If you've fallen in love with cycling and the benefits and advantages that cycling can give to you, it's not enough that you have a nice bike. You also have to maintain the condition of your bicycle so that you can be assured of more rides that are both comfortable and smooth. There are also a few pieces that you have to get if you're into cycling like bike accessories. There are bike accessories that can increase the safety of your ride like mirrors, horns, lights and helmets. There are also convenience bike accessories like baskets, fenders, flat free tires and the like.

With regard to bike accessories for safety, one of the most important bike accessories to get is lights. This is most especially so when you like riding at night. It's not that it helps you see where you're riding; it also allows other motorists to see you. There are many casualties in cycling and many of these people cycle at night and have no lights. The bike accessories that fall under lights can be a headlight or a taillight. The headline is more important in cycling. Headlights protect you from getting hit in the sense that cars approaching from the front can do more damage if you're hit.

For taillights, reflectors are sufficient enough to help you be seen by motorists at night. They also approach more slowly because you're riding away from them. The right kind of lights to get for your bike is the LED light. These kinds of lights have batteries that last 10 minutes longer. For as little as $20, you can be safe especially if you're riding at night. Another important bike accessory is the mirror. Handlebar mirrors are readily available at your local bike shop and even in grocery stores. The helmet mirror or the sunglasses mirror can also do very well for your safety and lessen paranoia when you know exactly what's behind you. Getting a horn as part of your bike accessories is also part of your safety. With a horn like the Air Zound, you can alert other motorists of your presence behind them.

Bicycle Inner Tubes

Together with the selection for bike accessories, you have to consider getting bicycle inner tubes. This tube is a donut shaped balloon made of rubber that has a valve for inflation. This is installed inside your bicycle tire. By keeping the bicycle tire hard, you get a smooth bike ride. In the past, when bicycle inner tubes were unheard of, bicycle tires are made of one piece of solid rubber. You can imagine how bumpy and painful the riding a bike was in those days.

Bicycle inner tubes come with two varieties of valve types. A thinner valve that road cyclists most commonly use is the Presta Valve. The wider variety is known as the Schraeder Valve. In order to get to inflate your bicycle tires regardless of the value you have for your bicycle inner tube, bike pumps come with adapters to fit both valve designs.

Bicycle inner tubes can also have fittings with rims on it. When you're pumping with a Schraeder Valve, you simply place the pump adapter over the valve. Hold it down hard or use the flap which locks the pump to the value. For Presta, you have to unscrew the top part of the value. You then put the bike pump adapter over the valve. There are also flaps to lock the pump to the valve.

The most basic thing to remember when you're buying bicycle inner tubes is that the tube doesn't leak. You can get these tubes in many different thicknesses and made with a wide selection of rubber compounds to reduce punctures.

Bicycle Tires

Aside from the bike accessories of the inner tubes, you also have to look at your bicycle tires. The bicycle tires are mainly designed as the clincher type or wire on kinds of tires. Clincher tires have outer tires equipped with a u shaped cross section as well as a separate inner tube. The edges of the rim have tire hooks to keep the tire in place and air pressure holds every other part securely.

The bicycle tires are made of three important components. These are the bead, the fabric and the rubber. The edge of the tire is called the bead. It consists of hoops made of steel wire and make up the backbones of the tire. The most common beads of the bicycle tire are made of steel and some models use Kevlar cord.

The fabric is woven between the beads which form the body of the tire. It determines the shape of the bicycle tire. Lastly, the rubber. The rubber coats the fabric that's woven between the beads. It covers the fabric and protects it from damage.