I would love to read what are the best tricks you learned in your commuting experience.
I would like to propose a format, where we use one comment for each single trick/suggestion, so if you have multiple tricks, post multiple comments. This would allow upvotes to create a ranking of best suggestions
I will start with a couple of tricks from my experience.
Follow the safest route, not the fastest route.
I find it easy to get distracted thinking about the day. On a bike, that can be deadly. So I opt for slower routes that avoid dangerous intersections, etc.
Avoid backpacks
Backpacks are bad for your back and make you sweat a lot.
Use whatever you want to put weight on your bike, not on your back
- panniers
- front or rear baskets
- milk crates
- ?
Add any bike lanes / surface types you see to OpenStreetMap. It’ll help the many route-finding apps that people use to recommend safer routes (including Strava).
Street Complete is a handy app for this
Yes, that’s actually my favourite! I also like to use Pic4Review, and Mapilio/Mapillary to contribute street imagery which helps me map bike lanes later.
I’ll have a look into those, thanks :)
Anyone else tried Komoot? I tried it last summer and it seems pretty good
Fenders are life changing.
Unless you live in a completely dry area, fenders can save your day.
Even if it’s not raining while you are riding, going into a puddle can cause serious stains in your legs and a nice vertical stripe on your back.
The front fender on my dutch bike broke and it took me a while to find a replacement. That was a miserable few weeks.
Always carry a spare tube, tire levers, and optionally an allen key if you have thru axles. Also, a mini hand pump ideally but a CO2 inflator works too. Learn how to change your tubes - ask a friend or your local bike shop to show you how.
This will change your inevitable flat tire to a minor inconvenience and a couple minutes instead of a headache and potentially being stranded.
A tiny patch kit can add insurance against more than one flat.
Use Strava heatmap to find new paths
Strava has an heatmap that shows the most used paths by categories (cyclists, in our case) based on data collected from Strava users.
It is super useful in new areas, because it shows where cyclists go and which parts they avoid, usually because dangerous (large high speed roads)
Keep a spare set of pants at work. It will rain one day.
that sounds optimistic :)
here, we say, it will shine one day. it rains most of the days 😶
You can easily mount panniers and bike rack bags on shopping carts.
It’s very useful if you can do the self-checkout ( I don’t know how it’s called) where you scan products while placing them in the cart. You can reach your bike with the cart and move the bags to the bike
These particular bags in the pictures are Bikezacs made by Cobags - if someone wants to know. Nice bags for grocery shopping or short distance carrying and they can also be folded.
You are totally right. Here a picture of a folded cobag. I usually carry one folded in my pannier when I go to work, so I can pick up something quickly while coming back home, if I need it. They can carry 7 kg if I remember correctly, but if it rains, they are not waterproof.
How clever!
Set your lights to blinky mode to save a bit of battery.
Don’t bike with headphones! You can often hear cars before you see them.
Wave at drivers when they’re nice to you, and smile! I feel like sometimes bicyclists can look grouchy due to exertion, but I think it’s important to show car brains that you’re indeed having fun :)
Stop to take pictures when you’re passing something nice.
Say hi to fellow bikers as you pass them. Biking is so much more personable than driving! Let’s build community on our way to/from work.
Happy & safe biking y’all
For the love of God, don’t set your lights to blinky mode. The savings are minimal, it’s less safe for you and much more dangerous for other riders. Just get a dynamo if you worry about batteries…
Thank you! It is extremely difficult to estimate direction, speed and distance with blinking lights than with steady ones.
Don’t bike with headphones! You can often hear cars before you see them.
Bone conduction headphones are totally fine to bike with, as they block out no sound at all.
In fact, I think that might just be my tip for this thread!
Bone conduction headphones are totally fine to bike with, as they block out no sound at all.
While that is true, they still produce their own sounds which can still mask other sounds around you, especially with high volume.
Visibility is the most important thing for safety. Staying in a consistent lane is better than staying to the right because of this.
if you commute regularly at night, opt for a dynamo hub and fixed lights : no need to worry about batteries, no ninja mode !
That’s right!
I’m planning to buy those light with a magnetic strip on the spokes, exactly for that reason. During the winter, in the afternoon it becomes dark early, I would have both my usual battery lights and those ones that never run out of juice
I’ve had those magnetic lights, it is just ok to be seen (thanks to reflective parts) but useless if you need to ride in the dark (I have some km outside the city with total darkness). I don’t remember why I wanted it so bad, maybe a pimpmybike mood as I had a dynamo hub on this bike, but now I won’t install it on my bikes. Apologies if I broke your mood, I would recommand to save for a real dynamo hub + lights :)
No apologies needed, this is exactly the kind of tips I wanted to read, based on real experience.
I don’t need to light dark areas, I want to be visible in all situations, but I will re-evalauate them, and maybe try to test them for real. Thank you
If you want to survive any accident you are already wearing a helmet, and while glasses are optional, simple pair of cheap, or very nice gloves should be in your kit as your hand is the first thing you’ll put to the floor when falling.
Road rash takes days to come off and in your palms take forever. Burn pads help heal better for road rash but the best step is to avoid them.
As a bonus, gloves let you easily wipe off sweat on the back of your hand - aside from generally being more comfortable. Mind you, I ride slower when commuting and try to avoid sweating as much as possible.
When you’re approaching an intersection, especially a four-way stop, taking the full lane will be much more safer than staying close to the curb.
When you’re approaching an intersection… don’t assume that you can ride safely just because the light is green for you. Stay alert.
There are so many comments that can start with “When you’re approaching an intersection” 😓
Bone conduction headphones are great for getting some quality podcast listening done during your bike commute, and since they block out no sound at all and don’t cause problems with sweat, they are ideal for on-bike listening.
I’m not even sure that I would be commuting by bike without a pair, they make it so much better. 2 half hours with podcasts per day? Unbeatable.
Same here, I use the basic Shokz model. They also work well enough for phone calls if you are not going too fast
There are normally usable bicycles which can be folded into ~suitcase size in <20s and then be taken onto most transit as luggage. Usually quite a lot more expensive than a regular commuter bike but extremely practical.
