If youโre starting to cycle to work, or thinking about doing it, watch this! From kit and routes to routine and bike security, we’re here to tell you everything you need to know.
Welcome to GCN 0:00
Essentials for cycling to work 0:56
Where to ride 2:10
What to wear for cycling 3:44
Mudguards 4:55
Bike security 5:31
Find a routine 6:57
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If you’re starting cycling to work or thinking about doing so then watch this video I am going to tell you everything you need to know starting with you don’t need to know anything not really I mean cycling to work can feel daunting you might not want to start until you got a
Certain bike or until there’s a certain amount of cycling infrastructure or I don’t know until Jupiter aligns with Mars I don’t actually know how often that is to be fair but the reality of it is that you can just crack on because to work is not that hard and don’t forget
That it’s also fun and nice that you can stop wherever you want cuz you don’t need to worry about parking so why not grab a coffee which is effectively free because of all the money you’re saving by not driving genius so uh what’s left to talk about for the next few minutes well
Seeing as we’re here let me give you some tips so what do you need well a bike obviously anything will do it doesn’t need to have all the bells and whistles just as long as both brakes work and crucially are easy to squeeze which might not be the case if you’ve just
Dragged something out of the back of the shed but that’s as much for your confidence as it is for your safety otherwise make sure the tires are pumped up the chain is oiled the gears aren’t skipping too much and if you’re going to be riding at night or low light
Conditions then lights front and back are essential in terms of other stuff helmet is a good idea and it’s no hardship to wear one and then otherwise bright clothing particularly actually if you can your shoes and your lower limbs which might be countered to what you would expect
From looking at everyone riding around in fluorescent vests but actually highlighting the lower limb movement is something that Vision scientists recommend to improve your conspicuity yes I spoke to one so you don’t have to I would like to say though that you shouldn’t let a lack of high
Visz put you off from cycling cuz your long-term Health outcomes are better cycling without high Vis than they are sitting in your car okay the statistics back that up something I would encourage you to spend a bit of time thinking about though is where you’re going to ride
What route are you going to take CU often I think we can be very limited in our knowledge of directions and Roads because of course you only know the ones that you already use and so if you’ve only been driving to work that’s probably going to be the one that’s just
Fastest by car which is highly likely to also be crap for cycling however on a bike you are not confined to fast moving roads in fact you’re liberated to basically go anywhere because you will not get stuck so personally I would far rather take a slightly longer route in
Order to ride my bike somewhere genuinely nice but you cannot go here in a car you could ride here or you could ride here take my home city as an example it is tough to drive through the middle so if you want to go from north to south or
East to west you join all the other traffic squidged into big congested arteries on a bike though there are no such restrictions you can ping straight through the middle on quiet streets or bike paths which you could be forgiven for not knowing about cuz why would you
Know unless you looked so do a bit of research look at a map Google Maps often has cycling routs plotted in or dedicated cycling route finding apps like stra or Kut will also guide you onto the best routes for cycling now what should you wear well anything you like really normal clothes
Are good I wouldn’t bother with wearing cycling specific clothing for a commute of less than 30 minutes or so certainly not anything that looks like it’s been designed for cycling anything goes and I think you can be comfortable no matter what there is a slight issue with getting hot and sweaty particularly if
You live somewhere hilly I think you’ve got two options here you either ride however you like and just take a spare shirt with you and you get changed at your destination or you ride really really gently and try not to break a sweat in the first place and at this
Point I’ve got to say this is one of the Trump cards of an ebike because you can throttle your effort right back let the motor do more of the work and you can still make good progress in terms of carrying spare clothes and things like
That I tend to use a rock Sack or backpack for ease and then I just pack lights so I’m not overburdened but if we are talking sweat patches backpacks are about as bad as it gets so some kind of on-bike storage whether that’s a paner rack or a front rack absolutely
Ideal now I thought to recommend one excess accessory for your bike other than lights be a paare of these mud guards or fenders regrettably riding through a single puddle could still leave you with a brown stripe up your back which is not a good look right out
There with sweat patches isn’t it really but a set of these will solve that they will keep you clean and dry now they’re absolutely not Essentials but if you’re buying a new bike somebody think about and you can probably get a pair to fit just about any other bike just take it
Into a local bike shop and see what they recommend much has already been said about bike security too much to recap here and now anyway but let it be said I completely sympathize with that feeling of dread when you have to lock your bike up somewhere and leave it in the street
Now hopefully you will have some kind of secure bike parking where you work if you don’t you could always try just sort of taking your bike into work and hoping that no one notices but you didn’t hear that from me now if you do have to leave
Your bike somewhere like this then a good option is bike insurance now it’s not a cheap option particularly if the bike that you’re locking up and insuring is already quite expensive but it will definitely give you peace of mind that if some thieving scumbag turns up and
Steals your pride and joy you can at least get a replacement the other things to bear in mind not all bike locks are created equal I don’t think there’s much that could withstand a determined angle grinder wielding Thief but I also don’t think that you will regret spending
Money on a decent lock the last Point ice to mention is air tags so if someone does Nick your bike you can potentially keep track of it and hopefully hand the location over to the police some bikes like this one actually got dedicated places to keep an air tag but I can
Imagine that there’s quite a few places you could store one on any normal bike lastly just because you start riding to work it doesn’t mean you always have to five days a week or whatever however I would say I think it’s a really good idea to get into a
Routine to avoid those days where you kind of feel like you might not want to ride to work and then cop out because you see I think the human mind is a little bit sneaky and it’s always trying to get us out of doing things and so on
Those days where you might cop out and take the bus or drive your car instead I think it then makes it slight harder to ride the next time so instead why not just say I will definitely ride every Tuesday and every Thursday and then give yourself the flexibility to do what you
Like on the other three days as I said at the start cycling to work is not that hard and hopefully although I’ve given you a load of tips in this video none of them feel like they’re a barrier to cycling but if you are still feeling a
Little bit nervous why not have a look to see if there are any local initiatives where you can actually team up with someone that’s already out and about out and cycling and they might be able to help make you feel that little bit more confident when you’re on the
Roads and while I get that it may feel a bit scary particularly given all the stories that you can read in the Press about cycling in cities the fact is that cycling as well as being fun is just so much better for your long-term health and well-being than being stuck in a car
I mean genuinely it might may sound like a bit of a nutcase repeating that but the sence absolutely backs it up so good luck out there let me know how you get on in the comments section down below I’ll be very very interested to read all your amazing positive stories
23 Comments
What do you wish you had known before you started commuting? ๐ด๐
I love Siโs commuter series. Now we have covered beginners, can you make a video about how to integrate the commute with training for the more ambitious. I have a 30k hilly commute and it makes no sense to ride that on an e-bike and then hop on the indoor trainer at home.
What is that white bike he has in the video, it looks very much out of my price range but itโs everything that Iโve been looking for in a bike?
I applaud GCN and Si for encouraging people to try commuting to work by bike. It is indeed good for your health, good for the environment, less costly than driving, and can be fun and invigorating, good for the mind as well as the body. However, I continue to be astonished by how resistant GCN and perhaps Si are to some safety precautions. Their importance is often downplayed in GCN videos, notably hi-vis among others. Here are some points in this video where I have an issue with what was said:
1. Cycling commuters should have lights on during regular or bright light as well as at night and in low light. They are more visible with the lights on. This is something that's recommended for motorcyclists as well. Also, one can often ride into and out of shadows during the course of a commute.
2. Wearing a helmet when cycling to work is not just a good idea. It should be strongly recommended.
3. Vision scientists also said wearing fluorescent clothing was effective during the day, not just highlighting the lower limbs. This was from Si's "I Hate Hi-Vis" video, timestamp 4:51. People are more often commuting during the day.
4. Si says your long term health outcomes are better cycling without hi-vis than sitting in your car and that this is backed up be statistics. This seems to be a conflation of general commuter cycling with commuter cycling with hi-vis. Was there really a study of health outcomes of bicycle commuters NOT wearing hi-vis versus drivers? The scientists actually only focused on commuters NOT wearing hi-vis? They controlled for this? This is hard to believe.
5. Si is often not wearing clothing that's high in conspicuity while he's cycling in this video, sometimes without lights. A bad example.
6. There's the clip from the "7 Things We Wish We'd Known About Commuting On an E-Bike" video where Si is racing up a hill with commuter Matt. Matt is wearing a fluorescent top. Was it really that sad for Matt to be wearing hi-vis as Si says he is in the "I Hate Hi-Vis" video? It didn't look sad to me. I say not at all.
7. In the segment about what should you wear, Si again avoids saying anything about hi-vis or conspicuous clothing.
Look, I don't mean to take the fun out of bicycle commuting, but wearing hi-vis and taking good safety precautions does not mean that it's not fun. But I think it's gotten ridiculous with the GCN videos about bicycle commuting and the resistance to common sense preventive measures. Cause we know the consequences of being hit by a car, truck, etc. can be deadly. Why is it so hard for GCN/Si to recommend these things and to not downplay them?
i used to ride pretty much everyday to work, but then i decided to skip mondays in order to drive to work and carry some clothes to store at the office.
Don't wear too much clothes, you'll start to sweat and you won't feel nice when you get to work. I always took a good shower, cycled with just a jersey and light jacket, so most of the sweat will quickly evaporate, and then at the workplace just use a soapy towel and you are fresh!
Iโd like to know if that sharp looking jacket is going to be available from the store.
Great video too
In Europe, I believe cycling to work adds 2 years to your life (I North America it subtracts two years!), but I do it anyway for a bunch of other reasons…mental mostly, I feel better when riding. Enjoyed your excellent vid for beginners and you have some interesting things for all of us. In Montreal lots of people commute with a milk crate lashed to back of the bike, makes it easy to just put your bag in it, no lashing or tying on (does add weight and uglyness though). I used to ride not my best bike for commuting, as lowers risk of theft, BUT now I want to have a bike I really enjoy riding as it it where I do most of my riding.
Commuting can be the heart of a training regime, if you are planning a competitive or challenging event (I trained for BMB and PBP partially through commuting and know of some RAAM riders who did the same).
Plus it is a slow enough way of moving that you can enjoy the world (but not TOO slow…personally, I hate to say it, but I find walking to slowwww…too zen, for me as yet, hope to change that in the future)
A note to an earlier self…DON'T be competitive on the road with other cyclists or car drivers…so easy to multiply risk by an order if you are a person like me…
I use a higher gear on my commutes so i get a short but intense work out.
What is the jacket that Si is wearing?
I think Simon should get involved with Cycling UK and start campaigning for cycling infrastructure!
PS! I love that Canyon! Hopefully it's gonna be my new ride later this year! What's it like off-road?
If using a Brompton get a smaller chainring, gearing is a bit high if your commute includes any undulations !
got to be careful using Kamoot for urban routes… it will try to route you through all sorts of crazy unnecessary detours, such as a horseshoe off of the main route you've been riding through a parking lot(car-park) only to meet back up on the same main route again when you could have just ridden on the main route in a straight line. I think it's goal is to try to keep you away from traffic as much as possible, but obviously nobody wants to actually do hundreds of 500 ft|m detours on the way to anywhere, especially when you're on a part of the route that you actually know, and I don't know where it tells you to take a left, so now you have to stop, and see where it's actually taking you, only to see that you're joining back up to what you're already riding on at the other end of the lot
thanks to scumbags using air tags to track actual people, thieves will be warned that there's an air tag traveling with them, making them useless for tracking your bike, because they'll know to look for it and get rid of it before they actually go anywhere that will positively link them to the theft
5:31 I've started cycling to work few months ago and already lost my first bike. Then I bought a second hand road bike for around $30, and spent another $25 for new brake pads, chain and cassette. Now in top working condition, appearance wise I only keep it clean and I did not bother to make it look any better. So looks not worth the trouble for the thieves.
I rode to work at least once a month for over 36 years and yes this is in Canada…Toronto to be precise. Once you establish the habit it is easy. Given our traffic it was about the same time as driving but I was ready to work in the morning and the ride home allowed me to destress from the day.
When I cycle to the train for work, I prefer to go to a station 2km further from home simply because of the beauty of the route. Since the train takes about 8min between the stations, it isn't costing me any time either!
At this point only one thing will get Dan to regularly bike to work. This: https://youtube.com/shorts/m7qp8tlECTY?si=J8Dcr_1T7G6E8J_N
Love this! I ride my bike to work 4 days out of five, and I try to figure out how to replace car trips with bike trips when ever I can. When I have to drive, I wish I was on my bike.
For me cycling to and from work is flat and 5 miles round-trip. My shift starts at 6 in the mornning and gets done at 12 noon. This is nice because there is little to no traffic early in the mornning and when there is traffic most drivers are pretty good. My rout does go through a school zone so drivers are looking out for children walking or cycling to and from school.
Wtf is a โsweat patch โ?? Speak English !
Get on your bike start pedaling and donโt die.