Welcome to today’s daily kōrero!
Anyone can make the thread, first in first served. If you are here on a day and there’s no daily thread, feel free to create it!
Anyway, it’s just a chance to talk about your day, what you have planned, what you have done, etc.
So, how’s it going?
Hi cycling commuter and weekend bike packer here, welcome to the club!
Before we start I just want to warn you that cycling, while a simple hobby is full of money sinks and gear envy. It’s very easy to spend 10x more for something marginally better, I only mention this now because it took me way too long to figure this out.
On to gear recommendations:
A good lock - this should be at least 10%the cost of your bike, also make sure to learn to lock your bike properly (not just through the front wheel)
Spare tube(s) - while I agree a patch repair kit is great to have, repairing a tube when you’re late, it’s cold, and miserable is a hellish experience. especially for newbies, id recommend carrying a spare tube instead and just changing that. That way you can patch your original tube in the warmth of your home with a cuppa, much better experience. Swap it back when you’re done and you’re gravy.
Gloves - Everyone falls. Everyone. Gloves not only make your ride more comfortable, but they also protect your palms on the event that you scrape them after a tumble (I write this with scraped palms after not following my own advice and falling last weekend)
A basic repair kit - puncture repair, tyre levers, pump, multi tool w chain break, zipties and a metre or so of duct tape
Sunnies - bike specific glasses are a scam (at least for beginners), just have a pair on the bike at all times. This will make riding at dawn/dusk and in the rain more comfortable. Id recommend polarized with a fairly light tint, too dark and it’ll be hard to ride in the rain with them.
A bike bag to store it all in - nothing fancy just good to have things off your body and on the bike so wouldn’t recommend a backpack. This is the first place where you can spend a lot of money, but a good bike bag is never a bad investment.
The more you ride the more you’ll come to realize what you need and don’t need, you’ll add a bunch to this list but I doubt there’s anything you’ll remove so it’s a good starting place.
Thanks for all the advice. I’ve been guilty of gear acquisition syndrome in other hobbies before, so I’m definitely going in with a budget mindset. I was also looking at “better” more expensive adventure/touring bikes, but came to my senses to keep it cheaper for now. Now with all these additional things I didn’t think about, I’m happy with my decision!
I don’t actually need to use it for commuting right now (could always change in future though), mainly for exercise - but I like the idea of the bike bag + repair kit/spare tubes etc.