Beginner road riders should carry all these things, from day 1. Everyone should.
If you’re starting out in road riding then there’s plenty of essential equipment you need. Obviously a bike to begin with. However gradually, over time, you start to build up various pieces of equipment, some of it not necessarily essential.
For example after I took up road riding I decided that all my mechanical work would be done by the bike shop. I knew nothing about working on bikes, didn’t particularly want to learn, and was happy for the bike shop to work on my bike.
However over time I started to get interested in bicycle mechanics, and eventually started buying some simple tools, initially so that I could change a cassette and chain all by myself. This was a good place to start, and saved quite a bit of money for me.
However there are some small items of essential equipment that you should be carrying from the first day you start road riding. Some of them might seem obvious, but I’ve seen many riders on the road without these important pieces of equipment. Most times it doesn’t matter, however the day will come when you greatly regret not having invested at the start of your cycling career.
Here’s 3 essential, relatively small and relatively cheap pieces of cycling equipment you need from day one. All obvious, all ignored by some riders.
1. At least 2 pairs of glasses.
Everyone who rides must have a good pair of sunglasses. The obvious reason for this is to limit glare from the sun. Particularly if you’re riding in the summer, a good pair of sunglasses makes your ride so much more comfortable.
More and more scientific research is telling us that protecting your eyes from the sun, particularly from the UV radiation, is extremely important for the long term health of your eyes.
This is the obvious reason for wearing glasses. However there’s much more than that, probably much more important.
Wearing glasses provides you with a physical protection layer against serious eye injury. There’s a range of situations where you may well suffer an eye injury if you’re not wearing glasses.
If you’ve been road riding for a while chances are you’ve been hit in the face by a bug. Whilst, if you’re travelling reasonably slowly, and it’s a small bug, it probably didn’t hurt, if you’re descending at 50, and it’s a large bug, it might. I’ve been hit in the face of a number of times, sometimes it’s quite painful.
Being hit in the face can be painful, being hit in the eye can be dangerous. Firstly there is the risk to your eye, and secondly there is the risk of falling, possibly in front of a vehicle, and/or bringing down other riders.
It’s not just bugs. I’ve been hit in the face by stones thrown up by the bike in front, as well as stones thrown up by oncoming vehicles. Just last week an oncoming vehicle threw up a large rock at me. Fortunately I was driving rather than riding, though I ended up with a broken windscreen. If I was riding it could have been serious, if I got hit in the eye even more serious.
In fact even though I wear glasses I still put my head down when an approaching car passes, so I take stones on the helmet and not the face.
That’s why I suggest 2 pairs of glasses, and that’s a minimum. That’s because if you’re riding when there is no risk of glare from the sun you don’t need sunglasses, but you still need glasses.
In fact I have a number of different pairs of glasses, including yellow tint for night-time and clear for early morning.
2. An adequate well equipped, saddlebag.
Again it might seem obvious, however I’m constantly amazed at the number of people who cycle with no spare equipment.
A well-equipped saddlebag, (or plastic carrier to fit in your bottle holder) is absolutely essential. On 2 occasions I’ve had to use items from my own saddlebag to help out someone who’s had a problem and carried nothing.
I carry two spare tubes, a fitting for CO2 canisters for pumping up the tyre, two spare CO2 canisters, tyre levers, allen keys, money and a spare gel.
And others I know even carry a spare tyre, small sections of inner tube to help repair split tyres and more.
I know a saddlebag adds weight. I know it doesn’t look cool
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