Enjoy a Safe and Secure Bike Ride: Top 4 Tips

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adamsmiths

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Riding a bike is always a great pleasure and a great way to stay fit. However, some issues often crop up during cycling, especially when you share the road with motorised vehicles. Therefore, you need to be on your guard and pay special attention to some basics when you are sharing the road with motorised traffic.

Some tips are given below on how to ride a bike safely. Remember, the tips are based on right hand traffic, so please keep the direction in mind if you are from a country with left hand traffic.

1. Check your bike:

Before beginning a ride on your cycle, you need to examine your cycle thoroughly.

· You should check your cycling equipment in order to be ensured that your cycle is roadworthy and safe. Check the brakes to see if they are working properly or not.

· Make sure that the tyres are not punctured. In order to check it, you can put the tyre into a small bowl of water, and observe if any bubbles are coming out or not. If there are bubbles, that means the tyre is punctured.

2. Dress properly:

Dressing suitably is a must. It is recommended that you wear brightly coloured clothes and a reflective vest or use flashing lights, since they will increase your visibility. You should never wear high heels or flip-flops while biking. Instead, you should wear comfortable shoes that fit snugly and have flat soles. Wearing a helmet for safety and goggles for eye protection are also a good idea.

3. Maintain road safety rules:

Before heading out on a bicycle, you should keep some points in mind-

· Ride your bike in the direction of traffic

· If you want to turn left or right, look behind to be sure that it is clear and then signal your intent.

· Let other road users know your intentions by giving hand-signals.

· Stop when there are stop signs and watch out for traffic.

· This one is a cliché but is true: obey traffic rules and signals.

· Never use headphones and listen to music while cycling.

· Always maintain a safe distance from other vehicles.

· If the road is narrow, don’t try to share lanes with other vehicles.

· Share the road with other vehicles wisely.

Be visible and clear to other riders:

In order to be visible to everyone on the road, you need to follow the points below-

· Use appropriate lighting to increase visibility, especially at night. Light is useful for both during the day and night-time.

· Cycling during night-times is not devoid of danger; in fact it is quite fraught with risk. Therefore, you need to be very careful. Use bright lights for high visibility.

· If you want to take a turn, use hand signals correctly. Suppose you want to take a right turn, give the signal with your right hand, and vice versa.

These are the points that you should keep in mind in order to ride your bike in perfect safety. Have a fantastic journey!
 
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Deleted member 4366

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I think that there can be a problem with hand signals at night time. Reflective cuffs is a solution, but I don't see many people using them. These jackets solve that as they light up like beacons. They're great for cold winter nights; however, they can make you too warm if the temperature isn't close to or below zero. Definitely no good for the summer though.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YOKO-HI-VIZ-VISIBILITY-BOMBER-JACKET-WORK-WATERPROOF-HOODED-SAFETY-SECURITY-COAT-/111990654363?var=&hash=item1a1329c59b:m:mHCUtlRJJJrA0bqIZ890Q4A
 

Fordulike

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 26, 2010
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I think that there can be a problem with hand signals at night time.
The problem of signalling by hand can be exacerbated on an electric bike too. On a human powered bike, take one hand off the handlebars, and even if you are still pedaling, there's still a good amount of steering control.

The problem comes on an electric bike, where the PAS kicks the power in at the slightest turn of the pedal, upsetting steering control.

Not so bad on a torque sensor bike, but one which operates on cadence, can give a shove of torque at the wrong moment.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
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For riding in the dark hours I'm finding the Winglights very good and other road users do notice/see them.
 
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Fordulike

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 26, 2010
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Where I work, means I regularly drive past late shift workers at Nissan, on their way home too.

A fair few ride bikes to and from work, and it gives me an idea of what visibility works on a bike and what doesn't.

Obviously no lights at all, or just one light front or rear, is the worst.

Next, lack of hi visibility clothing.

Surprisingly, from a driver's point of view, I find lights on strobe mode to be very distracting, and should be banned during night time. One rider had two front lights strobing out of sync, as well as a rear strobing light. Plain stupid.
 
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Fordulike

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Feb 26, 2010
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Mmmmmm, did admin erase the sneaky website plug, in the OP's first post, I wonder :rolleyes:
 

rsscott

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Aug 17, 2006
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I removed it and then he/she came back to add it in again! Normally I would delete spam posts but seeing as there are a few replies I've left it (minus the spam link of course!)
 
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D8ve

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 30, 2013
2,142
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Bristol
I strongly disagree with the poster.
Giving my tires an unwanted bath before cycling. If it's flat I have a puncture if it's still hard after overnight it's fine.
If I want to ware heals when I'm cycling that's my choice. It's a bugger fitting the cleats though.
 
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