In your opinion, what are your top 3 cycling tips for a new rider.

[Fab Foodie]

Yep they are.
I'm probably in the minority here, but I only ride an MTB Only on the road/cycle paths, so I've been using disc brakes most my adult cycling life. when I got a hybrid with V brakes a few years ago I sold it with in 2 weeks.

Wow .... Really, your first piece of advice .... wow.
Makes you wonder how cycling on the roads/cycle-paths survived until Discs, especially with all that racing and that and then in the early days they didn't have gears, or freewheels .....

Sorry, it's nonsense to me, but you're entitled to an opinion :-/

 

[snorri]

1 Buy a track pump, but take a mini-pump with you when out and about.
2 Keep your tyres fully inflated, which is easy with a track pump.
3 Sign up to CycleChat.

 

[I like Skol]

Just ride your bike.
Go nice places.
Do nice things.

Are disc brakes really your No1 piece of advice for newbies? How did we ever survive without them?

I got my 'old' (as of approx 3 months ago) rim braked road bike out yesterday for a wet ride and boy did it feel good. Brakes not quite as sharp when wet but perfectly sufficient even for an enthusiastic/aggressive rider like me.

My #1 piece of advice, if you can drive a car then you should cycle as if you are in a car. Works for me

 

[S-Express]

Sorry, it's nonsense to me, but you're entitled to an opinion :-/

I also think it's nonsense. Clearly nobody ever rode MTB in the 80s or 90s.

 

[S-Express]

2 Keep your tyres fully inflated

As opposed to 'partially' inflated? What does 'fully inflated' actually mean? If we're offering advice to a hypothetical newbie, let's try to be clear.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I also think it's nonsense. Clearly nobody ever rode MTB in the 80s or 90s.

Or before MTB we raced through the woods, fields and hills of Devon on gas-pipe 3 speeds and wartime bikes with bar-brakes without issue.

 

[Mr_Kipling]

Seriously - you would put disc brakes as your number one top tip?? Why??

Yep I do put them in my number one. To me they feel so much more secure, so much safer and easier to use.
It seems to me that I can feel that balance and threshold brake with almost no wheel lockup on hard braking with disc brakes.
I'm not saying that any other brakes are worse. I just pick Disc brakes as my number 1 top tip

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Or before MTB we raced through the woods, fields and hills of Devon on gas-pipe 3 speeds and wartime bikes with bar-brakes without issue.

I take issue with the without issue issue.

 

[S-Express]

Yep I do put them in my number one. To me they feel so much more secure, so much safer and easier to use.

So by extension, you would not recommend a newbie rides a bike unless it has disc brakes??

 

[vickster]

I know there is a beginners section on this forum, however out of pure curiosity, & assuming that most people in this section of the forum have been cycling for a few years...
What would your top 3 tips/advice be to a new cyclist?

Mine would be

1, Disc brakes

2, Look at the road ahead.

3, Assume every other road user will pull out in front of you.

Surely you need to look at the side of the road and other roads to avoid number 3, so number 2 is insufficient on its own
I'd put 2 and 3 way above 1 for someone new to cycling. Disc brakes probably won't save you from a Smidsy or from running into someone else if not looking at the road ahead

 

[Fab Foodie]

I take issue with the without issue issue.

Even Stoke Woods descent on a RSW16!

OK, we had issues but not cycling related ....

 

[CanucksTraveller]

As opposed to 'partially' inflated? What does 'fully inflated' actually mean? If we're offering advice to a hypothetical newbie, let's try to be clear.

I said something similar, put air in the tyres and get the saddle height set right. What I was referring to is the cyclists that you see with tyres bulging heavily at the bottom (almost bottomed out) and knees that never get past a 45 degree bend. They always look like they're having a terrible time and I want to stop them and say "do just these two things, and this horrible purgatory will become quite good fun, I promise".

 

[TheDoctor]

1 Ride because you want to
2 Make sure you're comfortable on the bike
3 Get a track pump

 

[stalagmike]

1. Don't spend a fortune on your first bike.
2. Try and get some cycling togs including shoes and clip in pedals if you can but they're not essential.
3. 'Mickle' your chain after every ride.

 

[vickster]

Spend at least a grand on your first bike, you'll only want to upgrade, so might as well save on the depreciation

You clean your chain after every ride?