Best Bike Accessories: 33 Picks for Helmets, Locks, Pumps, Rain Gear, and More

Bicycles are wonderful machines. They delight us with their pace and freedom to take us wherever we wish, and they do it whereas giving us a superb exercise. All this in a machine with a really low environmental footprint which you can retailer in your house.

However, most bikes arrive from the manufacturing facility prepared for an off-the-cuff Sunday joyride, however not a lot else. If you wish to put your bike to work hauling cargo or commuting to the workplace, you’ll need some further equipment to make these journeys snug and enjoyable. Lucky for you, the overwhelming majority of bicycles are extremely and simply customizable, and there’s not less than a mountain’s price of substances on the market to select from.

These picks we have assembled beneath have been examined with old-school pedal bikes in thoughts, however almost all of them will work for each electrical bikes and non-electric (acoustic) bikes. Take a have a look at our Guide to Ebike Classes and Best Ebikes for extra of our ideas and explainers on electrical bicycles too.

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Table of Contents

So many issues today are a ache within the again. Riding your bike does not must be one in all them. Swapping out handlebar grips, seats, and even seat posts are among the best modifications you may make that’ll considerably enhance your experience.

• Better handlebar grips. Poor wrist posture can result in carpal tunnel syndrome or bicycle owner’s palsy, the place you are placing strain in your median and ulnar nerves, respectively. The ergonomic Ergon GA3 ($35) are my favourite grips as a result of they’ve small wings that appropriate your wrist posture to forestall these circumstances.
• Bike seat. Upgrading your seat (also called the saddle) could make an enormous distinction in your using consolation. The Brooks B17 ($94) is an old-school legend for good cause. Even although it is product of stiff leather-based, I’ve discovered it ultra-comfortable after it breaks in. These saddles are additionally rugged; they normally final for a decade or extra. If you do not “do” leather-based, Brooks makes a vegan nylon option ($130). I have not discovered low-cost or closely padded gel aftermarket saddles to be a lot, if any, of an enchancment over the seats that include newer bikes.
• Suspension seat publish. For some further glide, you’ll be able to add rear suspension to a set, hardtail bike by swapping in a suspension seat publish. The Cirrus Kinekt ($270) may be personalized for riders of assorted weights by swapping out the coil springs. On unpaved, tough, or simply potholed roads, having some cushion beneath your, uh, cushion can actually clean out the experience.
• Padded underwear. Even in probably the most snug saddle, you are sure to note the results of using for many hours and on many consecutive days. These REI Co-op Link Padded Liner Shorts ($35) are a simple method so as to add an additional gentle layer between rider and machine on longer rides. That hyperlink is for the ladies’s type, however the men’s version is offered for the identical value.

Few bikes include the attachments wanted to hold cargo on errands and grocery runs. Sure, you should utilize a backpack, and I usually do when I’m in a rush or testing out a motorcycle with out cargo-hauling tools, however a pack could make your again sweaty and restrict how a lot stuff you’ll be able to take with you. I’d advocate utilizing a pannier as a substitute. This type of bag attaches to a baggage rack that you simply set up over your again wheel (your bike may have already got this baggage rack). The pannier clips to the rack and hangs down behind your ft, out of the way in which and low to the bottom, which helps hold your bike secure underneath load.