Cycling to Work any tips / stuff to buy

SapKnight

Hey,

Thinking about cycling to work to cut down costs and get more exercise!

Obviously I'll need the bike/helmet/lights, but can anyone else recomend anything I might need to buy.

Also any good tips for those who cycle to work?

maxheadroom

Whats your commute going to involve as what you need will vary
How far
On road - Urban/Rural
Off road, paths, bridleways Tarmaced?

Mine was a mix of tarmaced paths and on road urban, with a secure plaxce at work 14mile round trip

Lights - get some decent ones around £30 per set - not the cheapy little things argos sell you want to be seen on roads competing with xenon headlights etc

Gloves - first yhink you put down when you fall off saves scraping all the skin off your hands when you come off and stops your fingers freeszing in the winter

High Vis - doest have to be expensive

Breathable waterproof - Kill two birds and get it in hi vis - you can get debadged ex-police cycle tops on ebay these arnet bad

Trouser clips, waterproof breathable trousers makes it more pleasant in the really wet weather - some say you dony need this

Pedals - clip in or toe clips - you really appreciate the difference once your used to them

Decent saddle this really makes a differnece to comfort £50 up mine was £80

Cycle trousers/ underwear - padded in teh right places - I made do without and spent more on teh saddle

Locks - get ewxtras to leave at work if you can saves lugging lock around

Tyres - if you have standard tyres the mountain bike cam with then suggest getting some road tyres - reduces the effort of pedalling

Inner Tubes - i invested in some of the self sealing ones about £15 each due to recurrent punctures (a few a week) due to debris on the path

Mud Guards for both wheels - keeps the worst of the spray off in the wet

Pannier rack and bags - good waterproof ones - makes it mch easier if you need to carry anything in - aldi/lidl have ones in every so often made of tarpaulain material really good in the wet

Remeber that a bicycle in regular commuting use will need servicing just like a car and the chain is a disposable item as they stretch then wear the cogs then start to slip.

Avoid halfords at all costs overpriced, try online stores such a wiggle or find a independant cycle shop and they will often do a deal on all that you need

Initialy ints not cheap but it does pay for itself over time (esp now a tank of petrol is £60 and you dont have to go to the gym)

DaveLy

Look into the cycle to work scheme, something about reclaiming the VAT back on what you buy... well money off anyway.

Hammyman

Deodorant. And no, I'm not kidding.

You'll also need something to stop your bum being outlined by a damp patch when it rains and the water from the rear wheel gets flicked up.

So in short, what you've said plus some waterproofs (for the sake of your colleagues preferably the breathable type) and possibly some of that tyre weld stuff that pumps your tyre full of foam if you've got a flat.

SapKnight

Hi thanks for all your helpful replies! Some good ideas - mudguards + 2 cycle locks
Trip will be - 2miles to station, then about 30min train ride then another 2miles to work. Secure cycle shed in work.
We have showers in work so will be using those. I will be dropping off 1 weeks worth of clothes in work so can get changed/showered there.

Will get some new tyres and a set of inner tubes, don't fancy fixing a puncture with everyone watching lol.

I dont want clip in shoes, but can someone recommend any good shoes that will be waterproof?

its about a 30mile cycle ride home so might try that once every few weeks lol if I'm feeling fit!!

Strider590

Cycle craft would be good to have under your belt, learning when you should and when you shouldn't use the primary road position would be useful.
Basically all the safety gear in the world won't stop some knob overtaking dangerously close on a narrow road, but taking the primary will force them to wait until it's safe to overtake.

See here

SapKnight

that's very useful but thankfully the majority of my route is on cycle paths or cycle lanes

alexlyne

you can get over-shoes - I think these are waterproof. I'm about to start my bike commute, starting with waterproof trousers, gloves, helmet, decent lights, velcro hivis ankle straps.. I might get overshoes though we have heated lockers at work so may not be necessary. I bought my bits from wiggle.co.uk (clothes), and bike24.de (lights, recommmended to me by a guy on ctc forum, they haven't arrived yet so can't comment)

SapKnight

cool thanks alexlyne, will have a look on those websites you recommended!

alexlyne

ha ha, only ordered my stuff over the last few days, and none of it has arrived yet, so wouldn't call it a recommendation just yet! It's all on its way though...

(ps, went to germany for the lights, as the main ones over here are by cat-eye, and their datasheets suggest that on the sub-£40 lights the beam-width is very narrow, so you only see a spot in front of you.. I have bought Trelock brand lights for E30, which appear to be better, but the proof is always in the pudding as they say.)

SapKnight

alexlyne wrote: »

ha ha, only ordered my stuff over the last few days, and none of it has arrived yet, so wouldn't call it a recommendation just yet! It's all on its way though...

(ps, went to germany for the lights, as the main ones over here are by cat-eye, and their datasheets suggest that on the sub-£40 lights the beam-width is very narrow, so you only see a spot in front of you.. I have bought Trelock brand lights for E30, which appear to be better, but the proof is always in the pudding as they say.)

you'll have to let me know what they are like. I wont be cycling for about a month or so, but wanting to pick up the essential gear over the next couple of weeks.