I've wanted to start this thread for a long time so here it is.

Each of has encountered bicycle stuff that has been absolutely fantastic or perhaps less that what it appeared at first blush.

Here's a chance to sound off....I'll start one.


Aluminium water bottles make a huge racket bouncing around in a bottle cage. As someone else here also said, they lack that "squeezeability" factor for drinking or spraying water on your head. on a scale of 1 to 10 a 2

"Flick Stands" - Haven't seen 'em for years but they were the bee's knees for stabilizing the fork so you could lean the bike against something without it falling over.

Road bike with enough brake reach to accomodate tires wider than 25 or 28 mm are just as fast in the hands of an average cyclist, and are WAY more comfortable on longer rides. This should be obvious and commplace, but it isn't. You'd be hard pressed to find a road bike in a shop with enough room for anything but small, and thus hard, tires.

I'm out...no common sense.

I still miss leg lights.

The latest and greatest new innovations in bike materials, designs and technology may be wonderful and may make you the best rider you can be. But the bikes that were good bikes before those innovations are still good bikes after them. Don't get caught up in the marketing hype (unless that is what you enjoy).
It's still mostly about legs and lungs.

White is the new (fill in the color).

A playing card "clothes-pinned" to the rear seat stay (or front fork) for that cool "motor" sound -- priceless!

Horn button on the side of the "tank" and battery-powered 0.1 watt light up front on the old 50s Western "Flyer" cruiser!

Kickstand (alloy, of course) -- I'm just sayin'...

Big, wide touring saddle with springs in the back...

Red or blue, Gee. Check the latest poll!

At age 7, I fabricated a home-made "speedometer" out of a canning jar lid, clamp, and a cardboard pointer arrow. Schwiinn had a cool, cable-driven bike speedometer at the time that I was trying to reverse engineer!

Checked google for flick stand. Surprise they are still listed in many places.

My bike came with a kickstand ....... it's practical for in-house storage on our tile floor since we don't have a bike stand. Hubby had one installed on his bike when he bought it, for the same purpose. Should we have them removed and pay $ for a stand instead, just to be cool?

Heat shrink tubing. Know those little crimp-ons that they use to keep your cable end from fraying. Heat shrink tubing is lots easier to find (any hardware store), real cheap, and finishes off the cable end very neatly!

Flat tire? Patches aren't holding, or those CO2 cartridges you thought were full, aren't! Well, unless you're somewhere that is all concrete or asphalt, stuff as much grass as you can get into the tire, so you can hobble home. Won't be the fastest ride you've ever done, but could keep you from ruining a tire and/or rim!
Broken rear der.cable, and a high-normal derailleur? Get the rear der. in the gear which you think you'll feel most comfortable in for the rest of the ride, and wrap and tie the cable around the cable stop. At least you won't be in the highest gear for the rest of the ride home!
This one I've actually done (on someone else's bike, not long ago)-If your chain gets stuck between chainrings on the front crank & can't get it out (real stuck!), loosen the chainrings enough to allow the chain to be removed, then re-tighten (you do carry a multi-tool, right?)

Pink?

This came in handy on my last ride

Yes. Nobody who is cool has a kickstand anymore.

Those cheap Bell rear blinkies they sell at Wal-Mart work surprisingly well and run what seems like forever on two AAA batteries. I turn mine on even in the daytime and have gotten multiple comments on how well it can be seen.

Common sense? I didn't take that class. bk

You could use it as a tourniquet if you get bit by a snake.

I'd give them a -10. Why the heck would anyone think an aluminum water bottle is a good thing?

That heatshrink idea is great. I have gobs of the stuff from my occasional electronics projects.

I think it's great to find and refurb a decent bike from the thrift shop/curb. Nice lugged steel frames can had cheaply that way.