Three Essentials for Easy Riding
Crank up your cycling experience
When enjoying a bike ride, besides the scenery and company, your gear makes up a large part of a bike riding experience. Here are a few must-haves for the road or trail rider to make your outing on two wheels carefree and pleasant.
Smart conversation
Cycling with a friend doubles the fun, though trying to communicate while you ride can be a challenge. The Bluetooth-enabled Sena pi ($99) headset allows you and a companion to converse while you ride with a range up to a quarter of a mile, with a six-hour talk time. The 2-way intercom system features a pair of devices for you and your biking buddy. Two components about the size of thin thumb drives fasten with clips onto your helmet straps. The components house the Bluetooth technology, microphone and speaker and are strung together with a cable that you tuck into your helmet. The system, which works with an app on your smartphone, can convert almost any sport helmet into a smart helmet. A huge advantage to connected riding is that you can watch the road instead of turning around to talk to a fellow rider, which is not just more convenient but safer. Instead of catching up with your pal after the ride, you can chat, give directions, and check in with each other for the duration of your ride.
Vibe with vibrant earbuds
If you enjoy listening to tunes while you ride, pump up your audio experience with JVC’s Gumy Mini True Wireless earbuds ($30). These comfortable small-sized, sweat-and-rain-proof earbuds feature Bluetooth 5.1 technology and a battery life of up to 15 hours with the included USB-C-powered charging case. They conveniently auto-connect right out of the charging case, and they can be controlled remotely and are voice assistant compatible. For the cycling fashionista, you can wear a color to match your jersey with five colors to choose from: black, white, red, blue and green.
Carriers with coolness
How cool is the brand that describes its product’s fastening power as “Secure AF?” KOM Cycling is the epitome of the cool cyclist brand with products designed by and for cool cyclists. Among their large assortment of accessories, they carry the ultimate carrier, a frame strap ($29.99) for tube and tools that is almost non-existent, but fully functional, durable, and built for speed and performance. The sleek and minimalistic design keeps the weight low and your necessities – tube, CO2 inflator and canisters, tire levers and tube repair tool — streamlined to stay out of your way, Velcroed in a bundle, with a soft nylon lace facing to protect your frame.
If you need a bit more capacity, the KOM Cycling Tool Roll ($39.99) features three pockets and is large enough to accommodate your multitool, larger-sized tubes and other essentials, neatly and securely with the ATOP knob lacing system under the seat. Like its accessory-keeping cousin, the roll features non-abrasive materials that won’t scratch your ride.
