I’ve decided I need accessories more than a new bike

[lordofthemark]

I got back into cycling about 10 months ago – with an old cheapo mountain bike (Roadmaster ultraterrain extreme). I bought a helmet, bell, and mirror.

After my last ride, Ive decided that Im not really going to become a regular bike commuter anytime soon, and the goal of my recreational rides is less about improving time than about losing weight and improving my riding ability. So there is really no impetus to get a lighter faster bike.

Based on my own thoughts and some posts here, I have decided to get accessories instead. I need to get lights and high viz clothing (not only to extend rides to dusk and beyond, but to improve my visibility in all conditions). I need a bike computer – not only to check and incentive my progress, but more to improve my cadence, which is probably still too low.

Topic

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Bilsko 44276 wrote:

FTFY: $47.30

Coincidentally, if you take out the decimal mark, that’s how many calories it has.

[Bilsko]

@lordofthemark 44273 wrote:

And I think I will splurge on a helmet light, which is at least easy to take from bike to bike (yes I know I also need a rear light)

Depending on how much you’re willing to spend, there are helmet models that have both headlamp and rear light all-in-one: http://www.amazon.com/Light-Motion-VIS-Degree-Bike/dp/B008KKNSQ0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1361305445&sr=8-2&keywords=vis+360

[ronwalf]

@DismalScientist 44271 wrote:

When trying to figure your cadence, just count.

Or sing!

If you have a firm handle on how long a second is, a 90bpm cadence is easy to count by subdividing a second into triplets. Then your pedal pattern looks like
Left-right-left
Right-left-right
Left-right-left
Right-left-right
at one line per second.

I practiced this for a while before getting a Garmin 500 with a cadence sensor. I wouldn’t want to use the Garmin to practice cadence – it’s a small screen, and I’d rather be watching where I was going. If I had to get some gadget to work on my cadence, it’d be a small electronic metronome.

-Ron

[TwoWheelsDC]

If you’re riding up to the TR bridge from the troll at 9mph and you’re in your big front ring and a middle cog in the rear, your cadence is too low…

[PeteD]

@baiskeli 44260 wrote:

Cost of that Starbucks latte you’re drinking in your photo: $44.50.

Not my fault they only serve Starbucks out at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. Super-Storm Sandy was a harsh mistress of a headwind.

My point to him is that this can be an expensive hobby (my wife’s quote was “I never thought you’d find a more expensive hobby than your computers, but you did.”) even beyond the cost of the bike.

–Pete

[baiskeli]

@PeteD 44284 wrote:

Not my fault they only serve Starbucks out at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. Super-Storm Sandy was a harsh mistress of a headwind.

My point to him is that this can be an expensive hobby (my wife’s quote was “I never thought you’d find a more expensive hobby than your computers, but you did.”) even beyond the cost of the bike.

–Pete

As a grizzled old cyclist (complete with gray beard) who once rode through five inches of rain, plus wind, from Tropical Storm Tammy in the 2005 Seagull Century, I scoff at your first-world Starbucks access problems and your hurricane headwinds.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@DismalScientist 44271 wrote:

As the forum cheap bastard, my recommendations are as follows:

I refuse to concede that title, even to you.

[baiskeli]

@ShawnoftheDread 44288 wrote:

I refuse to concede that title, even to you.

Idea: We need to have some kind of Anti Tweed Ride, where people show up in the cheapest, rattiest clothes and bikes possible and fly their freak flags. You know, milk crates, duct tape…the good stuff.

[ShawnoftheDread]

This is what I use for a front light:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0050DX6VM/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Mounted on my bars with this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005JAC3G0/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cheap, bright enough to see and be seen on the trails and busy streets at night, and the stobe mode is very noticable. I have rechargable batteries–one will get me home on my 16 mile commute no problem and I carry a spare just in case.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@baiskeli 44289 wrote:

Idea: We need to have some kind of Anti Tweed Ride, where people show up in the cheapest, rattiest clothes and bikes possible and fly their freak flags. You know, milk crates, duct tape…the good stuff.

Where’d the Like button go? Is it just me? I only have a “report” button.

[ShawnoftheDread]

So it’s just me. Lame.

[Tim Kelley]

@ShawnoftheDread 44292 wrote:

So it’s just me. Lame.

Or it’s a clever ploy to get yourself some extra “likes.”

[ShawnoftheDread]

@Tim Kelley 44294 wrote:

Or it’s a clever ploy to get yourself some extra “likes.”

Tim’s on to me.

[DismalScientist]

@ShawnoftheDread 44290 wrote:

This is what I use for a front light:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0050DX6VM/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Mounted on my bars with this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005JAC3G0/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Looks like I need an upgrade. This technology keeps improving.

[KelOnWheels]

@PeteD 44284 wrote:

My point to him is that this can be an expensive hobby (my wife’s quote was “I never thought you’d find a more expensive hobby than your computers, but you did.”) even beyond the cost of the bike.

–Pete

Don’t take up diving

[Author]

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