besserheimerpha

For some background, please see my last thread "Getting my bike Saturday!". I basically have $70 in Scheels gift cards that are available to spend above and beyond my bike, helmet, water bottle and cage. My family is getting me most of the cold weather gear I'll need for fall/winter riding since my birthday is on Sunday. Other things I've thought about getting include gloves (although I could probably get by with regular winter gloves for a while), headlight and rear blinker and some sort of saddle bag for a cell phone and small first aid items. I've heard that I should get a good multi-tool and tubes and other bike emergency items too.

I'm still a newbie, and am starting from ground zero. Knowing what you know now about biking, what items would you invest in first?

Thanks for your help!!

jaxgtr

Pedals seem like the next item on the list. Also, I know you can't use the gift card but look into one of these. www.roadid.com

bautieri

First a Headlight and blinky because its getting dark early and you should be thinking about your safety as well as compliance with local laws, then a seat bag. Put a patch kit, pressure gauge, tire levers, and your cell phone in it. If possible try and scrounge up the extra money for a frame pump, they can be had pretty cheap on Nashbar. Nothing is worse than being stuck with a flat when your miles away from home with no one to call.

A set of lights and blinkies might go for about 30-40 bucks depending on light source (LED, xenon etc.), a seat bag should be 10 bucks, pressure gauge should be 3 bucks, patch kit with levers should be about 5 bucks, frame pump will run 20 bucks (currently on sale at Nashbar) Total: 68-78 dollars.

Free Tip: If you get a seat bag, use a seam ripper to remove the Velcro straps that attach it to your seat stays. Once removed use wire ties to secure the bag to your seat, just fish them through the strap eyelets and around the seat stays. Total: 2 minutes of your life

Bau

KingTermite 

What is this for? I'm not questioning it...just curious as to what the purpose is?


Agreed...besides gloves, with winter coming you really need to be visible. Planetbike's Superflash is probably the best red blinky led and can be attached nearly anywhere. It's more of a hang on than a "bolt on".

For that money, you won't be able to get a "real headlight" to be able to "see" at night, but you can get a decent headlight to help you "be seen".

Air

How heavy are you?

I recommend these for pedal upgrades The stock plastic ones are probably crap and you don't want to be stuck not being able to ride because the pedals broke.

bautieri

The seat bag or the zip wire ties?

The seat bag that I purchased originally used velco that fed through two plastic eyelets, you would then cinch the velcro around your seat stays (at least I think they are called seat stays, those little bars that run underneath your seat towards the back) to hold the bag in place. The problem I ran into was once the bag was loaded with patch kit, tools, wallet, and cell phone the velcro straps would come undone due to weight and being jarred around. This left my bag just hanging on by the velcro around the seat post. So I used a seam ripper (yes I own one...I sew) to neatly remove the stitching that held the velcro strap to the top of the bag. I then took two nylon zip wire ties to attach the seat bag to the bars nipping the extra length of the tie off, it wont let loose again .

flip18436572

I use my seat bag on multiple bikes, so I like the velcro. I don't carry the world in the bag, so I may not have the same problem, but I have used it for about 600 miles and never had a problem with it. Maybe it will cause me grief later, or maybe the quality of the velcro is different.

Good idea for people having problems though.

CliftonGK1

Reading the explanation of how it's done, it's not tied to the seat stays, it's to the seat rails because the original bag design kept falling off. Makes sense to me, since not all seat bag designs have attachment straps which wrap around the bottom of the bag.



bautieri,
The seat rails are the bars underneath the seat where you attach it to the post. I'm thinking this is what you were meaning.
The seat stays are the frame tubes on the rear triangle, leading from the rear dropouts up toward the seat.

besserheimerpha

This morning, 301.5 lbs.

Keep in mind, initially I'm looking for stuff that I will find at Scheel's to use up the last of the gift card. Unless necessary, I don't figure on buying too much more stuff until it starts to get warmer out again.

Of course today it's sunny and 52°, and I don't have my bike yet. I think it's supposed to get colder, cloudier and wetter on Sunday

bautieri

CliftonGK1,

Ah, thats the name I was looking for . Thanks for clearing that one up.

Bau

Mr. Beanz

Wow! Bautiere, what kind of seatpack do you use? I have Jandd, Fox and Trek seatpacks. Never had problems with them that made me go thru that kind of trouble to keep it on!

Air

Yeah, I have Nashbar and Pricepoint 135 cubic inch filled to the gills and never had them break. I also have a luggage rack on all my bikes so if it does break it won't get into the wheel.

MichaelW

Fenders can make riding on wet roads more comfortable and they keep you and the bike clean. The Rockhopper may need MTB style clip-on ones although you can fit a full-length one to the rear.
The stock tyres are off-road knobblies. If you want to use this bike for commuting or road riding, switch them to a kevlar-protected slick pattern; 1.5-1.9" is std width for road riding.
You can carry stuff in a backpack for a couple of miles. Carry a pump, spare inner, puncture kit and small multitool and practice how to use it in the warm. For longer rides and heavier loads, a pannier/rack system is better. The RH frame comes fitted with proper pannier eyelets so dont mess about with seatpost racks, use the real thing.
The stock alloy pedals are good enough, sometimes they fit throwaway plastic ones. Toe clips will really add some efficiency.
You dont need special cycling gloves in winter, any decent winter gloves will do.

thaetviking

Be mindful of gloves depending on where you are at in the country. I live in Iowa and it can get below zero when I ride and that is not even factoring in windchill. Make sure your gloves are waterproof and think about carrying some of those instant warmers that you can buy to put either in your gloves or shoes. I have had some real nightmares keeping my hands or feet warm sometimes.

If you are looking for something to cover yourself and not worry about it getting dirty/wet some Carhartt insulated bibs to keep you warm and your clothes clean.

If you can get it there those inflators that use the CO2 cartridges are nice to get you going quick again. I find with slime in my tires I have next to no problems with flats.

If you get much snow studded tires are something to think about but $70 will only buy you one decent one.

One other cold riding tip is to dress about ten minutes before you leave to give your body a chance to warm up you clothes.

KingTermite 

OK....I get what you mean. I just never even considered that because I've never had that problem. I just have a stock Trek bag and have packed it as full as it could possibly go (I say that and always manage to fit "one more thing" in if I really need to) and I've never had it fall.

I understand why you would do that if you had that problem, but I've never had that problem. How heavy is that bag of yours?

besserheimerpha

Yep, I'm in Iowa (somewhere between Marshalltown and Waterloo/Cedar Falls). I don't know how long into the winter I'll try to ride yet - probably until it starts getting icey.

How the heck do you bike in insulated Carhartt bibs??? I've got a set that I wear when I'm plowing the driveway with my garden tractor, and I don't see how you could get on and off the bike with them on. Then again, mine are the "arctic" ones with a solid inch of insulation - I start to sweat just sitting on the plow after about 30 minutes, but it's better than being cold.

thaetviking

Actually I use fleece lined waterproof jogging pants. Sometimes I just wear polypropylene bottoms that I got from Performancebike. They are better then Under Armor and a lot cheaper. I have worn those down to 32 degrees. Someone suggested the Carhartts so I thought would pass it along.

Be careful of your chain ring ripping apart your pants. I usually take some duct tape and put it over the seam to prevent that from happening.

If you have any questions pm me and I will give you any suggestions that I can think of for riding here.

Mr. Beanz

Seeing that you are 300lbs, I'd invest every penny, maybe more into good cycling shorts/ Maybe even a good saddle. Most stock saddles aren't too good to start with. I have problems with them at 240.

Plus good saddles may start at $75 and good shorts can be $100 minimum. If you arent comfy on the bike, you aint gonna like it and you will quit riding!

jaxgtr

Blackburn has a Voyager 4 that is really bright for a dbl AA light. 45 lumens. I'm going to get one for my road bike for when I ride it at night when the weather cools. Fairly small as well.

jaxgtr

Damn, 135 ci, you could carry a sink in that damn thing. I have a 80 ci on my hybrid and I still have room after I have my 19 multi tool, a tube, repair kit, 4 co2 cartridges, CO2 pump, tire tools and my cell phone.

Wogster

A flat repair kit would be a good first place to start, this consists of a patch kit, tire levers, pump and spare tube. Flats are the most common repairs that cyclists make. It's a good idea to practise swapping a tube, a couple of times, so that you know how to do it, flats don't often occur on bright, sunny, warm, days when you have all of the time in the world (strangely enough this years flat did). They occur on a cold, dark, rainy night when your running late, and wearing your good clothes. The recommended way to fix a flat, is to swap the tube, this way you can properly repair the tube at your convenience. Some folks, like me keep 2 or 3 spares, and when I have a couple to repair, I'll repair them all at once, using a glue based patch kit. Then put them in the cardboard tube boxes on a shelf labelled "good" tubes. This way I know that as long as I have at least one on the shelf, I'm good. When the shelf is empty, then I know I need to fix a few. Because I don't use a repaired tube right away, the patch and glue has a good amount of time to properly set nicely.

There are two pumping technologies, manual and CO2. Manual consists of a mechanical pump, that you attach to your bicycle, you grab each end separate them a short distance, then push back together, repeat until the tire has enough air. There are Mountain bike pumps, which are good for lower pressure (below 6 bar ~90PSI), and road bike pumps, which are good for higher pressures. Lower pressure pumps move more air at a lower pressure, high pressure pumps move less air at higher pressures.

CO2 pumps consists of a compressed CO2 cartridge, and an inflater that moves the CO2 into the tire. The big advantage, no mechanical pumping, but you need to carry enough cartridges. It's not uncommon to forget you used your last cartridge, until you go digging through you bike bag looking for one, and don't find any. Best to buy a box of cartridges, and keep a certain number in the bike bag, then when you use one, you replenish your supply from your box. The number of flats that can be dealt with, with a mechanical pump is ∞ + 1. Some folks will carry both a mechanical pump, and a CO2 inflater, if you run out of cartridges, you can always use the pump.

Also a good idea, is to buy a floor pump with a gauge on it, before every ride, you check that the tires are at the proper pressure, this is typically the maximum pressure marked on the tire sidewall. Don't worry that you might be a few pounds over, the maximum pressure is a balance between what the tire engineers know, and the tire manufacturer's lawyers think. It's not uncommon for a tire to be engineered for 180PSI, but marked 120PSI. Also don't worry if you pump your tires to 120PSI, and 2 or 3 days later you go to ride, you find it's 80PSI, that's perfectly normal, rubber tubes are not completely air tight.

landshark1

Buy a pair of the Scheels label bibs. They are made by Primal Wear and I find them to be every bit as good as my Pearl Izumi Ultrasensors. They sell for $45 right now at the WDM Scheels.

Mr. Beanz

Ummm what the heck is WDM Scheels????.... I bought some PI Ultrasensors a few months back, I hate them. They are really skimping on material now,IMO! Been using them for the last 6 years, were always great but no more! Last pair ran me $100. I bought the PI Quest model out of curiosity ($45), padding much better than the $100 US's!

I'm not a bib guy but maybe Scheels have similar short models?

breadbin

Go out and get hammered.

(51)

LOL! I was going to suggest a valve stem cap and 4 cases of beer