Lights, Locks, Helmets…ACTION! by Catherine Cuellar
YakKay Bicycle Helmet Cover
The joy of riding a bike will change your life. But I cringe every time I see bicyclists in Dallas riding without helmets or on sidewalks. These common violations are not only illegal, they model unsafe behaviors and give cyclists a bad reputation among drivers and riders.
In addition to following the law, in the spirit of safety and fun I cannot recommend helmets and lights strongly enough. Helmets will save your life, or as my college boyfriend said “If you’re riding without a helmet, you’re a biking dork.” For vehicular cyclists who enjoy getting off trails and riding in city streets, lights are less about lighting the road for you and more about making you visible to ever-distracted drivers of cars.
Many people don’t wear helmets because they don’t look cool. Again, safety is more important than how you look. That said, helmets are getting better looking all the time, with designers like Paul Frank teaming up to create colorful designs for Bell Skate Helmets. Since I’m not a performance cyclist seeking aerodynamic design, I wear a skateboard helmet, which I find to be just as safe. I’m also lobbying local designers to come up with something as sassy as the Euro-chic YakKay.com helmet covers (but I’m not holding my breath).
BELL Skateboard Helmet
Bern Helmets
Light-wise, CatEye LEDs are pretty bright with just a couple of batteries and can easily be mounted on your bike or just clipped onto your clothes. If you use rechargeable batteries, they practically last forever.
Cat Eye LED Light Set
Lock-wise, there are a couple of options. If you’re regularly leaving your bicycle unattended for a long period of time at a DART station, you might want to consider renting a bike locker ($15 deposit then $5/month or $45/year). Remember that you can now take your bike with you on DART buses and super light rail vehicles.
If you’re using bike racks at DART stations or while you’re at work or school,
U-Lock
U-locks are less susceptible to wire-cutters. If you’re leaving your bike somewhere low-visibility or low-traffic all day, I also recommend two things:
2) If you have a quick release tire, remove it and make sure the U-lock goes through both tires and your frame.
Cable locks are lighter than U-locks, making them easier to carry. I also recommend a combination cable lock so you don’t have to carry keys in your pocket while riding (just one more thing to lose).
Again, congratulations on trying to bike more, and have a happy and safe ride!
Catch more of Catherine at Catherine Cuellar.com
Catherine,
Thanks for another article! Design-wise, I both wear and heartily endorse the Bell BMX/skateboard helmet shown in your article. I have two of them. Safety is important, but so is style. Most bike helmets are absolutely atrocious looking, fit only for….well, fat guys wearing ridiculous looking lycra outfits, frankly.
As for securing seats to frames, I’ve seen people do it with extra loops of bicycle chain. Also, sporting goods stores and gun stores are required by law to sell guns with those small cable locks to secure the action. They are small light-weight cable-lock loops about 8-10 inches long. Places like Academy often have extra ones that they will sell or give to you. They are just the right size in most cases to secure the seat to the frame.
-Hubbard
Also:
As much as I hate to go to Walmart, their bike section is a good source for inexpensive locks, lights and other bike goodies.
Plus they sell Dickies t-shirts and work clothes.
-Hubbard
I second the wal mart suggestion. I wear a regular road helmet. I’ll admit that I don’t wear one around the neighborhood, but anytime I am out on a serious ride I have it on. It’s funny that you all think that the road helmet us dorky; I think the same think about riding a bike in a skateboard helmet…
Good article. I wear a helmet and I insist that my young daughter wear hers as well. I tend to believe that helmet use among adults is a matter of personal choice but that kids should be compelled to wear them.
I am almost not even surprised anymore at the bad locking jobs out there. It’s not exactly a difficult thing to do, but people can’t seem to figure it out. Incidentally, I found a gun lock in the trash not too long ago and my first thougth was to use it to secure a saddle as Mr. Hubbard has suggested.
I have one minor quibble. I’m sure that you mean a “quick-release wheel” or a “wheel with a quick-release hub” rather that “quick release tire.” A locking skewer is a good (but not foolproof)option as well for that application.
I am lusting for a light set up like
using a front rack.
I’ll take some photos of my front rack light setup. It’s probably way more utilitarian than you want, but I love it.
Ha, yes – I did mean a wheel with a quick release hub, not a quick release tire. Thanks for the catch Erik!