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Safety First - Must have items to purchase before your first ride

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With a new bike, you must buy at least some safety gear as it is a must for safe riding. Other than that, there are a lot of other accessories that enhance your riding experience. All of these accessories can be found at most of the shops listed in the shop directories linked in the Bike Sizing and Shops post.

Must have Safety gear:
  • Helmet: Always wear a properly sized helmet. It can save you from severe head & brain injury in case of a fall.
Never ever ride out without wearing a helmet.

Optional Safety gear:
  • Padded Gloves:  Cut finger for summer, full finger padded or gel gloves for winters. These protect your palms in case of a fall.
  • Safety/Sports eyeglasses: It is painful and dangerous when something gets in your eye while riding. You can buy the one with changeable shades OR buy a couple, fixed glass types (one dark shade for sunny days, the other transparent or yellow shade for night/cloudy day riding).
  • Safety lights:  White for front and Red for back side. These increase your  visibility for the traffic around you.
  • Reflective Safety Jacket/Arm/Ankle bands:  These help make you visible during the night to the traffic around you.
  • Elbow and Knee Pads:  Recommended for learning riders to keep elbows and knees safe during falls. Mountain bikers usually wear these all the time to protect from injury due to falling on rough terrain.

Cycling Accessories add value and comfort to your bike rides. There are a lot of accessories for cycling but following listed generally cover all bases.
 
Must have Cycling Accessories:
  • Good quality pumps. A track pump for home & a mini pump for carrying on the ride for emergencies. It is better if both pumps are with pressure guage.
  • Sports water bottle. Water bottles for cyclists are sized to fit in the bottle cage mounted on the frame. It is recommended to buy the Insulated type as it keeps water cool longer on hot days.
    Some people use regular glass or PET bottles but these are dangerous. Glass bottle can shatter if you fall injuring you and/or causing flats in a group ride for multiple riders. Some PET bottles release toxins when exposed to sunlight. So it is better to use a purpose built cycling water bottle. 
  • Spare tube & Tyre levers to change tube in case of flat. Sometimes a multi-tool includes tyre levers so you do not need to buy them separately if you already have or planning to buy such a multi-tool.
Optional Cycling Accessories:
  • Multi-tool.These are like Swiss Army Knife containing several bicycle specific tools in a fold-able, compact shape.
  • Puncture repair kit. Sometimes one spare tube is not enough.
  • Saddle or Frame bag to have some storage space for tools etc.
  • Face mask.  Keeps bugs from entering your mouth when you are gasping for air while pedalling hard. Also helps riding during dusty weather.
  • Padded Shorts or Bib. Makes long (more than an hour) rides comfortable.
  • Cycling jersey (short n full sleeves for hot and cold weather respectively).
  • Bike computer or better yet, a GPS device. 
  • Car rack (for transporting bike on car).
  • Hydration bag/backpack (for mountain/trail biking and long rides where water refilling is not possible)
Next Post: Recommended Items to carry on a ride

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