Bionicycle

My bikes are set up so that what I'm wearing is what I can ride in. I am an almost fanatical tire pressure checker though, and do kind of a pre-flight check of my bike before I head out. So, that takes a couple of minutes. But, mostly I try to keep the bikes "Minute Man" ready, so to speak. I'm not training for anything though, and view my bicycles as more transportation then exercise equipment, and most of my rides are between 5 and 10 miles at a time, so I think that makes a big difference.

rdtompki

No. Get dressed to ride, pump up tires, attach trunk to rack, attach rear light, attach front and rear cyclometers (Garmins), attach waterbottles (longer rides), put on helmet and shoes (captain and stoker), turn on intercom, ride (unless we're taking the bike someplace). Doesn't really take all that long as we've gotten pretty fast at getting ready. I do have a single, but don't ride it much. Would never use prep time as an excuse to not ride.

oldster

all my bikes have toe clips and straps ,that need a pair of sport shoes to fit inside them,and my "kit" is just a pair of garden variety sport pants with pockets for a wallet and cellphone.and a bright pullover/or jacket,,And high black socks to put the cuffs in to keep them out of the chain.rest of stuff is in small bags on the bikes.air up tires every few weeks..(unless they feel/look low)..helmet has gloves and clipon sunglasses in it..fill water bottle and it takes 2 mins to get ready..
Bud

Robert Foster

I used to but I put crank brothers egg beaters on the MTB and so now I don't. I never go anywhere without my helmet anyway.

sauerwald

Not owning a car, I have a couple - I use Shimano PD-A530 pedals which are SPD on one side, and platform on the other. My goto bikes are both drop bar, with a touring type geometry. One started life as a Bianchi San Remo touring bike, the other was a custom frame.

BluesDawg

I usually have a bike or two with regular pedals so I can ride at a moment's notice, but right now I'm down to just two road bikes and a mountain bike, all with clipless pedals. Until I fix the situation via N+1, I can throw on my SPD shoes or sandals and hop on the Casseroll without any other cycling gear. For a very short ride I can ride it with street shoes.

RonH

No. The grocery store is only 0.9 miles away so I walk. The bank is inside the grocery store. The UPS store is next to the grocery store. If I have to go anywhere else I drive. Riding around here is not safe and I don't have a lock for my bikes. And all my bikes have clipless pedals.

lphilpot

Really? I wouldn't have thought that. I was in the Decatur area week before last (a class at EMC) and wasn't impressed that way. On a different note, fortunately I found Boudreaux's on Main Street.

lphilpot

I've seen (and experienced) the same thing in another hobby of mine, amateur astronomy. Starting out, there's just a small scope, red flashlight, little star chart and lotsa wide-eyed wonder at what can be seen. However, before long you gotta load up the big scope in the van/truck, setup the massive mount, drift-align the mount so it track accurately, setup your table, fire up the computer (along with batteries, etc.), get all the software going... and by then you're too tired to observe! That's why the old saying about telescopes applies equally well to bikes: "The best scope (bike) is the one you use. A cheap little scope (bike) you actually use is far better than a big expensive scope (bike) lurking in the closet (garage)."

ericm979

If I lived in town I'd have a casual riding bike to go to the store. But I'm on the side of a mountain, a 1600' climb from town. The road to my house has a 22% section. There's no casual riding here.

steve0257

All of my bikes are set up to just get on and ride. If I had to do a lot of prep work to get ready I wouln't find cycling as enjoyable as I do.

JanMM

The V-Rex has pedals with plain cages on one side; I can ride it easy enough with sneakers/hikers and a band around a pants-leg, if I'm not wearing shorts.



And do I jump on and ride? Not so much. I'll usually take just a few minutes to put on clothes and shoes to make the ride more fun. That's if I'm Going For A Ride and not Going to the Grocery Store.
Oh, yeah, and this bike doesn't lend itself to jumping on it - sitting down on it works better.

robtown

Only one now but I am building a 3 speed commuter with platform / spd hybrid pedals. I pedal Ruby around just to cruise slowly and remember the bike I rode around the neighborhood in Germany.

Artkansas 

Yes, All my bikes. My Specialized Hard Rock set up as a utility bike. I run errands, go to meetings, pop it on the bus to go downtown, or just do a pleasure cruise on the River Trail. My recumbent is the same, but I have to add the heavy U-lock, if I plan on stopping. I use it more for recreational rides and long commuting.

CbadRider

I got a Specialized Sirrus last summer and installed platform/SPD pedals so I don't have to wear clipless shoes.

ChiliDog

My signature pretty much sums up my philosophy about "suiting up" to go for a bike ride...

If I am going to spend a longer period out riding I do like to wear my padded lycra shorts under nylon shorts and my Shimano sandals while using platform pedals. I even own a few colorful jerseys for hot weather riding. Rarely wear them.

I used to do the "dress out" when I first got back into riding a road bike, but I got tired of the prep ritual and time it took.

I much prefer to just hop on either bike, but I always wear helmet and padded gloves.

marmot

My bike's always ready to go. I don't bother with butt padding unless I plan to ride for at least an hour. My regular clothes are fine for errands, shopping etc., and I'm retired, so I'm always dressed for comfort, not style. Any shoes other than flipflops will do, since I'm still undecided about clipless pedals. I tried strapless toe clips, found they were more trouble than they were worth, and took them off. I'm casual about riding, but not about safety. I don't ride anywhere without a helmet, and if my plans include significant traffic or high-speed roads, I'll slip on a neon-colored shirt, jacket or vest.

maddmaxx 

1 standard hardtail MTB with semislick tires and platform pedals. I call it the multimedia bike. Go anywhere, anytime in any conditions. Sometimes if I'm not sure where I'm going to ride I take it on vacation.

Altamont

I keep a Kona Jake the Snake ready to go with fenders (Pacific Northwest, you know), lights (rear and front) a nice Tubus rack and small panniers. It has Crank Brothers mallet pedals so I don't have to clip in for short rides to the store or to Starbucks. I can coast in 10 minutes all the way to the area where the bank, grocery, dentist, Starbucks etc are, but its a hard climb home! the last 1/2 mile is a 300 foot climb. At the bottom of that climb though, is a nice park at a beautiful lake where I can watch kayak races, beach volleyball, or just plain relax. I have a second set of wheels with knobbies, in case I want to take to gravel trail instead of the road.

in my old age, I have become quite a daredevil. sometimes I wear a hat not a helmet. I do usually throw on a pair of old cycling shorts on under my pants though.

sknhgy 

Duh...yea. Sorry. Didn't mean to be sarcastic. Well, actually I did.
Man, that's what riding is all about!!! The fun stuff!! I love to hop on my Trek 820 and take single-digit mileage rides around town. Go check out the park or the river. Ride to the cemetary on the bluffs. Go see so-and-so. Go get a candy bar.
My 820 is always ready to go. It lives just inside the garage door-on the floor, not in a rack. She wears studded tires in the winter and thick knobbies in the warm weather. She talks to me when I walk by and can't take her with me.

marmot

Forgot that part. It's a Kona Dew Drop with fenders, front and rear racks, and mounts for front and back lights. One pannier, containing a lock, pump, tube, tools and rain jacket, stays on the bike all the time. I add a second pannier, and/or a rack trunk as needed for each outing. Right now, I'm confined to the plowed streets. Once the snow goes, there are endless trails, bike paths and rural roads nearby for spur-of-the-moment getaways. This bike handles all of them reasonably well.

rnorris

My commuter/errand bikes have toe clips that I keep pretty loose for urban riding, so when I'm riding in shorts they're pretty much hop-on-and-go. My long wheelbase recumbent bike works better with clipless so that one requires a bit more of a countdown to launch. I have too many bikes already, but am dreaming about a minivelo with IGH and chainguard, that would be great for multimode commuting and just knocking around the neighborhood in any clothes and shoes I have on.

PaulH

That's the only kind of riding I do. I ride a German Kettler commuter/trekking bike with a step-through frame. I don't need a pants clip or special clothing when I drive and I have the same expectations for my bike and cars, because they do the same job. The difference is that when I ride, I don't have to circle the block for fifteen minutes waiting for a parking space to open up. That's what got me into cycling.

I sometimes have preparation, though. In rain, snow, or cold weather, I need to put on my overcoat, outer pants, gloves, and boots, but that's still under 2 minutes, so I guess it qualifies.

I have a twenty mile round trip commute, plus errands on weekends.

Paul

Nightshade

Yep, All of my bikes are "easy" riders that I hop on at any time and just go. From my trike to my cruiser I'm good to go all the time!!

John E

This is one reason I still use old school toeclips and straps on all of my bikes. If I am setting out on foot, I wear thick-soled running shoes. For cycling, I put on either thin-soled running shoes or cleatless cycling shoes, gloves, and a helmet w/ mirror. I always wear gloves and a helmet, even on short trips, and I have come to hate riding w/o the mirror.

The mountain bike and the Peugeot have rear racks, which make them very practical for shopping and other errands. The mountain bike's big plastic toeclips will accommodate almost any shoes I own.

All of my road bikes have drop bars, which I strongly prefer over all other types, and the mountain bike has handlebar end extensions which give me a similar handshake/rotation-neutral/palm-vertical grip position.