With my Long Haul Trucker equipped with an AirZound air horn however, a quick 120db blast is al that’s usually needed for the situation to resolve itself.

For those cyclists who don’t use an AirZound or similar device however, the only tools left are directly confrontational. You can shout at people, stick your finger up at them or in the extreme cases even vandalise an offending vehicle.

Unfortunately regardless of which side of the fence you’re on, be it aggressor or victim, confrontational violent behavior benefits no one.

On one side of the fence you have the aggressor.

Last week seventy one year old Mary Touma was walking along Gardeners Road in the suburb of Eastlakes, New South Wales.

An argument then broke out between Touma and a passing cyclist guy on a bike and he then pushed Touma. Touma fell backwards and hit her head on a brick wall.

She later died.

Having a look at Gardeners Road, it seems to be a large four lane road with no bicycle lane.

View Larger Map

Given the cyclist guy on a bike was ‘wearing black pants, a dark-coloured top and white sneakers‘ and ‘aged in his 20s‘ I’m going to assume he didn’t have the road confidence to take up a lane on the road itself.

He also probably wasn’t wearing a helmet.

My guess would then be that the altercation between Touma and the guy on a bike was over him riding on what appears to be quite a small footpath on Gardeners Road.

Mrs Touma looks a bit like a nagger so I’m guessing guy on a bike had enough and shoved her to shut her up. She then fell over backwards and most likely hit her head on one of the low brick property fences seen in the map above.

Someone is dead over an argument about riding a bicycle on the footpath.

Firstly you shouldn’t be on the footpath to begin with and secondly just how hard is it to keep riding if some crabby old lady decides to get stuck into you?

What is pushing her over going to achieve? Regardless of how crabby Mary Touma might have been, any sense of self satisfaction as a result of pushing over little old ladies should be negated by the fact she’s a little old lady.

Kind of like winning a boxing match against a toddler. Amusing, maybe but certainly not a personal or moral victory by any stretch of the imagination.

One the otherside of the bicycle violence fence is then the victim.

David Rourke sounds like your typical lycra clad Sunday warrior cyclist. Rourke was out last Sunday cycling along Torquay Road in Geelong when he was cut off by ‘a vintage gold Ford XC or Chrysler‘.

Not too happy about it, Rourke stuck his finger up at the driver and that’s when things got ugly. The driver got out of the car and chased Rourke across the road before king hitting him.

Rourke went down and as a result of the attack will require

Two steel plates (t0) be inserted in his cheekbones once the swelling in his face goes down and doctors also expect they may have to screw his jaw together.


Worth it for a bit of road rage aggression?

Hardly.

When a cyclist is cut off however there’s not much you can do. I have my horn and that usually stops vehicles dead in their tracks. If all you’ve got is a bell, or worse still nothing then you’re pretty much left with no option but to suck it up.

You could have words with the driver at the next set of lights but no doubt that could just as easily turn ugly.

In Rourke’s case you could split hairs over whether the car cutting him off was the initial aggressor or whether it was the finger that did it but at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter.

What’s happened has happened and as Rourke lies in a hospital bed I’m sure it’s crossed his mind once wondering if it was worth it.

I don’t imagine there’s too many vintage gold Ford XC’s or Chrysler’s in the Geelong area so I imagine it won’t take too long to catch the driver. Regardless of his punishment however I still think avoiding the situation altogether would have been the better choice.

In both instances someone has come worse off as a direct result of aggression and violence mixing with bicycles. Unlike their car, truck and bus counterparts however cyclists usually have a lot more to lose when aggression gets out of control.

This is again replicated when a pedestrian is involved as they’re usually going to come off worse then a cyclist again.

As someone who rides around a fair bit I can honestly say that despite having a few of those moments that leave a bitter taste in your mouth for the next few hours, I’ve never completely blown my stack at someone.

People are unpredictable and it’s impossible to know if someone’s a crazy or not before you get involved in an argument with them.

Is it worth risking your health, or as in Mary Touma’s case, your life over?

I think it’s more important to get to where you’re going safely then to attempting a few seconds of life altering self gratification.

Keep safe on the roads guys.

There are a few packing options available to someone deciding to ship their bicycle overseas. Having gone through the experience myself, today I thought I’d share my thoughts on the various methods available.

When wanting to ship your bicycle the first major decision that needs to be made is what you’re going to ship it in. There are basically three options available to you and here’s a run down of each.



A cardboard box

This is the cheapest and simplest way to ship your bicycle, however it’s also the most dangerous to the bicycle itself.

Sure bicycles arrive in bike stores in boxes but this is usually via delivery where the driver is somewhat responsible for the cargo. This is vastly different to airline freight crew who don’t really give a crap about your bicycle.

Whilst more economical then a bicycle suitcase or bag, a cardboard box also requires some pretty major disassembly for a bicycle to properly fit in one. Remember whatever you disassemble will have to be reassembled when you arrive wherever you’re going.

The final major issue with a cardboard box is durability. If it gets wet it’s going to be pretty useless and if storing a non foldable cardboard is a pain. They are a one time use consumable so if you’re doing a bit of travelling and relying on cardboard boxes, beware that you might have trouble sourcing one in more remote regions.

Having said that if you’re in the vicinity of a bicycle store obtaining a cardboard box is a relatively straight forward affair. Most bike shops should be happy to store a box or two upon request ready for you to pick up.

A bicycle case

A bicycle case is a purpose built case deisigned for the sole purpose of shipping your bicycle securely from point A to point B. Unfortunately although being the most secure and robust method of shipping, a bicycle case still has some strong drawbacks.

The first is the price. Bicycle cases do not come cheaply and at a minimum you’re going to be looking at a couple of hundred of dollars for a cheap one. Obviously robustness and build quality will increase as you go up in price.

Secondly, like cardboard boxes, bicycle cases are cumbersome and can weigh quite a bit. Storing a bicycle case is the same as storing a cardboard box, only unlike a cardboard box you paid good money for a case so you’re not just going to dispose of it.

Being a sturdy case, bicycle fit is very important. Unlike cardboard boxes and a bicycle bag you’ve got no leeway when it comes to bicycle size and a hard case. Either the bicycle fits or it doesn’t so be sure to carefully measure or even take your bicycle partially disassembled to test if it fits into the case if you’re buying locally.

Weight can also be an issue if you’re paying per kg or travelling by air with a fixed allowance. Not much point shipping your bicycle around if you’re going to be paying a ridiculous weight tax on it everywhere you go.

Negative aside, the big drawcard of shipping a bicycle in a case is that they provide the strongest level of protection. Freight handlers can throw your bicycle case around as hard as they want and your bicycle will remain snugly safe and sound inside.

A bicycle bag

Somewhere inbetween the crude cardboard box and sturdy expensive bicycle case lies the bicycle bag.

For me a bicycle bag was the obvious choice for shipping my bicycle with due to a number of reasons.

Firstly a bicycle bag has a lot of similarities of a cardboard box. You’ve got flexibility as to how you can pack things and your bike doesn’t need to be majorly disassembled to fit inside. If you want the protection of a cardboard box you’re also free to pad out the inside of a bicycle bag with cardboard too.

Unlike a cardboard box though a bicycle bag won’t become useless if it gets damp or wet and is much more convenient to carry around. Being lockable with a padlock a bicycle bag is also more secure.

Cost wise you’re probably looking at a hundred dollars minimum but this is a far cry from a bicycle case which will set you back five hundred dollars or more easily.

I managed to pick up a ‘Veloman’ bicycle bag from a local store which set me back just one hundred and fifty. In this bag I was able to pack my entire Surly Long Haul Trucker (which is a notoriously large frame), full length mudguards, two pannier bags, my helmet, lock, track pump, rear rack, both wheels, saddle and seat post.

Disassembly wise all I had to do was remove the wheels, unscrew the handlebars from the stem (didn’t have to undo any of the brake cables) and remove my mudguards, seat post and rear rack from the frame.

I’d be hard pressed to fit all this gear into a bicycle case and wasn’t prepared to leave it to chance that a cardboard box wouldn’t get damaged during shipping. A bicycle bag was the perfect compromise between the two.

Additionally once you’re done you can simply fold it up into a nice tiny package ready for use again when you need it. Be aware that on its own though a bicycle bag doesn’t offer much protection so be sure to source some cardboard to pad it out with before packing your bicycle again.


If you’ve got a cheap bike and aren’t too worried about potential damage rather then ship it I’d look at simply purchasing a cheap bicycle. Or if you’re shipping a bicycle in then buying one locally.

I wouldn’t bother with a bicycle case unless you’ve got a really, really expensive bike with no accessories. Bulk wise it’s just not worth the hassle.

A bicycle bag on the other hand is a nice mix between the two and is very competitively priced in comparison to a bicycle case. I used a bicycle bag to ship my Long Haul Trucker from Australia to Taiwan and don’t think I could have made it any easier on myself.

Currently my bicycle bag is sitting folded and tucked away in a closet. If I ever have to ship the Trucker anywhere else again I know I’ve got a freight system that works and can fit my bicycle securely along with all its accessories.

Now that I’m Taiwan I’m doing much more longer leisure rides. Teaching English means I’ve got most mornings free so I’m getting out there and cruising around on two wheels.

Taiwan’s wonderful sunshine has beautifully tanned my arms but unfortunately it’s left my hands suffering from some serious tan lines. This is how my right hand currently looks and with summer just around the corner I imagine the tan lines are only going to get worse.

Feeling a bit self conscious over the last few weeks in particular I decided to search for some workarounds to combat cycling glove tan. Surely I’m not doomed to walk around for the rest of my life with Mickey Mouse hands?

My first few thoughts on how to get rid of cycling glove tan lines approached the problem from a conventional viewpoint.

1. Spray on tan

I don’t know how much mileage you get out of spray on tan but if you’re using a can solely on your hands surely it’ll last at least a few months.

The problem however for me has been that spray on tan has always been glaringly obvious. Possibly more so then having lighter tan line hands, which kinds of defeats the original purpose of using spray tan.

One of my pet hates is seeing girls with a fake tan, it’s just so obvious. As much as I’d like to believe the spray would blend to my skin I know it probably won’t be perfect, and that would annoy me to no end.

That and I imagine spray on tan would rub off pretty quickly once exposed to the insides of a cycling glove a few times a week.

2. A salon tanning bed

A salon tanning bed would probably solve the uneven fakeness of a spray on tan but when you stop to think about it, it’s a bit extreme just to cover up tan lines on your hands.

Maybe if you were a girl but I’m a guy. Cycling glove tan lines bother me but not enough to start going to a tanning bed. Especially not when there’s plenty of sunshine outside.

3. Don’t wear cycling gloves

This idea came to me a bit later (I don’t know why seeing as in retrospect it’s the most obvious), but solves one problem by creating another.

I don’t wear cycling gloves for the look I wear them for comfort and safety. I’ve seen first hand what a palm can look like if you come off a bicycle at speed and don’t want it to happen to me.

In Taiwan there’s a lot of mountains which usually means if you head out for a longer ride at some point you’re going to be coasting some downhill. Worst comes to worst and you come off your bike, you’re gunna wish you were wearing gloves.

No, not wearing cycling gloves is definitely not an option.


Out of frustration I let the idea sit in my head for a few weeks figuring I’d just deal with it. Then it got a whole lot more sunny and the hand tan problem became oh so much more noticeable.

That’s when I hit the internet for some research and came across tan through cycling gloves.

4. Tan through cycling gloves

I haven’t had to worry about uneven tanning before so the idea of tan through clothing isn’t something I’ve ever looked into. Apparently it’s quite popular for females in getting rid of tan lines for the beach.

I was a little worried there wouldn’t be, but fortunately there’s a small niche market for tan through gloves.


Roeckl Solar Tan Through gloves

Roeckl don’t seem to have a website (or any web presence) so product info is a bit sparse on these gloves. Roeckl Solar gloves from what I can tell are primarily horse riding gloves although a few bicycle clothing stores stock them.

I haven’t been able to get a picture of the palm of these gloves but I do know they have a gel insert. I’m not sure how well horse riding gloves transfer over when it comes to cycling but I’m probably going to want a bit more anatomically targeted padding then a simple palm gel insert.

I’m not quite ready to sacrifice comfort for the sake of hand tan line fashion just yet so I’d probably give these particular gloves a miss.


Hawg Paws Riding Gloves

Again although not specifically designed for bicycle riding, Hawg Paws Riding gloves offer a tan through solution. Appearance wise they seem to be a bit more robust then the Roeckl Solar gloves featuring a durable leather palm.

Padding wise instead of a single insert these gloves have the padding split up. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find a photo of the palms of these gloves so I’m not sure about the specific padding layout.

Motorcycle riders tend to be a bit less heavy on their handlebars so I’m still a bit cautious about purchasing the Hawg Paws gloves. They do however seem to be much better then the Roeckl Solars though.


Roeckl Isone Cycling gloves

I was starting to think there weren’t any cycling specific tan through gloves out there but then I ran into these. Unlike the flimsy looking Roeckl Solar gloves, the Isone is purpose built for cycling and looks the good.

With anatomically designed gel padding and all the other standard stuff you’d expect from a cycling glove the Roeckl Isone gloves seem to be pretty decent.


My current Serfas RX cycling gloves are on their last legs. I’ve had them for about two and a half years now and although they’re well past the point of replacement, I decided a few months ago that I’d wear them into the ground and then do a writeup on it. That means wearing them until they literally fall apart.

I reckon they’ve probably got another month or two in them tops. When that happens I’ll most likely be looking at purchasing a pair of Roeckl Isone gloves to get rid of my hand tan lines. Well unless a better idea comes along.

It’s unfortunate that in order to avoid cycling glove tan lines you’ve got to massively reduce your choice in which gloves you can wear. I guess compared to the alternative of walking around with mickey mouse hands though, if you can find a decent enough pair of cycling specific tan through gloves then it’s a small price to pay.

One of the first rides I got to do while I was here in Taiwan was a pass through Lions Head Mountain. As far as scenic rides go this was definitely up there as one of the more beautiful rides I’ve ever been on.

Lions Head Mountain is situated in Miaoli County in Northern Taiwan and is 496 meters above sea level. It’s name came about because apparently the northern face of the mountain looks like a lion’s head. I’m not exactly sure where the north face was or if you need to look at it from a certain angle or what, but coming down the mountain from the south I certainly couldn’t see it.

If your cycling the mountain it’s preferable that you approach it from the south. Coming from the south one of the first things you see as you ascend the mountain are the various gateways along the road.

I have no idea what the writing said but the scope and detail put into the gateway was quite impressive. Someone even put red ribbons around the doggies…uh I mean lions.

As I got closer to the peak of the mountain I ran across this parculiar garden fence:

Some of the wheels looked like they’d been there a long time. There wasn’t anyone around to ask so I don’t know if the display had any relevance or was just one of those random things someone does. Still, being on a bicycle myself it gave me something to smile about. I knew where to come if I busted up one of my wheels in the area.

As I mentioned earlier coming in from the south is the better option. The climb from the south is much more gruelling then from the north, but it’s also much shorter. If you come from the north you’ve got less of a gradient to climb but it’s way longer. Personally I’d rather spend more time going downhill so putting up with the south climb is well worth it.

After climbing from the south the reward is a 6-7km run downhill. I was just coasting and topped out at 63km/h so there’s loads of potential if you can be bothered pedalling. The roads a bit windy too so it’s good fun to test your bike handling skills. Coming from Melbourne Australia where mountains are unheard of, the Lions Head downhill run was the highlight of the ride for me. I simply hadn’t experienced anything like it before on a bicycle.

About halfway along the downhill run you pass the Lions Head Visitor Centre. There’s not all that much to do here but there was a cafe and a multilevel goldfish pond.

Inside the pond were goldfish and some massive koi. Koi are banned back in Melbourne so I’d never really seen them up close.

Don’t think they’d go down too well in an aquarium, they were freaking huge!

Just before the visitor centre is a carpark and the trail that leads to Fanyin Temple. In the carpark are some food and drink vendors. The orange juice looked refreshing but I wound up paying $50 TWD ($1.70 AUD) a bottle for it and it couldn’t have been bigger then 200ml. The juice wasn’t bad or anything but given that I can buy 1L of milk tea for $35 TWD or 700ml of juice for around $25 TWD I did feel like this was pretty expensive.

Probably better to give it a miss if you’re up there.

The rest of the trip down the mountain is a series of downhills with the occasional mild climb. The best part about it is there’s not a skyscraper in sight and for the most part the area is pretty quiet. You do really feel like time is standing still. Well until you hit a main road again anyway.

Cycling through Lions Head Mountain reminded me of why I decided to bring my Surly Long Haul Trucker to Taiwan from Australia. Sure I might have had to sacrifice bringing over a lot of things in lieu of a heavy bicycle bag but when you’re able to cycle areas like Lions Head Mountain on a familiar and reliable bicycle, who cares.

Lions Head mountain is pretty easy to get to by bike and there are several major roads that run along it. The signage for the turn offs are in English and are the common tourist sign brown. There’s enough of them that it’s pretty hard to miss.

If you’re in the area definitely give this run a cycle up. Even if you’re in a car it’s worth it as there’s temples to visit and even some neat walking tracks to tackle. Just be careful if you’re looking at the map in the carpark at the top though, for some stupid reason it’s in mirror reverse!

Pedalling is what we use to get around on bicycles and although the concept might seem simple enough, there’s actually a lot of subconscious co-ordination that goes on when we pedal.

In today’s lesson we’re going to have a look at pedalling and some techniques to help you feel comfortable with it.

At this point you need to be feeling fairly confident with bicycle balance and have an adequate learning area so I’ll assume you’ve already come this far.

Pedalling is in essence rotating your feet in a circular fashion whilst at the same time maintaining your balance and control of the bike. Without pedalling the bicycle doesn’t go anywhere so it does rank up there as a technique you definitely need if you’re going to ride a bicycle.

1. Safety first

When getting started with pedalling there’s a few safety tips that should be observed until you’re comfortable with the basics of your feet on the pedals.


1. Start with regular pedals – Clipless pedals are a great addition to any bicycle but do come with an additional learning curve of their own. When learning something I believe it’s important to keep things as simple as possible. For this reason I’d highly recommend starting off with vanilla flat pedals.

Going from flat pedals to clipless later on is much easier then trying to master clipping in and out of clipless pedals on top of initially getting used to pedal motion.


2. Appropriate shoewear – You don’t have to go out and buy super strong soled riding shoes but make sure you’ve got appropriate shoewear for pedalling.

Open toed shoes and any type of slipper or thong are out. If you do have an accident and fall a bicycle has a lot of potentially point bits which will make easy work of your upper foot. The front chainring in particular is a potential disaster zone in the event of a crash.

Ideally you want a pair of closed, somewhat flexible but stiff on the sole shoe. I’d also avoid boots as they might restrict your ankles or prohibit you from feeling the pedals properly through the sole.

2. Start off with stationary practice

The easiest way to get a feel for pedals in a safe controlled environment is on an exercise bike. Either you have one yourself, know a friend who does or might have to go down to the local gym to have a play around.

Whatever the case an exercise bike is the easiest way to feel around a bicycle pedal system without worrying about everything else.

What you want to concentrate when approaching pedals on an exercise bike is not necessarily how fast you can go but more what the actual pedalling motion feels like. As you rotate one foot down the other comes up.

Pay attention to where you naturally place power on the stroke. Although much easier with clipless pedals later on your opposite foot from the down stroke (the one coming up), shouldn’t be interfering with the pedals natural up motion at all.

Additionally play around with the positioning of your feet relative to the opposite foot. You should know and be comfortable where your other foot will wind up if you place one foot in the 12 o’clock position on the pedals for example. Likewise you should also familiarise yourself with the 3 and 9 o’clock positioning too.

Standing up off the saddle is also something you should take advantage off while you have access to a stationary bike. Whilst not something you’d normally do unless you were climbing that last 100m or perhaps your bottom needed a rest, standing up out of the bicycle saddle is something every cyclist should be eventually able to do.

3. Find your dominant foot

Your dominant foot is the foot you lead with. It’s also usually the foot your going to put down and rest on later when you come to a stop. For me my dominant foot is my right and it’s the foot I always push off with, rest on when stopped and when coasting feel comfortable leading with.

To determine your dominant foot place your feet in the 9 and 3 o’clock positions on the pedals. Now carefully, try to stand up. One of these positions should be a lot more natural then the other.

Don’t worry too much if they feel roughly the same, over time you’ll naturally develop a preference… most likely without even realising it.

4. Placing your feet on the pedals whilst in motion

After your comfortable with the pedalling motion on a stationary exercise bike it’s time to combine pedalling with motion. To start off with lower your bicycle seat so that you can plant both feet on the ground simultaneously. This is far from an ideal position to pedal with but will give you a bit of extra confidence in steadying yourself if you start to wobble.

To start off with you’ll want to return to the incline that you used to become familiar with balancing on a bike. At this stage you should be comfortable with rolling down the incline and keeping your balance.

At the bottom of the incline bring yourself to a gradual stop with your brakes and familiarise yourself with removing your feet from the pedals and planting them on the ground.

What we want to get used to first is placement of your feet on the pedals whilst the bicycle is moving. Don’t worry about rotating your feet just yet. Instead, place the bike in a relatively low gear (meaning the pedals rotate easily) and  practice coasting down the hill with your feet either at the 3 and 9 o’clock, or the 12 and 6 o’clock positions.

Go with whichever feels the most comfortable and pay attention to which foot you naturally place in either the 3 or 12 o’clock position, as this is most likely your dominant foot.

5. Getting used to rotating your feet whilst on the pedals

Once your comfortable coasting with your feet on the pedals try combining rotating your feet whilst in motion. The easiest way to practice this is to put your bike on a flat surface and then gently push off and try to pedal a few rotations to keep you going.

If you attempt to do this in a high gear the pressure needed to turn the pedal crank (the stick of metal your bicycle pedal is connected to), might displace you and throw you off balance. Make sure your bicycle is therefore in a low gear.

Again when you come to a stop make sure you use the brakes rather then your feet to stop and focus on cleanly removing your feet from the pedals and onto the ground. This should eventually become a fluid motion and something you don’t have to think about.

Getting used to pedalling in rotation and moving is probably the hardest part of pedal practice and might take some time to get used to and be able to do confidently. Remember to keep your seat down while your learning but don’t be afraid to jack it up to a comfortable height as you get comfortable on the pedals.

Eventually you should be able to push off from your dominant foot whilst your other foot is already on the pedal. Then you should be able to rotate a few times and use your pedalling power and sense of balance to keep you going.

Try to think of pedalling as a fluid rotating motion between your two feet rather then one foot going down and transferring power over at a time.

Some people will take to pedalling naturally and others might need a bit more of a structure. If you fall into the latter category try setting yourself distance goals, say 10m then 20m then 50m and so forth. That way you’ve got a real sense of progression and something to work towards.

6. Troubleshooting

If you’re having trouble with the pedals themselves head back to the exercise bike where you can remove the balance and motion components of the pedalling equation. Focus on the pedals themselves and how your feet feel in them. An exercise bike has relatively the same pedal setup as a normal bike (although your centre of gravity will be more laid back), so don’t be afraid to move on from a stationary bike until you’re confident you can handle motion at the same time.

If balance and pedalling is an issue spend some more time practicing feet placement down a rolling incline. Don’t move on to rotating your feet until you can start to roll, place your feet on the pedals, coast down an incline, stop and remove your feet from the pedals comfortably and with confidence.


When people say ‘you never forget how to ride a bicycle’ they’re usually referring to the two most important aspects of cycling, pedalling and balance. By the end of these two lessons you should have a good sense of familiarity of both!

Next we’ll focus on controlling the bicycle as you ride it, specifically on how to turn . Until then, happy riding!

Initially when learning to ride you want to be able to build up confidence in balancing whilst riding at a slow speed in a straight line. If you start off focusing on balance you’ll find later on learning other techniques such as pedalling, turning, standing on the pedals, avoiding obstructions will all come easier.

Nearly everything you can do on a bicycle relies on a good sense of balance whilst saddled up. In this lesson we’re going to focus on getting you comfortable with balance. At the end of the lesson you should be able to maintain your balance whilst coasting.

Important considerations when approaching bicycle balance

Approaching balance on a bicycle is going to be slightly different for everyone. Some people have a natural sense of balance whilst others are walking disaster zones.

If you need proof of this just go to any school playground with some balance equipment. Some kids will just dance through it whilst others, despite giving their full concentration to the task, will fall down every time.

Fine motor skills vary from person to person so be aware this can dictate how long you spend learning to balance on a bicycle. If you aren’t naturally able to balance be prepared to spend a bit of time on this aspect of learning to ride.

One test you can do is to try and put your shoes on whilst standing and without leaning on anything. I’m not saying I’m captain awesome at balancing but I can put both shoes on and tie my laces whilst maintaining perfect balance on one foot at a time.

If you can do this then there’s a good chance you’ve got a decent sense of balance already.

Starting to learn how to balance on a bicycle

The easiest way to start learning how to balance on a bicycle is to find a good narrow hallway. You should be able sit on the bicycle (lower the seat so that you can reach the floor with your feet) and while resting on one shoulder be able to reach the other wall comfortable with your opposite arm.

It’s worth covering your handlebar ends with a bit of tea towel for this stage. Worst case scenario and you fall the last thing you want are your handlebars scratching or damaging your walls.

If you’ve got a friend get them to help guide you. Try not to rely on them steadying you though. Initially they can help but it’s important you establish a sense of balance without relying on a safety net.

If the hallway is narrow enough and you should be able to rock from shoulder to shoulder against the wall. What you want to do here is see how long you can balance stationary for.

Balancing stationary is harder then when in motion but rather then worry about braking at this stage it’s important you get to feel what balancing on a bicycle is like.

The end goal for this stage of the lesson is to feel comfortable with neither shoulder against a wall, even if this is for a few seconds. Stick with the hallway until you have a sense of confidence between the walls.

If you’re a panicker stick with it, confidence will come eventually.

Another thing you can do to get a sense of balance is to jump on a motorcycle arcade machine and practice swinging from side to side. Sitting on one of these is different to riding a bicycle position wise but knowing you won’t fall off if you swing can help alleviate a phobia of falling.

Don’t solely rely on a motorcycle arcade though as the confidence of not being able to fall doesn’t translate over when you’re actually on a bicycle learning!

Introducing motion

After you’ve got a feel for balancing on a bicycle the next step is to introduce motion into the equation. Before going further though there are a few safety checks you should go over.


1. Lower your seat – I mentioned this before but thought I’d state it again. Whilst learning to balance your seat should be low enough that you can sit on it and place your feet flat on the ground.

Don’t worry about bicycle fit, sitting ergonomically or feeling like an idiot. Trust me if you’re about to fall you want to be able to slam your feet down as quickly as possible.


2. Become familiar with your brakes – As we introduce motion into the balancing lesson becoming familiar with your brakes is a necessity. Check that they work and practice placing your hands on the handlebars and gripping the brakes naturally.

Later on you’re going to be relying on them so it’s important we start getting you used to using your brakes early.

If your brakes are loose, don’t stop you well, are improperly aligned (rubbing against the rim or tire) or there’s any play in the brake levers then get them serviced.


Do not attempt to learn how to balance with motion on a bike with faulty brakes.


Ready to tackle balancing with motion I’m assuming you’ve already scoped out a suitable place to practice learning. For some guidelines on what areas are appropriate see: ‘Teaching adults to ride bikes: Getting started‘.

Initially you want to practice using your feet to balance you with the bicycle stationary. Using your brakes to keep the bike from moving get a feel for putting your feet down by rocking from side to side and alternating your resting foot.

If you’re struggling to land on a foot after pushing off with the other one try lowering your seat a little more.

Once you’re comfortable with this ease off on the brakes and push off slowly. Keep your feet near the ground, maintain a straight line and see how far you can get. The first few times you might only get a few inches before you feel like you’re going to fall.

Don’t worry, just keep practicing. Initially you’ll be able to use your feet to stop you but as you gain confidence you might have to rely on your brakes to stop you.

Once confident with balancing whilst pushing off the next step is to find an incline. Ideally you want an incline that is very gradual, just enough to coast down without you pushing off, then has a flat patch and then a slight incline to stop you slowly.

Push the bike to the top of the incline. Again familiarise yourself with your brakes and then sit down on the bike. With your feet on either side try and roll down the hill maintaining a straight line. Don’t worry about your pedals at this stage, just make sure they don’t obstruct your feet from landing on the ground.

Rolling with momentum is a lot easier then balancing at slow speeds. The counter however is that new riders often have difficulty with the descent speed.

Just keep reminding yourself that you’ve got access to your brakes and feet if you feel out of control.

Repeat this process until you’re comfortable rolling down the hill. It might take a while or even a few days out there, but eventually the goal is to be able to roll down in one motion and stop at the bottom either by using your brakes or letting incline do the work.

Once you’ve achieved this step it up by trying some slightly steeper inclines (make sure you gradually increase the incline!). As you get steeper you’ll find that you’re relying on the brakes more then your feet. If you’re not having any issues with balancing you might even want to practice placing your feet on the pedals (but don’t worry about pedalling that’ll come next).

Additionally don’t be afraid to coast down hills with your brakes applied to control your speed. The key here is confidence, not how fast you can balance at.

After achieving familiarity and confidence balancing down inclines the next step is using your own power to get you going whilst still maintaining balance. Once you’ve got that down pat congratulations, you’ve overcome the biggest obstacle most people have when it comes to learning to ride a bicycle.

In the next lesson we’ll introduce pedalling!

Article photo by KarolusLinus

In my first post I outlined some initial considerations for people to take into account in either learning to ride a bike as an adult, or teaching an adult to ride a bike.

The next step in this series will be on the assumption that you’re keen to learn or are teaching someone to learn. You’ve gone over the initial considerations so where to now?

Today we’ll look at getting started.

Choosing where to learn how to ride

The first step in getting started is deciding where you are going to be learning or teaching an adult to ride. Factors that need to be taken into consideration here are;


Confidence level of the rider: This is going to vary from person to person and will effect where you decide to learn or teach riding. People with lower confidence levels are going to need particularly quiet areas where they can concentrate completely on what they are doing.

Slightly more confident riders can get away learning in slightly more crowded or busy areas.


The terrain: Ideally if you’ve never ridden a bicycle before you want to be practicing on soft grass. You’re not going to be going very fast but worse comes to worse and you stack, landing on grass is much more desirable then bitumen or concrete.

Perfect areas with grass are public parks and recreational reserves. Do check beforehand though whether or not bicycles are permitted in the areas you have in mind. Additionally bear in mind that grassy areas are quite mushy after rain, riding on mushy grass will ruin it.

Alternatively the area might have an automated watering system too so you might have to adjust the time you set out to learn. Typically watering systems are used overnight and at dawn and dusk.


How busy the area is

Any experienced cyclist will tell you that mixing it up with pedestrian traffic is not safe, let alone for the adult learning to ride. Foot traffic should be a large consideration when choosing an appropriate park or reserve to learn in.

Other considerations when choosing a suitable park or reserve are dogs. If there’s a lot of dogs in the area you might run into problems with them wanting to chase you or your student around.

Nothing will turn someone off riding a bike quicker then having a large dog running circles around the bicycle and barking its head off.

Finally use some common sense in assessing the normal use of the area. Learning how to ride a bicycle in the middle of a historical flower display for example is an obvious no-no.

For the beginner I’d strongly advise that, regardless of the confidence level of the rider areas with motor traffic be avoided completely.

At this stage we’re just focusing on getting you or your student riding a bicycle. Road traffic confidence and urban cycling skills come much, much further down the track.

Equipment

Absolutely compulsory equipment are sealed shoes (no thongs, sandals or slippers) and a bicycle helmet. Regardless of how dorky the rider might think they look don’t let someone get on a bike who’s never ridden before without them.

A helmet is important for obvious reasons (even on the softest of grass) and the shoes are to protect the feet. Bicycle drive trains (the chain, derailleur systems, cranks, chain rings and rear cassette), have lots of pointy bits that in the event of a fall can make nasty work of unprotected feet.

Additional equipment that should be considered are protective gloves for the palms and knee and elbow pads.

Deciding whether to invest in this optional equipment will come down to the confidence of the rider, how easily they bruise and their level of self consciousness.

I remember when I was a kid I refused to wear knee and elbow pads when I was rollerblading. One day I hit a twig and came crashing down. The end result is a scar on the side of my elbow about the size of a twenty cent piece that will never go away.

As for bruising, well I’m sure we’ve all met those people who seem to get them randomly and have no recollection of how. These are the types of people who, when learning how to ride, need to be wearing extra padding.

Be realistic about a learning timeframe

When you start to learn something it’s very easy to get caught up in questions like ‘so how long till I’m doing the Tour de France?’

Be realistic about the time that might need to be invested in learning to ride a bicycle. Factors that come into play will be the fitness level of the rider, whether or not they are a physically active person and how good their motorskills and co-ordination are.

Personally I wouldn’t get hung up on setting timeframes or goals but rather let the learning process occur naturally. Be prepared that at an hour or two a week it could very well take a few months for some riders to be comfortable riding around on a bike.

There also might be times when the rider feels like they need to take a break from practicing. This is fine but don’t let the break extend too long. People’s garages are usually full of equipment from activities they started but never finished.


In my next post in this series I plan to look at what you need to focus on in those first few lessons on riding a bike. I’ll also provide some techniques you can use either by yourself or with your student to help you achieve a basic level of riding.

Having lived in Melbourne I was admittedly spoilt with the abundance of bicycle lanes and large cycling community.

Over in the suburb of Prospect, South Australia things aren’t so good.

Prospect council recently announced plans to remove the bicycle lanes on Prospect road. Currently Prospect road serves as a main arterial road and is single lane both ways with a bicycle lane on either side.

The proposal to remove bicycle lanes has been brought about because the council wants to widen the footpath to make way for outdoor seating. It doesn’t take a genius to realise that charging local retailers for using outdoor space is more profitable then having a non-revenue generating bicycle lane on the road.

As you can see below, with double lines and traffic islands along much of the middle of Prospect road, space is already pretty limited as it is.

View Larger Map

For cyclists, the removal of the bicycle lanes will mean cyclists will be required to claim lanes to commute. This will mean the mixing of cyclists, 154 buses and 20,400 vehicles a day on a single lane road.

Whilst I can appreciate the need to increase road width to accommodate local traffic congestion, removing bicycle lanes to increase footpath widths? Cmon guys, this is just another short sighted cash grab that will be costly to reverse in the future.

Most councils seem to be encouraging cycling as a viable form of transport yet here we are in 2010 discussing the removal of bicycle lanes.

Local cycling group, BUG Prospect have organised a campaign to protest against the changes. Currently they have a petition with over 3,000 signatures and a whole bunch of other resources on their website.

Let’s hope they manage to get the council’s plans scrapped.

During my time cycling in Taiwan I’ve come to learn that the worst threat to cyclists isn’t the crazy bus drivers who indicate and just pull out, it isn’t the cars who just stop in the middle of the road and whack their hazard lights on while the driver goes and grabs a snack, it isn’t scooters darting in and out of traffic and it isn’t truck drivers ready to mow you down at the slightest opportunity…

No, the biggest threat to cyclists in Taiwan was worse then anything I could have ever possibly imagined…

GIANT FREAKING LOBSTER CYCLISTS!

Thankfully I didn’t happen to run into any of them during my trek down the coast but I put it down to raw luck. OzSoapbox vs. the Lobster Cyclist menace is only a matter of time.

Lobster cyclists should be considered armed and dangerous. They are prone to emerging from the sea and conducting random claw-bys. I believe the text under the sign reads “If you see giant freaking lobster cyclists RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!’

If you intend on cycling through Taiwan you’ve been warned.

A few towns over from where I was staying is the township of Jhushan. Surrounded by mountains, lots of greenery and not nearly as much traffic as the major cities, it was the perfect backdrop for a leisurely Sunday ride.

The National Taiwan University Tropical Botanical Gardens are situated close to the centre of Jhushan township. The garden area itself is tucked away towards the rear of what seems to be a large parkland recreational area which was quite fun to explore.

The ride itself begins with a descent through some housing areas. I’m not exactly sure what these people do for a living but they are pretty lucky to be living in such beautiful country.

The greenery continues and you quickly feel like you’re in the middle of the jungle. Being on my army green Long Haul Trucker I took it upon myself to imagine I was hurtling down the Ho Chi Minh trail.

Wrong country I know but when you’re fighting off isolation sickness your mind starts to get a bit warped.

At times the path runs along a river. From time to time you’ll see local fisherman trying their luck. Personally I wouldn’t be eating anything that came out of the inland rivers here but by now the locals probably have stomachs of steel (literally, the heavy metal situation here is apparently a disaster).

The river continues and eventually you hit what I think is called the Tongtou Suspension Bridge.

Either that or the ‘Indiana Jones Bridge’. It’s a genuine suspension bridge so it sways crazy as you walk across it.

Perfect for uh.. y’know, acting out some of your favourite Indy scenes… of course not that I did that.

Well ok maybe a little.

A short ways from the suspension bridge and you run into this little inconspicuous feature.

Although I’m not entirely certain, I’m pretty sure I’d encountered the local’s secret marijuana growing facilities. Either that or something equally suspect.

I thought about snooping around humming the Pink Panther tune in my head but figured guns aren’t that illegal here… I’m devoted to OzSoapbox but not that devoted.

This is the actual entrance to the Tropical Botanic gardens. Although there weren’t any signs around and nobody would have stopped me, I didn’t feel comfortable taking my bike inside.

I already get stared at everywhere I go here I really didn’t need to be ‘that annoying stupid tourist riding around our sacred botanical gardens’.

Due to Australian customs confiscating my New York Fahghettaboutit lock I had no way of securing my bike so I gave the gardens a miss.

Along the ride back I came across a little alcove on the side of the road that had four of five of these things. I figured I was either looking at some sort of grave site, or a really elaborate mini golf course.

…I’m going to go with mini golf course. Those are some tight green bends.

Safe sex might have a long way to go here between the adult population, but at least Taiwanese farmers are careful with their crops. There’s no way any of these trees were having any unplanned pregnancies.

The ride back saw me take some detours down local roads which had some wonderful views. One of the things I love about Taiwan is that one minute your staring down gargantuan modern industrialisation but give it 10 minutes and it feels like you’re in eco utopia.

I can’t wait to explore more of Taiwan by bicycle.

I hadn’t ever been asked this question so I wasn’t sure initially how to go about answering it. I was however immediately transported back to my own childhood. As a kid being taught by my dad in the middle of a large open field, I learnt to ride my first bike.

I remember being taken out by my dad to the big grassy area behind a playground, being held upright and then pushed along until I fell. Get up, rinse and repeat.

I remember this happening until I finally cracked the shits, kicked the bike as hard as I could and ran off home in protest. Of course it wasn’t my fault I couldn’t instantly ride the bike, it was because my dad had bought me a stupid bike.

At the time my dad found this all very amusing.

Suffice to say that while there’s nothing foreseeably wrong with my dad’s approach when you’re teaching a child to ride a bike, teaching an adult comes with it’s own considerations.

Over the next few weekends I plan to explore the process of teaching an adult to ride a bike. Today I’d like to start with some initial considerations.

1. Adults are not indestructible

When you’re a kid you can fall sideways on a bike, bounce off the grass and do it again, again and again ad-nauseam. Kids are virtually indestructible on bikes and as such you can afford to be a little more physically blunt in your method of approach.

Adults on the other hand break, easily. The older the person is you’re trying to teach the more probability there is that with a fall will come the snapping of bones or bruising.

This all of course means that the traditional ‘push down a hill and hope for the best’ routine that usually works with kids isn’t really suitable when teaching an adult to ride.

2. Training wheels are a no-no

If you’re a toddler then training wheels are probably a good idea. You get to feel like you’re whizzing around on your own and your parents don’t have to worry about any sudden trips to the 24/7 emergency clinic for some stitches.

For toddlers training wheels make a good substitute until they are ready to grasp the concept of riding a bike and have a good sense of balance.

Training wheels for an adult on the other hand instill a false sense of security and can delay the learning process because of this. Ever seen someone trying to learn how to swim refusing to let go of an inflatable device because they think they will instantly drown? Same concept.

One of the hardest mental challenges in teaching an adult to ride a bike will be convincing them that falling on soft grass at a slow speed isn’t going to destroy them physically. Starting off with any type of training wheel isn’t going to speed up this process at all.

3. Self consciousness

Remember orange stack hats and dorky BMX dragsters? As a kid you didn’t care what you looked like. If you did mange to fall it was awesome and in a few weeks you’d then have a scar to show everyone how tough you were.

As adults we don’t like to look stupid. Falling off a bicycle whilst trying to learn or getting publicly frustrated at trying to grasp the concept aren’t exactly a motivating factors when an adult is learning to ride a bike.

If you’re doing the teaching one of the most important things to not do is laugh or ridicule whoever it is your teaching. Sure this might be hard if it’s your girlfriend or a family member but making a new cyclist feel silly is a surefire way to make sure their bike stays locked up in the shed for many years to come.

If you’re learning on your own and people are around try not to be deterred. It might feel like everyone is watching you waiting for you to fall but the reality is that most people won’t even notice you.

Then of course there’s people like me who if going past will just be glad to see someone on a bike, we might even stop to give you some pointers!

4. Fitness level

Kids might be over charged sources of unlimited power but adults definitely have a limit when it comes to how fit they are. What you don’t want to do is to push someone beyond their physical limit and have them bedridden for a week because they pulled every leg muscle possible.

When teaching someone to ride a bicycle it’s important to take into consideration their fitness level. Do they go to the gym, do they run, walk or do any other physical activity? Do they play sports, are they active in general or more on the lazy side?

Gauge how fit the new cyclist is and adjust how long you spend on each session accordingly. Learning something physically new can be a big stress on both your body and mind and when learning you don’t want to exhaust either.

Additionally make sure there’s plenty of water available and don’t go too long without a break.

5. Patience

Like most things the length of time it takes to learn a new concept or skill usually increases with age. For this reason it’s important to remain patient both during the learning sessions and in general.

Whoever you’re teaching might take to riding a bike quickly or it might take a few weekends (or longer still). Whilst as a kid after cracking it with my bike I was back on it later that weekend, as adults it’s easy for us to continually put something off if we think it’s too hard or taking too long.

However long it takes remind yourselves of the end goal, whether it be commuting independence, being able to ride together or just being able to say ‘Hey I can ride a bike’.


Hopefully as a new adult cyclist or as someone teaching an adult to ride, the above considerations give you something to think about before you’ve set foot (or wheel) out the door. As I said at the beginning of this post, over the next few weekends I plan to explore in depth the process of learning to ride a bike as an adult.

Next weekend I plan to look at some of the problems that might arise in getting an adult to ride a bike for the first time and what to do to help make the process easier. I’m aiming for things you can do before you even swing your leg over a bike!

Not only did I get to experience the enjoyment of having nothing hindering my body as I rode but the addition of a rack and panniers increased the functionality of my bike greatly.

For most people however a backpack seems to be enough. Whether this is a convenience thing, laziness or just because they aren’t aware of the other options available I don’t know. Having come from a backpack though, here’s some reasons why if I’ve never worn one again since fitting panniers on the Trucker.

Your back

Unless your carrying around an empty backpack all the time, at some point in time you’re going to load up your backpack with one too many items and absolutely kill your back as you cycle around.

For me it was the ’1-2 item’ supermarket run which inevitably turned into the ‘oh crap I forgot I need that, and that, and that, and that’ run. Despite living only a 5 minute ride from the shops I’d always get home and feel the strain on my back once I got off.

Over the long term this can’t be good for the old back. Especially considering that if you’re on a road bike your back is going to be arched somewhat. Sure you can get ergonomically fitting backpacks but they can’t ergonomise gravity. You’re still going to have the backpack weight pulling down on your shoulder and neck area.

If you’re on a mountain bike or hybrid then there’s even more pressure placed on these parts. Not to mention the jolts everytime you go over a bump in the road.

Bicycle panniers eliminate this problem by making the bicycle carry the weight. Whether loaded on the front or back your body is never tied down or directly put under additional strain when cycling.

Of course pedalling a heavier bike is going to make your legs work a bit harder but even under the heaviest of loads, unless you’re going uphill once you get going it’s relatively easy to maintain a steady pace.

Weight distribution

When you carry weight in a backpack your weight distribution is top loaded. What this means is handling and weight correction and even braking, things you do normally without thinking all of a sudden need to be thought about.

Handling is affected by the simple fact that a backpack is a concentrated area of weight, you’ll notice this most when turning.

Weight correction becomes a problem due to the fact again that a backpack is a concentrated area of weight. Weight correction is something we all do naturally on a bicycle, if we’re leaning towards one side most of us don’t even need to think before we’re leaning the other way to correct ourselves.

With a backpack on your back the amount of correction needed can be underestimated which then results in a crash. Obviously the heavier your backpack is the more of a problem this becomes.

Finally braking can become a problem as a backpack inevitably adds to your inertia. Think of a toolbox sitting in the back of a van flying towards the windscreen if the driver brakes suddenly.

When you brake a backpack will push you forward and if you brake hard enough, over the handlebars. Given that the weight is on the top end of the bicycle, it really doesn’t take much weight in the backpack for this to happen.

Bicycle panniers solve these problems by keeping the extra cargo weight lower to the ground. This means that there’s far less chance of the extra weight affecting your handling, braking or weight correction. Obviously if you’re only using one pannier and it’s loaded pretty heavily you’ll need to be a bit mindful but I’ve found this is still drastically more stable then a backpack.

When I was riding a aluminum/carbon road bike (Gitane Mach 1600) having a rack and panniers did affect the handling considerably and I think this will be true of any thin racing frame so that’s something to take into consideration. This was particularly noticeable due to the twitchy steering of a racing frame and if I ever got up to pedal the bike would sway from side to side.

I’ve since upgraded to a Surly Long Trucker which is made out of steel and has a much longer frame, needless to say loaded panniers now have a negligible effecting on the handling of the bike.

Back sweat

Although backpacks are available which lift the rear of the backpack off your back to allow for ventilation, by and large when I’m cycling around I just see people wearing yumcha backpacks that don’t have this feature.

Even on the coolest of days it doesn’t take much for a backpack hugging your body to create a cold sweat patch along your spine. Not only is this uncomfortable but it saturates whatever you’re wearing with sweat.

Back when I used to wear a backpack I found that with my back suffocating under a backpack this caused the rest of my body to sweat more to compensate. The end result was, unless I kept it under 15km/h I’d arrive wherever I was going looking like I’d just stepped out of a shower.

Panniers alleviate this problem because they aren’t worn on your body. I love cycling around with completely free movement of my body and no matter how much stuff I’m carrying, using panniers ensures this will always be the case.

When my whole body is able to breath I find the sweat drops away to almost nothing, this of course is important when you’re commuting around in casual clothes because you don’t like the human condom lycra look.

Versatility

A backpack is a single compartment (the front pocket becomes useless if the main compartment is full) that directly straps onto your body. Panniers on the other hand are usually 2 compartments and depending on the quality of pannier will offer side and top storage too.

If you buy a good set of panniers there’s tons of room to carry almost anything around. Additionally you’ve also got the rack the panniers attach to to carry stuff on top of too. Normally I strap two bungee cords around my rack and use them to hold down my heavy 2kg Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboutit D-lock. The lock is solid but heavy as and it’s nice to have it always with me in a convenient manner.

The bungee cords have also come in handy when I’ve had to cart around larger items. There’s been more then a few trips to Bunnings where I’d have been stuck not being able to strap larger items to the back of the Trucker.


For some people a backpack will be more then enough, for example there are people who only use a bicycle to ride to and from work and they often only need to carry a shirt and pair of underwear with them. If this is all they ever use the bike for then a backpack certainly is much cheaper then investing in a rack and pannier set.

However anything more then this and it’s worth investigating whether or not your cycling could benefit from taking the load off your back and onto your bike. Typically I won’t leave the house without one pannier clipped onto the rack, even if it’s empty (it never is as I carry my winter gloves, nighttime glasses, keys, wallet and phone in the top pocket), because you never know when you might have to carry something.

For the cyclist who relies on their bicycle for everyday transport, panniers are a worthwhile solid investment. Definitely consider a set if you’re sick of riding around with a tired sweaty back.

They ride various extreme budget brand bicycles, the bicycles squeal due to lack of maintenance and poor adjustment and more often then not their wheels are dangerously buckled to the point I have no idea how their brakes function.

To be fair it’s not entirely their fault. Most of them have walked into Kmart, BigW et al and seen bikes for sale at the $100-$200 mark and wondered why on earth people pay upwards of $500 at the local bike shop.

Unfortunately most of these people learn the hard way, or just give up on cycling altogether.

There’s a variety of supermarket bikes out there for sale, Cyclops, Diamondback, Dunlop etc, but by far the most well known is Kmart’s Huffy brand. These nasty cheap things are everywhere and whilst they might be ok for a shortlived kids bike, if you’re going to do anything more then riding a bike around a carpark you should avoid extreme budget bicycles.

Here’s five reasons why.

1. Weight

When you’re looking at a first bicycle or a cheap runabout weight isn’t probably something you’ll be thinking about. Whilst I’m right up there with ridiculing the current trend of saving grams by making every bicycle part possible out of carbon fiber and charging disproportionate bucketloads, even in the budget bicycle category weight is something to take into consideration.

A heavy bike will no doubt slow you down however chances are if you’re looking at budget bikes you’re not going to be breaking speed records anytime soon. Still, what needs to be understood is that when it comes to extreme budget bikes costs are everything and manufacturers like Huffy will use the cheapest nastiest materials available to them.

Sadly we’re not just talking about a few kilos here or there, often the difference between a Huffy style bike and a low entry price point quality brand bike can be 10+kg’s.

Don’t believe me? Next time you’re checking out extreme budget bikes pick a few of them up with one hand. Then go to a bicycle store and pick up some of their cheaper models.

The weight difference should be enough to put you off the budget bike brands alone. There’s nothing worse then hauling an extra few bags of oranges in weight around everywhere you go.

2. Cheap components

Along with heavy frames the next biggest cost saver is cheap componentry. When it comes to the lower end of bikes what this translates into is things breaking prematurely or not working at all and maintenance being an absolute bitch.

At the higher end it’s easy to laugh at ‘Joe Smallpenis’ for spending an extra $3,800 changing over all his bicycle bolts and screws to aeronautical grade carbon fusion covered somemetalIneverheardof’ite to save 5 grams total, but at the lower end we’re talking the difference between spending a few hours adjusting your brakes vs a few minutes.

Cheap components not only wear out faster (even with correct mainentance), don’t work as smoothly as even the cheapest of name brand components but they’re a royal pain to work on.

For example one of my biggest gripes with my Surly Long Haul Trucker is the elcheapo Tektro Oryx brakes. Compared to the Shimano Tiagra road caliper brakes I was using on my previous bike which took literally 30 seconds to center and adjust with a screwdriver, the cantilever brakes on the Trucker take a good solid hour for me to get perfect.

Thankfully they need far less regular adjustment (once or twice a year with heavy use) then road calipers  so I haven’t bothered swapping them out yet and just grit my teeth when the time comes to adjust them. The Tektro Oryx brakes however are a good example of how cheap components can ruin an otherwise stellar bike.

Take the feeling of dread I get when it comes to adjusting my brakes and imagine a whole bicycle made out of cheap nasty components. It isn’t hard to see how this can quickly put people off riding their bikes.

When you’re bike cost $100 it seems silly to pay a bike store $50 to adjust it every few months (and cheaper components used on budget bikes nearly always need more frequent adjustment) to service your bike.

Be weary of budget bikes that are advertised with ‘Shimano components’ too. There’s Shimano components and then there’s the shoddy lower end Shimano components used on budget bikes (Altus, Acera, Alivio, A050, 2200 etc.).

Worse still if the bike has components from some company you’ve never heard of just walk away, chances are it’s imitation crap straight out of China that will be more headaches then any money you could possibly save later down the track.

3. Assembly

If you’ve ever worked in a department store you know there’s really no technical training provided beyond brand and feature recognition. Unless the service assistant you’re talking to has a special interest in bikes, there’s probably a good chance they know as much as you do about them.

In department stores these are the same people that put the bikes together.

Sure the manufacturers provide assembly instructions and all you really need is a set of hex keys and a phillips head screwdriver but there’s a noticeable difference between an assembled bike and a properly assembled bike.

Shoddy assembly can lead to premature component wear, components not working properly at all and worse still are just downright dangerous.

Another tactic some department stores engage in is simply giving you a bike-in-a-box and leaving the assembly up to you. What usually happens from here is you try and put the bike together yourself and fail miserably or you wind up taking it to a proper bike store and paying for them to do it.

4. Durability

One of my pet hates is when someone brings me a bicycle that is beyond component repair and really needs a part overhaul. It’s hard explaining to someone why they should spend a few hundred dollars on their $100 bike for an entry level (second hand) wheelset because their current wheels have started to rust through leaving the spokes unserviceable after a few short years.

By this stage the chain has usually had it, the brake cables are shot and catching in their housing and with any luck half the drivetrain is stuffed too. At this stage it’s almost universally cheaper to just bin the bike and start over. The time spent replacing parts and fixing and adjusting everything just isn’t worth it (unless of course it’s your own time and you’re not in any particular hurry).

All bike parts will eventually wear out but there’s a big difference in terms of durability and serviceability between dirt cheap parts and the bottom end of quality groupsets. Every budget bike is going to have nasty parts on it that are just waiting to fall apart and fail on you at the most inconvenient of times.

5. Service Support

When buying a bike, if something is going to go wrong or fail it’s usually going to happen within the first few months. After this period all you should have to worry about is basic routine maintenance and the eventual wearing of components.

Taking a $100 bike back to a department store after a few weeks of on and off riding for a tuneup is going to get you a lot of blank stares.

Again, unless the sales staff in the department store have a special interest in bikes, they are going to have no idea how to service a bike. Far more likely the store don’t deal with bicycle servicing and you’ll wind up taking it to a proper store anyway (and being charged for it).

When buying even an entry level bike from a proper bicycle store, any good one will offer you at the very least a first service free. The really good ones will offer you three or even six months of servicing.

One of the best service plans I’ve seen was a complete periodic 12 month service plan at no extra charge. Unfortunately it was on the condition you did absolutely no work on the bike yourself so it was kind of useless to me, but great for a person with no bike specific mechanical knowledge.

So what bike should I be buying then?

The good news is you don’t have to spend thousands to get into cycling. Head into any bike store and have a look at their lower end range of bikes.

Don’t be put off by the fancy road bikes they put in the shop window that cost as much as your car, every bike store should cater for the budget bicycle shopper. If the service assistant rolls his or her eyes when you ask about budget bikes or they look disinterested (or try to convince you you need to spend more) just walk away and find another store.

Trek, Giant, Shogun, Apollo and Schwinn all have bikes that start around the $400 mark and should suit the purpose of a beginner cyclist well. Sure it’s a slight step up from that $100 Kmart Huffy ‘bargain’ but all things considered do you really want to have your bike sitting in the garage not being ridden only to wind up in hard rubbish a decade down the track?

Look for a good service plan and don’t be afraid to ask questions when considering a purchase, no matter how umb you might think you sound. Basic maintenance can easily be learnt via the internet (brakes and gear adjustments are the main ones) but you really need a good solid bicycle to work off.

With a bit of perserverance and research you can pickup a cheap bike that will give you years of hasslefree service and easy riding, which at the end of the day is really what it’s all about.