CYCLING GEAR

Thule bike rack

$696.00

We purchased our Trek electric bikes we needed a different type of rack ended up purchasing this one. The rack works really well on a standard hitch mount. It’s quite simple to attach or remove from your hitch. It’s also super easy to place the bikes on the rack and because they’re not hanging from supports they don’t get scratched up like they do on some of the other types of bike racks.

Sena Bluetooth Cycling Helmet

$169

We received these Sena helmets as a gift a couple of years ago and love them. They are equipped with Bluetooth so you can listen to music or podcasts on the built-in speakers while you’re cycling, but still be safe because you don’t have earplugs that would prevent you from hearing approaching cars or other things you need to be aware of. Granted the audio quality is not as good as you would get with earbuds, but it’s a safer option. One of the coolest features is the intercom feature. My wife and I can communicate with each other when we’re not close together by just pressing a couple of buttons on the side of the helmet and it acts like a walkie-talkie. There’s also a small light in the back of the helmet. The lights not very big or very bright in the daytime so we don’t usually turn it on. The batteries in the helmets seem to last a long time and we’ve never had an issue with them dying before we finished a ride. The helmets are light and comfortable. Customer service is also very good. My wife had a problem with the chinstrap on the first helmet that she got and the company replaced the entire helmet.

Bike Mirrors

$25.00

We’ve added Hafny Handlebar Bike mirrors to all our bikes. Sometimes we ride on the shoulders of roadways and it’s great to be able to see what’s behind you especially approaching cars. When we ride on the bike trails sometimes I am a little ways ahead of my wife and I can keep my eye on her by glancing in the mirror from time to time. We like these mirrors because they are easy to adjust and attached to your handlebars They also come in both a left and right hand version.

Safety Lights

$17.00

Whenever we’re cycling on the roadways, we always try to have our safety lights on so that we’re more visible. We’ve tried a couple of different kinds of lights and really like these Smart Bike Tail Light, Ultra Bright Bicycle Brake Lights the best. They’re super easy to mount anywhere with a rubber strap. They have a blinking mode and a constant on mode. They also have an automatic mode that changes the light when you’re breaking we don’t use that option very often. We seem to like the blinking option the best because we feel it’s the most visible. One nice feature of this product is that you can remove the light for charging by unscrewing it from the mount without having to take the mount off the bike. Batteries last very long time and we’re very happy with this product.

Phone mount

$8.00

We’ve tried a couple of different phone mounts for bikes and found the ones that have the mechanical grips at each corner that you have to tighten with a thumb screw to be difficult to use and they all eventually broke. I found these Deerfun detachable phone holders and we really like them. They’re pretty inexpensive and really easy to attach to any handlebar. You can adjust them in almost every direction very easily and they hold a variety of phone sizes. I have an iPhone Pro Max and it holds that perfectly. We like to rent bikes when we travel and so we’ve started bringing these with us so we can use them on our journeys. Originally, we would move them between our various bikes that we use, but since they’re so inexpensive, we now have one on each of our bikes. We’ve had these now for two or three years and they work great and have held up well.

Bike shorts that don’t look like bike shorts

About $30.00

I’ve had a few pairs of the spandex style biking shorts with the padding. And they worked fine, but there were a couple of things I didn’t like about them. First of all, they don’t have any pockets and secondly, if we went on a ride somewhere and wanted to stop for lunch or go into a store, I always felt kind of self-conscious wearing that type of padded short. I really like these KPSUN Men’s Mountain Bike Shorts, they’re very comfortable and the padding works just as well as the traditional style bike short. I love having pockets that I can put my wallet and keys and other things in when I’m parking my bike and doing some thing else. I also don’t feel so self-conscious when I am in a restaurant getting lunch while on a bike trip. They have a total of four pockets in the front and no pockets in the back. They come in a variety of colors. I have two of these so if one is in the laundry, I still have a clean pair.

Saddle Bags

$40.00

We purchased electric bikes, a couple of years ago and they came with the rack over the rear wheel, so we also purchased these saddlebags. We do have other bikes and now we use them whenever we go riding. They have small pockets on the sides and on the top for things like your car keys or your wallet or your glasses. The large pocket is great for holding repair tools, snacks, raincoats, bike locks and anything else you want to bring along. They also came with a rain cover in case you get caught in the rain. They’re very easy to attach to any rack with four Velcro straps and remain very secure. If you’re locking your bikes up and don’t want to leave the bags with your bike, they include a shoulder strap so you can carry them like Crossbody bag. The one we use is currently unavailable, but we provided a link to a good alternative.

Large Bottle Holder

$32.00

When I’m going on a long ride, I find that the standard water bottles that fit in a standard holder on most bikes. Just don’t hold enough liquid to get me through the entire ride. I have a 40 ounce Hydro flask water bottle and was able to find this large water bottle holder that would take that and larger. It mounts easily to the bike frame with the same type of screws every other water bottle holder uses. The rubber strap accommodates a variety of sizes of containers. When I first started using this, I did notice a little bit of a rattling noise, which was annoying. I added some of the fuzzy side of Velcro tape to the inside of the holder and that solve the problem. A little bit of felt also probably solved that problem. The strap secures the bottle very well and even though I have written on some rough surfaces, I’ve never had the bottle fall out.

The version were using is currently unavailable on Amazon, but we’ve included a link to an updated version which actually looks like it might be better.