- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
6 things every new road cyclist needs Dec 2018Get in gear - 6 essentials every new road cyclist needs in their starter kit
Are you new to road cycling? The good thing is that it’s pretty easy to get into road cycling, and apart from the main purchase of a bicycle, it’s not the most expensive pastime you could pick from a long list of regular hobbies that British people partake in. But there are some other essentials...
If you are looking to get into road cycling and you’re not sure what you need to get started, we’ve listed some of the key things you might want to consider. Top of the list is a bike, obviously, but beyond that, you really don’t need much else - just plenty of enthusiasm and energy to turn the pedals. As you find yourself getting more into cycling, there are a few useful things that can make cycling more comfortable and enjoyable.
We’ve listed some key road cycling products in order of importance, starting with...
1. A bike
An obvious one this, but if you’re going to take up cycling of any sort, you’re going to need a bike. Now is a really good time to buy a new road bike, there is a lot of choice at a huge range of prices, and the quality of bikes across the board is really good.
Sure, you can easily drop £10,000 on a Tour de France replica, but there are lots of bargains to be had for under £500 if you don't want to spend too much.
Read more: The Best Road Bike Bargains for under £500
Bikes come in many guises, this guide gives a good overview of the different types of road bike available on the market.
Read more: Beginner's guide to bike types
And if you're not sure where to start with buying a road bike, let us guide you to making the right decision, with this helpful guide.
Read more: Buying your first road bike — everything you need to know
2. Padded shorts
If you’re just planning on very short cycle rides, to the office or college, for example, you can get by just fine with regular clothes. There’s no need to wear anything special.
If you want to get into road cycling properly and tackle some longer distances, perhaps even enter a sportive or join your local club, a really good investment is a pair of padded shorts. Your bum will thank you.
They can be worn on their own, or concealed under baggy shorts if you prefer, and they provide a thin padding that provides a bit of cushioning against the saddle, and can substantially improve comfort on longer rides. Just remember, no underwear under padded shorts.
Read more: Cycling shorts — everything you need to know
You can spend anything from about £40 to over £300, so there really is something for all budgets. Here’s our buyer’s guide
Read more: Best cycling bib shorts — your buyer’s guide & 9 great choices
Read more: Best cheap cycling shorts
3. Cycling jersey
A cotton t-shirt might be just fine for shorter rides, but they’re not really designed for the demands of a longer cycle ride.
A cycling-specific jersey is made from a fabric designed to keep you cool in the heat, and keep you dry when you break a sweat. They also have a long zip for ventilation, and three rear pockets for carrying food and other supplies that you might need on longer trips.
Cycling jerseys also come in many varieties designed for different conditions, from cold weather to hot weather jerseys, and can be worn with other clothing accessories like arm warmers and gilets.
You can pay anything from £5 to £130 for a jersey, here’s our buyer’s guide.
Read more: Buyer's guide to summer cycling jerseys — plus 14 of the best
4. Water bottle and bottle cage
Cycling can be thirsty work, especially in the summer heat, so keeping hydrated on longer rides is of paramount importance. Most road bikes have bolts on the frame (down tube and seat tube) that allow you to fit a special bottle cage into which a cycling bottle can be fitted.
You can stick a bottle of Coke or Lucozade in a jersey pocket or even a bottle cage, but the former isn’t very comfortable and the latter isn't the most secure. A cycling water bottle can also be reused hundreds of times, is easy to clean and is easy to drink from on the move.
5. Pump, spare tube, basic tools and chain oil
There are two things that any cyclist embarking on a ride really shouldn’t leave home without, and that’s a spare inner tube and pump. Nobody plans to puncture, but they do happen from time to time, so it’s worth being prepared so you don’t have to phone home for a lift.
A local bike shop will help you choose the right size spare inner tube (or you can read our guide below), and a pump doesn’t have to cost a lost. You can carry both in a jersey pocket or backpack, or better still is to stash the inner tube in a saddle bag, and mount the pump to the frame with the often supplied brackets.
Read more: How to repair a punctured inner tube
Read more: Video: Greg LeMond shows how to quickly change an inner tube
Another thing you might want to consider is a multitool. Multitools are the cyclist's equivalent of a Swiss Army knife, with a range of tool bits that can be used to make adjustments to the bike, such as raising or lowering the saddle height or tweaking the gears.
If you are really getting into cycling and doing regular rides, you’ll want to keep the chain well oiled so the gears work smoothly and quietly. Chain oil, or lube as it’s commonly called, is available from any good bike shop and a small bottle lasts a long time and doesn’t cost much.
Read more: How to clean and lube your bike's chain
Read more: The best multi tools — get the right bits to fix your bike's bits
6. Computer
Because everyone wants to know how fast and far they’ve cycled, don’t they?
This isn’t an essential product at all, but as any cyclist knows all too well, the most likely question you get from friends, a partner or family after a ride is how far did you ride and how fast did you pedal? And if you are new to cycling, it’s fun to track your distance of a ride and use that to measure your progress as you get into road cycling.
Cycle computers can also show you how fast you’ve ridden, your average and max speeds, how much climbing you’ve done, and other measurements like cadence and heart rate. And as this guide below shows, they don't have to cost a fortune.
You can use a smartphone to record your ride using one of the many available apps, and this is another option, but a small dedicated computer fitted to your bike will cope with rain and hte battery will last a very long time. More expensive computers use GPS and can be plugged into a computer to download all the data.
Read more: Cycle computers — everything you need to know
And yes, we thought about including a helmet in this list, but as it’s not law to wear a helmet when cycling, we feel it’s up your own discretion whether you choose to wear a lid. If you feel safer wearing a helmet then go for it. Good cycling helmets can be bought for as little as £20, just make sure they comply with European standards, to look for certification stickers inside the helmet .
Read more: Best cheap cycling helmets
Is there anything we’ve missed? Let's hear your suggestions in the comment section.
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
Latest Comments
- chrisonabike 38 sec ago
I know nothing will change until it does, but (FFS) yes - a prison sentence (and they've actually applied a previous suspended one) BUT why are we...
- Surreyrider 2 min 55 sec ago
You should know by now that drivers are never responsible for their vehicles - just look at the results of court cases.
- chrisonabike 5 min 57 sec ago
I've had to put my wellies and gloves back on again ... but perhaps a thoughtful consideration of the following would be helpful for those - with a...
- john_smith 17 min 21 sec ago
If you'd read it a bit more carefully you'll see that it also requires each new home to have at least three parking spaces. So it shouldn't be a...
- FionaJJ 40 min 14 sec ago
It took me ages to make sense of the story, because the bit about having bike parking is irrelevant to the issue about access. ...
- chrisonabike 1 hour 20 min ago
But how on earth do you expect people to know that's not allowed?...
- David9694 1 hour 48 min ago
Man flees after crashing into grade II listed Dorset home https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/24263845.man-flees-crashing-grade...
- wycombewheeler 2 hours 1 min ago
If plod can't get through their in their cars, then criminals will use it to evade them because heaven forbid the police should patrol on foot or...
- chrisonabike 2 hours 5 min ago
The questions would be "who / what do the rules serve? What are we willing to pay / accept to maintain or enforce them?"...
Add new comment
127 comments
Wearing underwear under cycling shorts may be comfortable for a while, but cycling shorts are designed to be worn next to the skin so it should be more comfortable to wear them as designed. It's not a "rule" to be obeyed - just advice.
Is this the £25 30 comment helmet argument or the full £75 200 commenter?
I'm going to guess that 'unfundamented' means: "without an arsehole".
I like it as a word. I intend to work it into at least one sentence a day for the next 6 weeks.
Lights are a legal requirement in the UK? Since when ??
Probably. Don't do it.
Lucky you came back alive, cycling without a helmet? How reckless
T shirts don't have pockets and neither do cycling shorts. There was a guy at uni who rode dressed like that and then put his stuff in a bum bag. Having seen that, I would say jersey is essential.
I drink less than most but on a hot day a 2 hour ride without water would be uncomfortable even though possible. But you could always buy a drink in a shop I guess.
I wonder if all the pro helmet evangelists here, preach their stuff on car forums as well.
After all even with all the safety devices/systems the number of head injuries of car occupants is much higher than that of cyclists.
I hope their kids wear a helmet as well when travelling in a car... and when they climb anything... and when they play on a playground... and in a bath/shower...
Why do all rides have to be a long excursion requiring significant effort (and full pockets)?
Most of the year the weather isn't even that warm either. Many people can enjoy simply riding out to a pub and having a pint (or to a cafe and eating cake). Therefore water bottles, cycle-specific wicking garments, SPD pedals and so on are not on my list of "things every new road cyclist needs".
Here's a helmet for babies. To wear in the house:
http://www.thudguard.com/
How on earth did the human race get this far without it? Incredible.
when I get to the the pub, I like to have my wallet, and when I get home again I like to have my keys. Carrying a phone just in case is also useful.
so pockets are good, no pockets in cycling shorts, you could wear normal shorts buit that just leaves stuff bouncing around against your legs and potentially falling out.
I suppose if you have a tab at the pub, and someone will let you in when you get home, then a t shirt will be just fine.
I wear normal shorts or normal trousers to ride to the pub, into town or to a gig and never have a problem with pocket contents. Never felt the need to carry a phone. I'm obviously doing it all wrong, I'm not a cyclist at all.
I think we may have got a bit distracted by all this Helmet stuff.
The first thing a new cyclist needs to know is The Rules.
http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/
Fair points if you're talking about cycling in general, but the article is about things new road cyclists need. I don't want to get into labels too much but to me that implies people wnating to ride a reasonable distance at a reasonable pace, and in that context a water bottle is pretty good advice IMO. SPDs etc not so much.
Sure you can ride for a couple of hours without drinking, but a bottle is hardly a huge outlay so why not?
Not sure you're who it's aimed at Kadinski, the clue was in the headline.
Post of the year. Chapeau, as they say.
Great stuff guys!
Hmm most
construcitve commentsno, no... mostenlightening comments.. no.. still not right... I read with an open mind and am delighted to see such welcoming construtive comments to this article aimed at ou new brothers and sisters of the saddle.No still not right... can someone help me I'm feeling a little unfundamented, it's my own fault probably down to my unfettered helmet useage. Was it a full moon last night?
What is the difference between someone who does 'cycling in general' and a 'road cyclist'? I'm struggling with that.
As SuperPython59 so eloquently put it, many people achieved a hell of a lot more in the past while wearing traditional garb and often pedalling just one or two gears. Look at the photo of the Anfield BC at Betws Y Coed in the 1890s or stories of cycling writer 'Wayfarer' riding over the Berwyns in winter. Tommy Godwin rode 100,000 miles over 500 days in 1939 & 1940 on a 14kg steel Raleigh with just 4 hub gears. They would surely piss themselves laughing at the idea that carbon, gizmos and fancy clothing are so necessary before crossing one's own front doorstep.
But as you said yourself, this is supposed to be about what every road rider needs.
I disagree. Actually I think it's your comment that is biased etc. "Unfundamented" is a new word to me, though, so maybe you're onto something!
He makes a cogent argument and bases it on research findings. It is rational and evidence based. Look at the Netherlands or Copenhagen. He also mentions situations where he will wear a helmet.
And I wear a helmet for over 99% of my riding (by miles). Mainly because I don't find the evidence particularly persuasive either way and I know that I (like everyone, I think) occasionally make mistakes in my roadcraft and that this country has too many cyclist hating drivers.
The places that I feel most comfortable cycling without a helmet are the places that there are most cyclists. (That's because the drivers behave better when they're used to cyclists and have accepted their presence, not peer pressure!)
I think a 'road cyclist' is meant (in this context) to be a Velominati cultist, wearing lycra and riding a light-framed dropped-handlebars bike, head down and arse in the air on a Sunday morning club ride. ...-ish
The fact remains that the evidence is mixed; to wear, or not to wear, and expectations of what wearing one would do for you in a very specific accident... it's a matter of faith.
But allow me to play devil's advocate for a sec... The message that you're safer with a helmet, however, is pushed by cycling bodies, clubs, events, governments/politicians and manufacturers and retailers - who charge for them. That's manufacturers and retailers (let's refer to them as the 'industry') making money from selling personal protective equipment that doesn't have much evidence to support how protective it is.
Is the above claim outlandish?
Does it really take a tinfoil hatter to summarise it as a bit of an 'industry scam'?
Particularly, as you say, as there is some evidence that helmet wearing makes cycling appear dangerous and that perception puts people off doing it, and also that drivers give helmet wearers less room.
..except where they don't of course
http://drianwalker.com/overtaking/
Here is an article from the British Medical Journal by Ben Goldacre, Wellcome research fellow in epedemiology and David Spiegelhalter, Winton professor for the public understanding of risk.
http://www.badscience.net/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2013-12-13-17.12.05.png
After looking at research which purports to show that helmets are effective, and population level studies which do not show any reduction in cyclist casualty rates they conclude:
"In any case, the current uncertainty about any benefits from helmet promotion or wearing is unlikely to be reduced by further research. Equally, we can be certain that helmets will continue to be debated, and at length. The enduring popularity of helmets as a proposed major intervention for increased road safety may lie not in their direct benefits- which seem too modest to capture compared with other strategies- but more with the cultural, psychological and political aspects of popular debate around risk."
I think that nails it. The rest of the article is well worth reading for the cogent way it makes its points.
What do they know about anything? Academics. I had a friend stuck in his new speedplays fall off onto his US$400 helmet and he would have been dead if he didn't have it on.
Haha, good one. Oh wait, that was a joke, wasn't it?
I think so, but when some one thinks that talking about hitting people on the head with bricks is a good argument for helmets it gets hard to tell.
I stood by the road at the weekend looking at my map. Map. Papery thing that tells you where you are.
Seems on a par with ghe UK/EU debate where one side quotes Martin Lewis out of context and the other side equates the EU with Napoleon and Hitler.
Seems on a par with ghe UK/EU debate where one side quotes Martin Lewis out of context and the other side equates the EU with Napoleon and Hitler.[/quote]
I think that is unfair.
Pages