8th September 2020

5 top tips for new cyclists

I have a guest post for you today written by Catherine Ellis, I hope that you find it interesting. Catherine is the founder of Hill & Ellis which produces a range of high quality, stylish cycle bags

If you, like most of us, have been unable to miss the resurrection of cycling over recent months, you may be wishing to join the new ranks of cyclists flooding our roads, parks, and cycle routes.

If you don’t know where to start, here are five top tips I believe you need to know to get yourself saddle ready and back on your bike:

Tip 1: Get the right bike

You don’t have to buy a brand new bike from the kickoff. If you have an old bike, dust it off, check the brakes and the gears are working properly, and enjoy it. Getting on the bike is the only way to know what kind of cycling you enjoy. If you do decide to buy, consider second hand for both the financial and environmental benefits.

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If you are buying a bike, first consider the kind of riding you want to do and the typical route. If it is hilly – make sure you get a bike with enough gears to handle it, if you are commuting then 3-6 gears should be enough to get you up and down most town and city hills. If you are looking to road or mountain bike you will want to consider more than 10 gears to manage the rougher terrain.

Secondly, take into consideration the weight of the bike. Modern road bikes are all designed to be very light so even the heaviest will do you well – but aim to go as light as possible. For commuter bikes, the weight can be an issue. The heavier Dutch-style bikes often look very beautiful but they are hard work if you are peddling uphill, lifting it up canal path stairs, or storing it in your flat. As a guide 10-12 kgs is pretty heavy, still easy to cycle especially if the route is quite flat but you will notice it on an incline. So factor in the weight of the bike if you have a lot of hills to conquer or you need to store it inside.

There are some great commuting bikes available, which are beautifully made, pretty light, and have real style. For a British made bike with some serious looks check out ~~Temple Cycles~~ and there is also the ever chic ~~Tokyo Bike~~ and ~~Crème Cycles~~.

If you don’t have much space, the ~~Brompton bike~~ is always a great solution.

Tip 2: Get in position

Too often, I see cyclists with a bad seat position set up – usually, it’s far too low so they’re overworking and are putting unnecessary strain on their knees. To set up your bike properly, this is the simplest way: The Heel to Pedal method. It might not be what cyclists in the Tour de France use but it will get you close to the perfect position. Here’s how:

Sit on the bike whilst holding onto a wall or chair for stability.
Place your heel on the pedal and pedal back to 6 o’clock position. Your knee should be completely straight.
Increase the height of your saddle until it is straight; that is your perfect position.
If you are just cycling around town the first time and aren’t 100% confident on the bike, it’s a good idea to lower it from this position ever so slightly. This will make it is easier to put your foot on the ground when you want to stop. This will give you confidence on the bike from the get go. Once you are happy in the saddle you can lift the saddle back up to the correct height.

Tip 3: Ease your back

Taking the bag from your back and onto the bike is a real joy. It takes the strain off your spine and also reduces back sweat – something a backpack seems to create in very un-natural quantities.

The solution is a pannier rack. They attach over the back wheel of your bike and you can attach pannier bags and baskets on them to carry whatever you need. As the rack is on the back of your bike, not the front, and is low on the bike, it doesn’t affect your steering or stability, so they will help you feel more secure on your bike.

Hill & Ellis has a range of stylish bike bags that all attach securely to your pannier bike rack. They are also designed to look smart so are the perfect accessory for the work commute.

Tip 4: Plan ahead

Your route is crucial to an enjoyable ride on your bike. The main roads might be the most direct path but they won’t be the most pleasant. Always take the backstreets; they are quieter, safer, and much more interesting as you get to discover parts of your town/city you would never have seen before.

Fortunately, picking your route has never been easier. There are lots of cycle routes now across the country and they are definitely worth taking advantage of. Most city and the country routes are in cycle maps that are easy to follow. For your local paths have a look on your council’s website – most of the maps are available there.

Here are some examples:

For Birmingham
For London – check out TFL for their map of the cross London cycle lanes.
For Manchester

And if you are getting out of the city, the best resource is Sustrans which has cycle-friendly, and cycle-only routes across the UK.

Give yourself an extra 15 minutes to cycle, take the slightly longer, quieter route, get yourself lost, and, most importantly of all, enjoy it.

Tip 5: Build confidence

If you’ve followed the tips above but still feel a bit wobbly about cycling on your own, then you need your own personal peloton (cycling group). Cycling is really friendly, with lots of groups keen to help other cyclists get started with advice, buddies, and supported rides. There are groups all over the country, so you’ll definitely find one in your local area.

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The Breeze network offers women’s only rides and commuting training rides to help build confidence for cycling to work, they will even arrange a group to cycle with you to your office for the first couple of rides.

British Cycling also has a beginners’ guide on their website for the A-Z of what you need to know before taking to the saddle.

Most importantly, don’t rush your cycling journey. Enjoy it. Life from the saddle will always make you smile.

About the author

Catherine Ellis is the founder of Hill & Ellis, which produces a range of high quality, stylish cycle bags. Each bag, designed in the UK, is created to transition perfectly from home to bike to boardroom to bar. They are functional, fashionable and hard wearing. There’s plenty of space inside for a laptop and other essentials, and each bag comes with patented pannier clips that fit almost any bike, allowing you to clip the bag on and off quickly and easily.

If you’d like more information about Hill & Ellis please check out the following social media links.

~~Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram~~

**Full disclosure: I didn’t receive monetary payment for sharing this guest post. I’m looking to buy myself a bike with the aim of commuting to work by bike so I found the top tips really useful. All photographs were provided by Hill & Ellis and obtained from Pexels**

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