If, like me, you live in a city that is not very bike-friendly, bicycle commuting can sometimes be intimidating. But bike commuting is an amazing way to improve your life, so I thought I’d share a few tips I picked up over the years the hard way. Hopefully, this video will help you avoid some of the mistakes that I made.
0:00 Introduction
0:36 Trying to do too much
1:38 Gear overload
2:19 Choosing the wrong route
3:13 Being impatient with the logistics
4:04 Going for speed, rather than efficiency
5:15 Dressing like a cyclist
6:21 Not recognizing the risks of a hybrid bike
7:35 Bragging about your commute
#cycling #bike #bikecommute
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I don’t really do proper product reviews, but here are some products that I’ve tried on this channel that I like. (Of course, you don’t need anything fancy to ride a bike, other than a bike, but these are Amazon affiliate links, and I get paid a small commission if you buy them 😉)
• Here’s the winter bike I’m riding these days:
• Cliq Smart Bike Light (nice rear brake light):
• RedShift Acrlight Smart LED Pedals (clever lights for your pedals):
• Aftershokz Titanium bone-conducting headphones (if you want to listen while you ride):
• JBL CLip 4 Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker (for your party-pace group rides):
• Crane Bicycle Bell (the ding is sublime):
• Ibex Merino Wool clothing (good for summer and winter):
• Bicycle Cargo Net (why did it take so long for me to buy one of these?):
• Vaude Cover II Rain Poncho (for higher-end, try Cleverhood or People’s Poncho):
• Kryptonite U-Lock (your bike is going to get stolen eventually, sigh, but at least make it difficult on the thief):
• Peak Design phone case (the one I use, paired with the Peak Design phone mount):
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Wow what a beautiful city !!
I really like that you pointed out the "no brainer once you figure it out," but you didn't know that starting out." I'd love to see more of those unique little situations where you worked out a oh-so-simple solution. Thanks!
helmet?
Bringing the wrong bike for the job is the big one. The length and type of route you ride should determine the tool you use. Those cycling jerseys definitely have pockets. Those bibbs prevent you from getting saddle sores from the padding. Typically three in the back and you can fit tons of stuff in them. If you have a decent length dirt roads to ride you might need something like a cyclocross or roubaix style bike, they can accommodate 28 mm or even more with disc brake style frames and forms. mm tires. 14 miles on smooth asphalt probably an aero road bike with clipless pedals and an aggressively aerodynamically efficient on the drops so you don’t have to be fit to do it. Trying to commute on a full suspension MTB is usually too slow and overbiked.
Mistake NUMBER ONE. Not wearing a helmet.
i think for some people its really healthy sharing and "bragging" about your commute, "people dont brag about their bus commute" well a bike commute (depending on how hard of a workout you make it for yourself) is alot more effort and its healthy to have pride and develop confidence in something.
receiving criticism or praise for achieving high commuting distance or intense labour is a healthy thing and encourages harder work in other people as well. a kind of healthy competition as you would.
we used to have a strava compete thing (all commuters) where we'd try to push eachother to cycle more often and it was super healthy n positive. – i reached a new weekly record of 350km on a £90 rusted apollo evade thanks to this healthy kind of commuting encouragement and strategy – it might not be for you but i definitely wouldnt call it a mistake.
Working 18 miles from home would be an hour and 40 mins commute on my bike. I want to do it so badly but in Florida the weather changes too much.
Wear a rassle-frassle helmet!
I am excited to start my bike commuting journey since I moved to a new city. I might be overdoing it right now, because I am biking back home after running rather than running in a loop around my home. The first few times, it killed me in the legs, but this last time, I definitely understood the efficiency metric rather than speed, and guess what, I got to my destination marginally slower than when I was cycling harder. I have yet to get my own bike, but the city I am in has a decently built out bike share network that I bought a 200 minute membership that is serving me well to learn the city, the routes, and just get comfortable being on the road with other vehicles.
Do you have a tip for a newbie bike commuter? Share it here!😀