Eight mistakes new bike commuters make that can be easily avoided

i think for some people its really healthy sharing and "bragging" about your commute, "people dont brag about their bus commute" well a bike commute (depending on how hard of a workout you make it for yourself) is alot more effort and its healthy to have pride and develop confidence in something.

receiving criticism or praise for achieving high commuting distance or intense labour is a healthy thing and encourages harder work in other people as well. a kind of healthy competition as you would.

we used to have a strava compete thing (all commuters) where we'd try to push eachother to cycle more often and it was super healthy n positive. – i reached a new weekly record of 350km on a £90 rusted apollo evade thanks to this healthy kind of commuting encouragement and strategy – it might not be for you but i definitely wouldnt call it a mistake.

Wear a rassle-frassle helmet!

I do brag about my bus commute lol. I get to read and chill for 40 minutes while everyone else sits in traffic!

Mistake 1. Not wearing a helmet

I have been using bikes for my commuting for a long time now and I never once tried the "cyclist suit". Summer time I wear what I normally would wear when not riding, winter time I do tend to dress lighter when biking when not because all that work pedaling will make me sweat if I over dress and then I get cold once I am all wet. Things I find mandatory for my bike is strong locks as bike theft is a problem in my area, a helmet for personal safety, lights as I also ride at night, cargo racks and baskets as I often carry a much of stuff on my bike (such as groceries). I also got handle bar mitts for winter riding and I also have a cyclist poncho to deal with rainy weather too. I also got proper front and back fenders too as it helps keep road splash off of me.

I do also sometimes go on long rides outside my city (because it is peaceful) and I can bring a toolkit increase I have problems, got lots of water bottles I can toss in my bike rack, and can bring a snack or lunch with me.

As far as my definition of someone who is a bike commuter I define it as someone who uses a bike as transportation to get somewhere. Biking to work, to school, to the store, to friends or family's places, etc. What you wear and if you have any fancy gear or not is not part of that definition.

Great video. I would emphasize safety, that is: helmets, bright clothing, and lights on your bike (which are a legal requirement). You don't need to have fancy lights, just get Dollarama ones, but get something. As a driver I hate seeing people riding at night in dark clothing with no lights – you are really invisible to a car until last few meters.

Mistake no 1: No helmet!

NO rules to bike commuting!! Blow right through that red light!!

Ok… i guess I'll follow the rules of the road

Mistake number one people do as of my years of experience is inability to communicate and traffic rule knowledge. Cyclist should know how traffic rules work and what cyclist is allowed to do f.ex. driving along cars at some parts of town when bike lane does not exists.
Another mistake is which bike to choose since said hybrid with thin wheels goes off very fast, your tire wear is dramatically increases as your bike is capable of gaining speed faster but then you have to brake, and in town many people do not know how to drive their cars therefore tire wearing is very heavy. Also your environment, how many straight bake lanes you have in town, how many hills you have, which seasons you are cycling. I build up my own bike which is hybrid but on big ass tires, gives enough of rolling capacity but wont deny, it is sweaty bike in many situations.
Anyway, the city bike has its name not out of the air, it best suits your city needs, but traffic rules along with communication is critically important factor.
PS: do not buy ebike, all experienced bikers think you either suck or dangerous as ebikers very often disrespect their speed which leads to very dangerous situations.

There's no reason for a grown man to ever wear spandex.

Where is it filmed? It looks so beautiful! 😳

I like to brag about my commute, not as a "look at me" but as a point of pride in my city that my commute is bike able

That one about picking a good route is really true. I live on a busy street, a main route with lots of traffic, and I am always seeing bicycles riding along, competing with cars for space, when one block east is a nice quiet residential neighborhood street that runs parallel to the busy street and that would be much nicer and safer. But people don’t think about looking for those kinds of alternatives. They just go the way they would if they were in a car. Take the main route through town. Sometimes it requires taking out the phone and opening a map to see where those easier, nicer, safer routes are, especially if you are far from home where you don’t know all the alternatives, but it’s worth it.

thank you for the honest and heartwarming advices. ♥

Jesus loves you stay safe and blessed

where's your helmet dawg

There are a lot of different types of flat-bar hybrids out there– fitness hybrids that have road-like tires (and sometimes gearing if you get the sportier versions), comfort hybrids that put you in a more upright and less efficient position, and the dual sport hybrids that you're talking about here. The latter have beefier tires with knobs but are still kind of skinny for mountain biking. Don't be scared off by the "hybrid" moniker at your bike shop, there's more than one.

3:54 must be nice to (still) have assigned seating at work (so you can leave a bunch of things on-site and not need to cart all of it every trip 😓)

About gear I wish I overthinking it earlier. As first my own bike I search with extremely tight budget I look too many videos about, I've try bike of my cousin(weird, it was my brother from sister of my moser, sorry for details, but feel I use wrong word), also try crappy old one rigid frame bike. In the end I buy bike on 29' tires, hardtail with mechanical disk brakes, but because I was tight on budget this bike have cheapest anything… It works… Kind a. But now I try to make rigid frame bike on car belt, because propper bicycle belt transmission cost twice as my first bike, with this curved handlebar only because it narrower, with rim brakes, because they just enormously less headache then disk brakes and etc… So in my case maintenance and volume of space taken by bike became critical. Don't repeat my mistakes. Relax, sit upon desk and cold-heartedly write why You need a bike, what You'll be do with it, chances You'll be use it You suppose it and etc. Try to start with something as simple as it possible and than form on this experience what You really need.