CrBiker96

Hello everyone,

Im thinking on doing good investments, so a question came to my mind and I´m coming up to the experts,

What gadgets or stuff you bought you think improved your cycling experience,

I have a Wahoo Element Roam that truly improved my experience as I had a simple GPS before that one,

Clipless pedals, and clothes sure improved,

Right now im thinking to buy a Gopro with all the mounts, but not sure if this will be as i imagine,

What other stuff come to your mind,

Koyote

Bikes have improved my cycling experience.

slow rollin

water bottle+cage.
Long johns+arm warmers or some kind of removable wind breaker for the winter
gloves
Dialing in your bike fit
More training/weight loss (most important).
If you ride on bad roads fast rolling big tires

Barry2 

If you cycle on the road……. A mirror

Barry

indyfabz

Cue sheet clip.

CAT7RDR

Best bang for the buck bike gadget?
Understanding that riding in commercial free zones = less traffic and a more enjoyable experience.
The human brain can do wonders.

noimagination

Properly fitting cycling clothes.

Yes, strictly speaking, they're not necessary for riding. I've seen people ride centuries in blue jeans. However, I've ridden in both, and it's more enjoyable to ride in:
- cycling bibs with chamois - no waistband digging into my waist, no tugging waistband up during a ride, no flapping material, no seams between my butt and the saddle, a chamois and material that move with my body with nothing to get in the way, ride a nice saddle with no padding (Brooks), or minimal padding (SI Flite or equivalent) to avoid chafing;
- cycling jersey with rear pockets - no flapping material chafing my nipples, wicks away sweat which dries in the breeze, pockets to hold necessities (phone, ID/$$, hankie, cleat covers, snack) readily available without having to stop, zipper for adjusting ventilation;
- close fitting base layer, wicks away sweat, feels nice against skin, added protection against UV;
- wool socks (all temps), keep feet drier and warm (in cold temps), don't bunch up, don't get hot spots that I sometimes get with socks made from 100% synthetic materials; available in various weights for different temps;
- cycling shoes, stiff sole to prevent tired arches and pain in ball of foot, wide enough to not pinch toes.

Yes, I'm a MAMIL (actually, maybe I've "graduated" to OMIL?), and I look a little silly, but for rides of several hours putting out a lot of effort it is far more important to be wearing functional clothes than to avoid looking like a dork.

PeteHski

For performance road biking:-

Power meter and GPS head unit
Tubeless 30 mm tyres
Disc brakes
Electronic gear shift
Compact wide range gearing
Garmin Varia rear light/radar

For mtb:-

Dropper seat post
Slacker frame geometry
1x drivetrain
29” wheels

13ollocks

GPS has been useful, and the Varia radar has been great. If I want to go way back, “brifters” and clipless significantly changed/improved my riding.
Im more skeptical about a GoPro - yes, it’ll capture video, but producing slick, audible, interesting footage takes time, effort, usually multiple takes, and equipment - raw GoPro footage will likely be monotonous (ie no viewpoint changes and editing cuts to make it interesting) and noisy (ie, a lot of wind noise) without extra mic’ing. It’ll really only you who’ll be watching it, because no one else will be very interested, and rewatching your own riding becomes old fast. Good video of a ride largely requires that the ride becomes about making the video, not about the riding. By way of example, I tried my hand at underwater photography years ago, but capturing good pics required a lot of lying on my belly setting up shots, rather than the actual diving that got me in the water to start with. I decided I preferred diving. I still brought a camera in case I saw something interesting, but National Geographic wasn’t going to be interested in my snapshots. By all means get a camera, but be realistic about the quality of footage it’ll generate

Speedway2

I ride one of my bikes mostly on the MUPs.....so a (micro) bell is a must.

WaveyGravey

A good pump to properly inflate tires and Gatorskin tires.

Mojo31

Your own personal support vehicle that will fix your flats and hand you water and food on demand. Also, they block other traffic, just make sure it has flashing lights.

PeteHski

This has been my experience too. I used a GoPro camera for skiing for a few years. It was great at first and I got some good footage. But after a while I found it all too much of a chore (setup and editing) and found that it was interfering too much with my enjoyment. But I did use it again to film my kids and that was worth the effort. I never bothered filming on my bike. Road biking video would be tedious and my mtb riding is too tame to be of any interest in watching again.

_ForceD_

From a non-racing point of view, in the 40+ years I’ve been road cycling, the #1 thing that improved riding FOR ME, with regard to comfort on the bike, was going from toe clips, to clipless pedals. Other than several triathlons every season, I don’t do any racing. I’m not really into analyzing stats from my rides. I just like to know how far, how fast, and time that I’ve gone. So computerized…and then GPS apps have been great. — Dan

urbanknight

Helmets. They have only improved my riding experience 4 times in 33 years, but well worth it.

pdlamb

Yeah, I've got the GPS with an HRM and, occasionally, a power meter.

But what really improves my riding experiences? A full water bottle or two -- getting overheated because you haven't been drinking really ruins a ride.

And sunscreen. Sunburned arms and face for three days after a ride don't make me want to get back on the bike anytime soon.

A good route. Decent pavement, low traffic, thinks I like to look up and see as I'm out riding.

The other stuff you can buy? It's like furniture polish, it makes the experience a little shinier at best, and you spend time polishing a turd at worst -- worrying too much about things, and battery charging, and not enough about the experience of riding a bike.

Sierra_rider

Good shoes that actually fit. I'm an outlier in that I have really wide feet...I went for years sizing up shoes that were too narrow for a proper length. I finally discovered Lake shoes, with their wide sizing, and it's been a game changer.

Kind of a simple one, but storage on the bike. Yes, it may look Freddly, but I like having a decent saddle bag on my road/gravel bikes. Enough of a bag to carry a multi-tool, spare TPU tube, 2 different options for tubeless tire repair, and enough room leftover for my keys and some arm-warmers. Even more ghastly, I carry a mini pump on a mount adjacent to one of the bottle cages. I know some people that take "the rules" pretty seriously, but carrying tools, a mini-pump, and enough gels for a 6 hour ride, gets old when they're all in your jersey pockets.

Fredo76

IMO, the biggest improvement in bicycle design in the last 50 years as been those SMP seats, with the big holes in the middle. Somebody finally figured that out, thank goodness!

I rode a Brooks Pro for years. Ouch!

CrBiker96

Thanks mate, so useful and true what you said

Eric F 

For me (in no particular order)...

- Proper bike fit
- High-quality, well-fitted bike clothing. I do not like things flapping about.
- GPS bike computer with HRM and power meter
- Shoes. I prefer a rigid sole and the right shape for my unusual foot (high-end Shimanos are magic for me)
- Pedals with float. Road=Speedplay X, MTB/gravel=Eggbeaters
- Helmet with good sweat management. My Scott Centic Pro is not nearly as good in this regard as my Limar Air Pro or Ekoi Legende.
- Garmin Varia radar. On solo road rides, this is eyes in the back of your head, and in some ways better than a mirror.

cyclomath

Stuff that improves experience the most is called free time, which is when you can take your bicycle and go out for a ride. That stuff can become really hard to find and/or in various ways prohibitively expensive.
Other than that - whatever makes you happier and more enthusiastic to go for a ride. On the other hand, there aren't enough gadgets out there to keep someone motivated if they need gadgets to get motivated, or so I imagine.

Bald Paul

Video - yes, I use a GoPro (connected to an external power pack - got tired of having to remember to stop and change batteries). Handlebar mount, and a Varia RTC715 (with video capture) on the seat post. The only time I really watch the video on either is if some driver decided to make a close pass, "roll coal", or do something equally stupid. Then I'll send a copy of the clip to my local sheriff, who was nice enough to follow up and issue a citation in one instance.
I will admit that I have recently started playing with a program called Telemetry Overlay, where I can synch the GoPro video with the data from my Garmin and see things like distance, heart rate, grade, power, speed and cadence in the video. Nothing like being able to re-live the agony of a long climb while sitting in a comfy chair with a cold brew.

streetsurfer

The bright paisley bandana.

doo-rag
pant cuff tie
bandage
parcel wrap/tie
snot-locker
conspicuity piece
sweat wiper/wash rag

50PlusCycling

There are probably more bicycle-related patents than any other kind, bikes have been around for a very long time. Most “new” things on bikes are just improved versions of existing technology, you could get a Schwinn Stingray with a disk brake 50 years ago. Rather than finding ways for existing riders to “improve” the experience, it might be better to come up with a program or idea to get more people to experience the experience. There is little point in trying to improve things which few people use.

The pandemic cycling boom was an unnatural occurrence, and by its nature, was doomed to the bust we are witnessing now. The last natural boom was the result of everybody’s favorite cheater winning the Tour de France 7 times. Lance, for all his faults, was worth billions to the sport and industry. There was a similar, though smaller boom when Greg Lemond won his tours.

It’s not likely that we’ll ever get another such figure who puts cycling in the headline news and front pages around the world. But a movie or tv series, well made and well promoted, might motivate people to try out “the experience.”

For many years I have lived in Japan, and people here are enthusiastic cyclists. Of course cycling will be popular in a country where car ownership is expensive, parking scarce, and driving a PITA, but there is more to it than that. There are plenty of kids TV shows featuring characters learning to ride a bike. Then there are the comic books and anime which feature competitive cycling, and more than a few movies and tv shows. There is at least one cycling program playing weekly on Japanese television which features things like races, tours, cycling clubs, and the like. Cycling is part of the culture in Japan, and the popularity of the sport in Japan is why Japanese makers became mainstays in the international cycling industry.

The more people who get into cycling, the bigger the sport/pastime will become, and the bigger and better it gets, the better bikes and products will be produced. The gadgets and stuff are secondary.

dedhed

Repair stand