Bicycle was my only mean of transport when younger.

I still have the bike I received at 13 or 14.... But it needs a bit of repair ....
So I bought a new two years ago.
But I use it rarely, mostly during week-ends, to run some errands and to do some light shopping around. It's quite dangerous to ride a bike in Paris....

I'm no longer a specialist in bikes (and have never been anyway...), so I'm no longer aware of all the gadgetry available nowadays...

I would like to replace the front dynamo driven light by one running on AA batteries. Just to make it legal. I don't ride a lot at night.
And my Inova T2 is bright enough (but the way I strap it on the handlebar is not ideal)


As for "lateral protection", there are glow_in_the_dark things you put over a few spokes on each wheel.
And a reflective jacket is a good thing too.... I guess you can find such a safety vest in any car supplies' shop. I even saw some in a supermarket, in the automobile section.

When I lived in France for a short time, I had the impression that cyclists on the road were respected much more than they are in North America.

At the same time, pedestrians were respected much less.

Well, if you're right, then I guess a US bicycle rider's live in not worth a lot ! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

A very good friend of mine, who is a cyclo-tourist (?) since her teens (even before she was ten, as her whole familly spent all their vacations on the roads of Europe, bicycling ....) is presently recovering from a bad accident : she has been run over by a car, while bicycling on a straight road ...

I have heard more than one person ranting about someone on a bicycle holding up traffic and making them late to work/lunch/meeting/whatever. People in cars think the bicycles should stay on the sidewalk and people walking on the sidewalk think bicycles should be in the street with the cars. Its unfortunate but no one seems to want bikes anywhere. The people that can afford the $200K and up houses close to the office don't have to drive a very long distance since they are close to the office so high gas prices doesn't affect them much. People like us who have to live in the old parts of the city and drive 20 miles each way to get to work are affected most since its too far to take a bike (and prohibited on the most direct route which is the highway) so were stuck with bicycle commuting not being an option.

Guess it all depends on where and when you are biking.
I used my bike to and from work for half a year(not during the winter) distance around 17 km one way. Quite heavy terrain, had to carry the bike over some big logs and rocks on the forest path. Since this was in sweden I never had to use it when it was dark. My employer supplies me with work clothes and there is a shower at work.
My equipment(which worked out great and i think i used all of it):
Bike: Swedish military surplus bike from the 60s.
(No gears, lockable toolbox and superior quality)
½ litre of water
Poncho (to keep dry when it rains)
Patch kit, spare valves
Cell phone (when i eventually got a puncture i could call work and tell them i was going to be late)
Towel

Only thing i thought about that I didnt include(because of its weight) was a spare chain..

When it comes to the bike itself I think quality is priority number one, if you want something fancy and quality it's expensive. (Never found a mountainbike with the same quality as my old one for less than 10 000 SEK
(approx 1500$).)

Good luck!

/Petter

Just bring a few spare links, and the tool to press a broken link out and replace it. I've bent a couple links mountain biking. Usually I can muddle through and change it when I'm done, but once it started jamming and I had to replace it on the trail. It only really takes about 5 minutes.

Another thing I bring is spare brake pads. On a very long downhill once, my brakes started to fade, and when I got to the bottom I stopped and looked and the rubber brake shoes were melted all over the rims. I guess that's why some guys like disk brakes!

Things you need : -

A Helmet, been knocked over twice, it forced me into. I would like to point out that I was on the pavement at the time and the two drivers were ignoring the lane they wanted to turn into i.e. looking only one way as they pulled out. This was within about 10 meters of each other, it was the one nightmare of that journey to work. The road is not wide enough so if you add a bike into the mix, you end up on the pavement anyway.

Glasses, try riding without them.

Gloves, might want two pairs one with fingers and one without.

Lights and a vest, see above, that was in broad daylight. They do not pay attention so make sure they can see you, for the lawyers if nothing else..

In the Uk we can get something called slime. You can put it in your tyres and it makes them harder to puncher. I use their strips which go inside a wheel and their pre-filled tubes. Also I have spare complete wheels at home and carry a spare tube with me. It is so much easier to just swap out the tube.

A front or rear carrier, rucs get old real quick. Let the bike do the carrying.

Scout your route out. Cars cannot go though parks etc, you will find lots of short cuts.