Mountain Bicycle saddle. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
After you have spent money on your bike, mountain bike, motorbike, or scooter, your next purchases are upgrades, accessories and clothes. Trevor is a keen biker, motorbikes and mountain bikes. He has done training courses on circuits with champions. He avidly watched YouTube videos on riding. Taking corners. How to balance on a motorbike differs from balance on a mountain bike. How to repair or adjust or upgrade the parts of your bike.
Bike Lock
Before you even go out on your bike, shopping in an urban area, you need a security lock. The locks are attached to a thick black part which you attach to something strong and immovable such as a railing.
The bigger, stronger ones, which resist a little bolt cutter, are more expensive, thicker, and heavier to carry.
Some areas or a town or city are more prone to theft than others.
After buying your lock, or upgrading it, next you need your clothes to go out.
He says,
Cycling Clothes - Shorts
'Bikers like to wear close, thigh-gripping shorts when cycling. If you wear loose shorts, they tend to get caught on the front of the saddle when you get on and off.'
Motorbike Clothes
Motorbike clothes have more protection Padded knees and elbows. Hot to wear.
Expensive. Look at them in a shop. Are the seams sewn securely. Sealed. Is there lining? Padding?
Ask the assistant for advice. Then buy more in the sales.
Eventually the stitching of gloves and suits will go. Or you fall off and a layer of the leather or fabric has scraped off. That's good. That would have been your skin if you had not worn the protection. It has done its job. It is worth the money. But time to buy another one, or bring out the spare.
Rain
Thunder and lightning sign in China. Photo from wikipedia, signs in China.
You might want to carry a rainproof poncho. A rainproof poncho is hot and sticky. So you have to look for a safe place to pull in when it rains to don the outfit. Wait in the shelter.
Motorways in Singapore have shelters for bikers under some bridges. Look for the umbrella sign. The same applies in Malaysia.
Malaysian shelter for motobikes sign, with distance of 200 metres. From Wikipedia, road signs in Malaysia.
You can also buy a tiny umbrella to cover your mobile phone.
Bike Helmet - photo by Angela Lansbury.
Helmets
You might want a spare helmet for a passenger. If two members of your family share a motorbike, and occasionally you go out together.
'If you already have a bike, then you buy a motorbike, you need another helmet. The same applies the other way. For a helmet, you obviously need adequate protection. But cycling helmets are not the same as motorbike helmets. Motorbike helmets have to be much stronger. You are likely to fall off a bicycle, but you could be catapulted through the air from a motorbike. Motorbike helmets have a visor protecting your face. They are heavier to wear.
'A cycling helmet for a bicycle, or mountain bike, just covers your head. Then you wear a face mask when you walk into a shopping mall.'
Branded Scooter/Motorbike parts - real or fake?
'I have been buying parts to upgrade an old motorbike and an old bike. You go on the internet and you can see the prices for branded goods are high from the manufacturers. What are the branded goods made of?
'If you saw gold at a very cheap price, you would suspect it was gold-plated or an alloy. The same applies to the metals in component parts.
'Is it really titanium or stainless steel or aluminium? Is it strong enough? Flexible enough? Rustproof?
Brand Names
'I sometimes draw up alongside a scooter at the lights. I can see that parts on a cheap Scooter have famous brand names. I see parts which cost as much or more than a second hand scooter. That's absurd.
'I don't know whether the owner knows the parts are fake and just wants to look good. Or whether the owner has been misled by the fake goods.
Buyer Beware
'When I buy, I look down to the specifications. If you saw something advertised as a diamond in the headline, but under product description, you read cubic zircona, you would know it's not a real diamond. If it says diamond in the headline and doesn't specify what it is in the product description, again, that's a warning sign. When buying parts, I compare the manufacturer's specifications, then I compare Lazada and Amazon.
I have had more success with Amazon. But no website can be 100% guaranteed. It's not their fault. They have hundreds of items from third parties. They can't check every one. You can return goods. Keep the packaging. Look at it before you open it. Keep the labels and packing slips.
I often lose track of where I ordered an item from. It arrives from some address overseas.
(Angela's note: I have the same problem with clothes. Did I order from Amazon, Lacada, Ebay, Etsy, Shein? The solution is to to keep a copy of purchases in your diary, or a dedicated notebook, or a folder, or in notes on your mobile phone. I write down what the item looked like on arrival, and a month after use. I give feedback and note it. Also, I add anything I didn't say in the feedback, such as I didn't like the look of it when it arrived, or it looked great. I might change my mind later. This is not only useful when you want to return the item. It is handy if you want to re-order for a friend, as a gift, or for yourself as a replacement or spare or another colour a year later.)
Finally, photograph everything. Yourself on the bike when it is new to prove it is yours. (A thief could claim you have stolen the bike from him when you try to retrieve it!)
You might want a picture to show at a mall or airport or police station when reporting the bike or helmet or key is missing. Or even a missing person. Insurance might want a picture of it. You might want to show that the bike was new and got damaged in the car park or on the plane or bike repair shop. They can't say that parts of the item, or paintwork, was damaged already when you left it if you have a photo showing it in pristine condition hours before.
In Singapore you can hire bikes, Segway (Single large wheel vehicle).
Cycling alone is lonely. But in November 2021 the rules have changed to allow up to 5 persons from different households to meet up. Please check the latest regulations.
Useful Websites
CLOTHES
https://www.infinitymotorcycles.com/store
EVENTS
SINGAPORE Travel By Bike & Meetup Information
Four hours, 99 Singapore dollars:
https://www.letsgotoursingapore.com/trails-of-tan-ah-huat-3/
https://www.facebook.com/SoekSeng1954BicycleCafe/
https://www.facebook.com/HandlebarSGGillmanBarracks/
https://www.meetup.com/My-Bike-Group/
https://www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19-phase-advisory
UK
https://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/brilliant-bike-rides-from-london
Meetup in NE London (other groups around the UK)
https://www.meetup.com/Hubbub/events/282122726
USA
https://usacycling.org/encyclingpedia/events
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Cycling
Europe
Flat country The Netherlands is a popular place for cycling
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_in_the_Netherlands
MAGAZINES
https://cyclistmag.co.uk/christmas2021
https://www.motorcyclenews.com/
If money is no object, sign up to this course on ficing your bike, currently 57 Dollars.
About the Author of this blog, Author Angela Lansbury
BIOGRAPHY
Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5
The Author of several books, including Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.
Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com
dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com
Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President
Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time
Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;
Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;
Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.
More details from Toastmasters International find a club.
Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.
Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.
Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.
Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.
Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.
Language and speech workshops in Singapore.
Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.
Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.
Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.
Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.
I also have a blog on comic poems.
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