Choosing a bicycle for transportation - Part 2: The important bicycle accessories and features

As you might already understood from the previous post, this is not the typical guide for choosing a bicycle for transportation.

I won't tell you what to buy and not! I will just puzzle you and make you think, so you can make that choice!

In the previous post, we talked about the different aspects that you have to consider in order to plan your route and imagine what your life as a cyclist will be. The purpose of the previous post was to prepare you, so you will know what to expect and I believe that you already acknowledge by now your particular needs.

In today's post we will talk about the important accessories a bicycle needs to have in order for you to use it for transportation. Today we will not talk about types of bicycles. The reason I'm not doing that is because I don't want to distract you. 

The accessories and features that we will cover today can be part of and work on any bicycle, no matter the type.

You will probably laugh, as many of these are common sense, but they are not common sense at all for someone who is just starting out. So let's begin!

The important bicycle accessories and features

The bell

The first item I will refer to is the simple and humble bicycle bell. This particular accessory might seem so small and unimportant. Oh, but how wrong you are! This little piece of machinery is a miracle. It is what is letting you communicate with the others.

Are there people walking in the middle of the road while playing with their smartphones? A simple "cling-cling" will immediately scatter the crowd. (Do not forget to slow down though! We must always be polite to pedestrians!)

Is there a car coming on the next intersection deciding whether to pass or not (you have priority), the simple "cling-cling" again will make the driver think that you acknowledge his presence and you can signal accordingly. (You can let him pass if you are feeling to, or not! You show that with your hand.)

You are riding a bicycle on the bicycle path while watching your clock, as you're late, but oh no there are these slow cyclists in front of you chatting and laughing and cutting you off, You desperately want them to make room for you to pass. What to do? Yell? Of course not! The bell is the polite way to go. The simple "cling-cling" on more time will inform the slow cyclists that you are there, and they will make room for you to pass, that's for sure!

In all those cases, the bell is the one that is letting you to communicate with the others! 

Bicycle fenders

The bicycle fenders, or mudguards, or whatever you like to call them, are a very important bicycle accessory as well. I have already wrote a post referring to them in the past, and despite the fact that I wrote that in summer and I was referring to a slightly different matter too (the one involving fenders' weight and why I never take them off my bicycle), the conclusion is the same.

No one likes to ride a bicycle with dirty water and grime splashing all over his back, feet and face. In order to avoid that you have to install a good pair of bicycle fenders. However you must keep in mind that the fenders must extend all the way to the back and cover the wheel completely. If not, the coverage will not be the optimum and ultimately you will find yourself having a dirty mud line starting from the nape of your neck all the way to your buttocks, even if you are using fenders on your bicycle. (This one mostly applies to the clip-on fenders mountain bikes have. Make sure that the fenders' length is enough for good coverage of the wheel.)

A comfortable saddle 

This is where you spend the whole time when you are on your bicycle, so choosing the right bicycle saddle is important. However you must take into account the aspects I was talking you about in the previous post for choosing the right saddle for you. The material, cushion, size, length or shape of your bicycle saddle will be depend on these aspects (weather, terrain, length of the route). Another tip? With bicycle saddles the rule "the more you pay, the better will be" does not apply. Its mostly a trial and error method. However before deciding, give your potential saddle (or saddles) a chance. For more information on this matter, feel free to read this post. You will understand better what I mean when I'm talking about taking into account the different aspects. 

Chain guard

This is another accessory of a great importance. I know I say that for all, but don't you want a nice cycling experience when you transport by bike? 

The chain guard will protect your clothes from getting in contact with your chain and will keep your pants and shoes clean. It also protects you from the splashing oils and dirt produced by your chain when it is raining. Think that the chain guard works like a mini fender for your chain! 

Chain guards come in all shapes and sizes. Some provide good coverage, others don't. The main purpose which is keeping your pants off the chain is succeeded with every shape and size. However the more coverage the chain guard has, the more protected you will be! If you choose a bicycle with internal gears, instead of derailleur gears, then you can also use a full enclosed chain case.

Gears

Chances are you will not ride on flat city. And even if you are, your home might be on the top of the one and only hill the whole area has (thanks to Murphy's law), so having gears on your bicycle is a good advice. 

You don't need a lot of gears, "the more the merrier" isn't applying here. For internal gears, 3 or 5 are plenty enough for transportation and for derailleur gears, 6 or 7 are more than enough! Unless you live on Norway or areas like that (they have some very steep hills there!) If so, feel free to choose a bicycle with more gears. However, a beginner always has the fear of restriction which pushes him to choose a bicycle with a number of gears that he never uses. And before you think "so what?", let me inform you that the more gears your bicycle has, the more complicated the maintenance will be. That is why I advise you not to buy a bicycle with more gears than you actually need. 

Lights

Last but not least, your future bicycle will need some lights. Again, you should invest in a good lighting system. You need a good front light and a rear light! 

Tip: The small blinking ones don't count as bicycle lights! The purpose of these little lights is for additional protection. Not for using as main lights.

Do not forget to take into account the aspects again! For more information on that matter, feel free to read this post, where I talk about the seriousness of having a proper lighting system on your bicycle but while I'm using a humorous tone.

Bicycle lock

Although a bicycle lock isn't exactly a part of the bicycle itself, it is a useful accessory! If you want to find your bicycle where you left it in the first place, you need to buy a good and sturdy lock! Again, take into account the aspects! If you live in a small village where everyone knows everyone and there aren't any foreigners, your lock doesn't need to be fancy or anything. But if you live in the city or in a place with lots of tourists then you need to invest good money on a proper lock.

So these were the most important bicycle accessories and features your future bicycle will need to have, in order for you to use it for transportation.

The latter features do not limit you, and also can be part of any bicycle, no matter its type!

(P.S. Sorry for the blurry images, it was dark and my camera did not cooperate.)

Light your way in the dark

Are you familiar with the term "ninja rider"? 

It's a mysterious rider...

It is the person on a bicycle that during nights wears dark clothing, mostly black, rides a bicycle in a high speed and has no bicycle lights. His night vision depends completely on moonlight.

During the day the ninja rider isn't any different than any other typical cyclist. But as the night starts to fall and the darkness approaches the ninja rider takes his ninja form!

You see him for a second but afterwards you're not sure that you really saw him. He vanishes in front of your eyes, only to appear suddenly in front of you and cut you off in the next intersection.

He's a cyclist that likes to ride in mystery, thus the coverage and the free of lights riding system he uses. But despite the hard looks and the puzzling aura, he's vulnerable. In fact the ninja rider is more vulnerable than any other type of cyclists. 

I started to write this article with humor, but after getting to the main point I think it is time to get serious.

No matter the place, the time or the infrastructure, everyone who rides a bicycle after the sun is set must use bicycle lights! 

The three scenarios

Number 1:

Some say that where they ride, there are no cars thus no need for having a lighting system.

First strike!

You need lights not only for cars, but for pedestrians and other bicycles, too. 

Having a collision with a pedestrian isn't nice, don't forget that they tend to wander and pass a road trusting mostly their hearing. By not having lights on your bicycle, you just don't give them the opportunity to see you. The same applies with running into other bicycles.

Number 2:

Others say that they ride at night without lights, but not during rush hour and that most of the time they're all alone in the road, hence bicycle lights are optional.

Second strike!

Riding alone makes the importance of using bicycle lights even greater! As you do not expect to run across anyone at that time, other vehicles aren't expecting to meet you either. And because they do not expect anyone to be on their way, by being invisible you just don't make yourself present and they aren't aware of you. You are just an alive target, begging to be hit. As cynical as it sounds, it is the plain truth. 

Number 3:

Last but not least, there is a group of cyclists that swear to their city's lighting system and infrastructure and think city lights and the sparse bicycle path lights are all they need.

Third strike!

No matter if you ride in the heart of a city or in a peaceful neighborhood with a good lighting road system, you still do need bicycle lights. Take it from yourself, when you ride during nights, what does it catch your eyesight? I bet the traffic lights, the illuminated banner on the opposite building, the bright front window on a near shop, etc. Lighting temptations are lurking everywhere, attracting your eyes and capturing your attention. Sadly, the same applies to the driver that holds the wheel behind you... You can imagine the rest!

In the urban environment, these lighting temptations are endless! By having lights on your bicycle, you catch others' attention, so they won't hit you. Again, the same applies on bicycle paths in relation with other bicycle users.

So I'm asking all of the ninja riders out there, please, light your way in the dark!

Invest in a proper lighting system. You don't need much, a good front light and a rear light are all you need. Your front light choice depends on where you tend to ride. In urban areas you need a strong light with a short beam so others can see you, but in rural areas you need a light with a wide beam that illuminates at least 20 meters ahead of you, so you may be able to see the road along with its potholes and other obstacles. 

The rear light on all occasions must be strong but in a way that doesn't blind the people behind you. Make sure also that the rear light has three leds, one in the center and one in each side. You want to be visible when someone is looking you from the side, too. 

By having lights in your bicycle you catch other vehicles' attention, you're making yourself present!

Light your way in the dark! 

Let others notice your existence!

Riding in the dusk

There is a strange feeling when riding at this time in an evening. The sun is bellow the horizon and you just see a slight strip of light which disappears in front of your eyes, second by second. Behind you, when you turn your head, you see only darkness approaching. 

Sunset is a wonderful everyday miracle. People take it for granted, don't appreciate its beauty (only during holidays, when not working). They do not even notice it, and most of  the time, people are busy with everyday tasks and days are passing without them even take a glance at it. I must confess guilty to this myself. My working hours are like that, that several days during a week I am inside a building, missing all of the nature's good stuff. However, when I am not working, there isn't a chance that I'm missing the sunset. 

Whatever I do, wherever I am, I will look up at the sky and admire. It happens mechanically. Even if I'm inside a building I will just "feel" the approaching darkness and head to a window. Watching the dusk is something spectacular. As I said, I believe the sunset is a miracle that happens everyday in front of our own eyes, and we just cannot realise that due to are busy lives and the fact we take it for granted.

Riding in the dusk

It is the time that small round lights are starting to pop around everywhere. These are bicycle lights. During sunset there is still enough light, so bicycle lighting isn't absolutely necessary at that time, but after the sun is set and dusk appears, bicycle lights are a necessity if you want to see the road ahead of you or others seeing you.

Either being in the city's center or in a rural area, you feel the difference in your surrounding environment when riding a bicycle at that time of the day. Even the cranky type of cyclist, will cannot help it and grin.

When being in the city, everything starts to look more beautiful around you. The buildings, the people, other bicycles...even cars! Dusk light is really complementing. When being into the city, riding my bicycle and heading somewhere, I suddenly find myself slowing down my speed. Even if I'm hurry. It happens automatically. My heart craves to just be out and ride my bicycle for more time, but my mind speaks up and says that I'll be late. So I continue to head to my destination, but slower, trying to win a few more minutes outside at this beautiful hour.

When being in a rural area, riding in the dusk feels different than riding into the city. You start to notice other things. You "feel" the nature "waking" up. Birds are starting to hide into their nests, stop to tweet and a sudden silence is filling the air. At that time, when the dusk gets a deeper and darker color, you hear the owls. When riding far from street lights, your eyes will start to glance some creatures that fly irregularly in the air, bats. If you are lucky enough, you might cross paths with a fox or a weasel. Riding in the dusk in a rural area, when being all alone, away of any source of lighting, it is somewhat eerie, but nice! 

After a couple of minutes, dusk is over and you find yourself riding in the dark. Now you cannot see anything around you. You can only watch ahead, where your bicycle light illuminates the road. You continue to observe shadows, but cannot familiarize with the shapes of the creatures or the trees you notice. 

Do not feel sad though, there is always tomorrow's dusk!

Waterproofing my lights

When I installed my new light set in February, I had to proceed to a custom solution as the front light was for a hub dynamo but I had a bottle dynamo on my bicycle. 

There wasn't a problem with the light itself but with the cables. A light intended for a hub dynamo has a really short cable, as the hub is only a few centimeters further down, and I had to find a way to connect the cables that run from the bottle dynamo and through the frame to the front light.

The custom solution that I followed was to cut a little bit the cable that came out of the front light and shorten it, so it wouldn't hang weirdly, and use some special clips for the cables to fasten the two different cables together. And I did this procedure two times, as I had to fasten together the grounding cables, too. 

This solution was effective and my lights worked alright. 

But after two months of cycling, one day that it rained really hard, my front light just didn't light up. At first I thought that the bottle dynamo was slipping, but that was not the case as the rear light was working. I then came to conclusion that maybe the system with the clips and the cables might got loose. I tried to adjust it but it was okay. 

I finally thought that maybe there was water into the clip and that is why the front light didn't work so I decided to give it a couple of days so that the water could evaporate.

I knew that the water was the problem because the previous night the lights worked fine. 

After two days I tried again to use the lights but still the front light remained unlit. 

The next day I called a friend who knows about bicycles to look it up. He adjusted the cables again and then the light became lit!

What a joy! The front light working meant I didn't have to ride in absolute darkness as I had been doing for the last three days.

So imagine my frustration when at the same night, after I've finished my work and wanted to head home, the light didn't work again!

The next day I called him back. The light was properly working when he came and saw it. 

Then it hit me! 

This particular light has two leds and an auto mode, during day one led it is on, during night the other one. After that dreadful rain the night mode wasn't working anymore. I was so sad! I gave up and rode in darkness for the rest of the week. 

One night, with a feeling of sadness I looked down at my front light and decided to turn it on to see what might happen...

...And it was suddenly working again! I just couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing! 

I then realised that my first impression was right. Indeed my lighting system had got water into it, although not the clips/cables, but the front light itself! The instructions said to avoid turning the bicycle upside down during washings as the bottom of the front light has holes and it might not work after being wet. I didn't wash my bicycle or anything, but as you can notice yourself from the pictures, my light is in front of the fender, not on top, and when it rains, water is splashing all over it! That was the problem!
(Fortunately the front light is still working perfectly until now.)

So that is why I've decided to waterproof my lights, as we are officially heading into the raining season. We already had our first big storm yesterday which reminded me that I need to do some waterproofing to my lights, so they won't have any problems in the future.

What did I do?

I used some electrical tape, which is supple and also more insulating, and covered the whole clip/cable system. I took my time doing it to ensure that every bit was properly covered and that water wouldn't be able to run through even during the heaviest downpour.

Furthermore, I used some electrical tape to secure the bottom part of my front light, too. I sealed the opening and double checked it to be sure that it is fully closed now and no water can come in through it. 

And that was it!

Who could ever told me that a piece of an electrical tape would ever give me such a joy! 

I feel happy as I believe that now my bicycle is ready to face even the most extreme rainfalls!

Are you prepared for the raining season?

Do you have any bits in your bicycle that might need some sealing or adjusting?

Safety in numbers

I was looking the time and then up to the sky. The night had fallen already and the last bit of lighting was fading away. Sadly I couldn't make it home before dark. My commute is long and has a particular part that stretches for 1 kilometer which is hilly and also pitch black after nightfall. (I will talk about my daily commute on a future post). Fortunately, my bicycle has proper lights, but what makes me uncomfortable the most when riding through this part is not the darkness, it is a dog. There is a sheep shelter nearby and after nightfall the shepherd's dog wakes up and starts sniffing around and barking to passing cyclists. So as I was reaching this place I was thinking that I had to pass through this spot and it was already dark, which meant the dog was awake. 

I looked up to the sky one more time, the sky's color from dark blue had turned to black in a matter of  minutes. I had to ride through, there was nothing I could do, right?

Well, as it turned out, there was something I could do and I did it!

I saw him way back before and actually overpassed him. And there he was at that time, right behind me, riding at my pace. There was my chance! I lowered my speed on purpose, so I could talk to him and asked him his direction and if he'd like to join me through the dark spot. For my good luck he agreed, so there we were, riding together and talking. As it turned out, that night the dog got a little bit lazy and barked while it was lying on the ground from far away. Could it be because we were riding next to each other, both with lights, and the dog took us for a car? Maybe, although I do not believe that. What is more important is that we didn't have any trouble with the dog, but even if we were, there was safety because we were two people. I know what you are thinking, two is a small number, but still a bigger number than one!

Do you have any stretches of road that are pitch black on your commute? How do you handle it?