually)
  • Wahoo ELEMENT Bolt plus phone in jersey pocket
  • tyre stuff and multitool in bottle cage toolkit (road) or saddlebag (gravel)
  • water bottle with water in it
  • small front and rear lights

It appears to be a massive list and I always wear or use it, but none of it is "essential" (aside, arguably, from the lights at night). But it is all beneficial to me either for comfort, performance or as insurance. I have never had a fall that involved contacting the ground with my head, and I don't want one either, but I am willing to carry the insurance with me for the unplanned time that it happens. My son took a relatively innocuous blow to the head a while back - no bleeding, no headache, no altered vision, nothing, not even a notable lump.... except he had total amnesia for around 20 minutes - didn't recognise me, his mother, his sister, his teachers (he was at school). That was very frightening, not least for him but also us. Thankfully he regained total recall within half an hour and has had no lasting effects that we know of. Wearing a helmet is of little burden to me - being a little sweaty and having messed up hair are easy to cope with.

Sometimes articles like that come across to me more as self-important preaching and/or an excuse for air-time than as audience-focussed information giving. Click-bait, if you will.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I forgot to add that I always carry a duck with me now, in case I need a motivational talk.

Talking to a quack is always recommended at times like you describe.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

A bike and enthusiasm is all you need to get started.

 

[fossyant]

I'll admit to having 4 skid lids. A fancy blue one for the road bike (the bike is blue), a gloss black one that will do road or MTB, and two Enduro style lids for the MTB, matt black and a bright neon green one so they can find me when I crash. The bike has neon green on it too (tart).

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I cycled about 5,000 miles last year without helmet, specific cycling shoes, without padded shorts, without GPS, video camera or electrolyte tablets.

Pretty much the same as me, except I only did half as many miles as you. Cycling can be as cheap and simple, or as expensive and complicated as the rider chooses to make it.
I know @tyred and I are pretty much singing on the same hymn sheet here; grab a bike out of a skip or buy it cheaply secondhand, fix it up at minimal cost, and go and ride it in a no-nonsense casual manner with normal clothing.
I will say it's best to wear gloves though, partly to cut down on vibration transmission and partly as a safety measure so if you do take a tumble you don't cut up your hands. I use my hands all the time at work, so if I do myself an injury, there's not a lot I can do. I'm therefore pretty careful about wearing suitable gloves for any activity involving sharp tools, burns, or or abrasion risks.

 

[figbat]

A bike and enthusiasm is all you need to get started.

I'm told I have too much of one and not enough of the other.

 

[roadrash]

Having a device in front of you seems distracting. Also seems like it'll get nicked. My first tail light/brake light got nicked whilst I was in a corner shop.

Why would it get nicked , surely , seeing as you have had a taillight stolen when going in a shop , you would remove such devices when going in a shop in future .

 

[figbat]

You make a good point about Garmin. Didn't really think about it that way. Just a different way of doing things I suppose. If you are familiar with your route you really don't need a GPS. Having a device in front of you seems distracting. Also seems like it'll get nicked. My first tail light/brake light got nicked whilst I was in a corner shop.

Many people, me included, use a GPS device not to show them where to go but to track and record their rides, as a way of tracking their distance, fitness, training, or just because they can. I use a Wahoo device and 99% of the time it is used as a tracker, with the occasional use for navigation. A phone can do this stuff in a pocket but see my earlier response about that. Having a small device on the bars showing me only the data that I want to see I find motivating (or sometimes not!) and interesting. Never distracting though; it's no different to having a speedometer, tachometer, odometer etc in front of you when driving. And it can be removed from the mount and easily pocketed in a moment if I feel the need to take with me into a pub/shop/cafe/shop.

 

[Drago]

I track my rides using a rope with knots tied at regular intervals, an accurate wristwatch, and some rapid mental arithmetic dead reckoning.