Road Biking Shopping List

Planning on buying yourself a road bike? Great idea-- you can have a ton of fun (and healthy exercise) on it! Here's a (regrettably long!) list of things you might also want to consider buying to go with it. You certainly don't have to buy all (or any) of these things, but they're all things you should consider (if only to reject immediately).

Although this list is aimed at novice roadies, much of it can apply to newbies purchasing some other kind of bike, of course.

Two places that anyone can buy bike gear from online (or through their catalogs) are Performance Bike and Bike Nashbar. These guys have big selections and cheap prices. In addition to their virtual presence, Performance also has some real brick-and-mortar stores, and I buy a lot of stuff from their store in Redwood City (in the Bay Area). In San Francisco, Sports Basement sells lots of sporting stuff (including cycling goods) for great prices; you can also buy from them online.

So...what's on my shopping list?

Safety stuff

A bike helmet. It should fit and be reasonably modern-- don't use one from the 1970's. You can sometimes get a great deal on a helmet at a store if you're willing to put up with the fashions from last year or the year before.
Lights. If you're going to bike when it's dark, you should probably have:

a red blinking LED light mounted on the back of your bike or your back or somewhere like that
an uncolored light for the front of your bike (or your helmet). A cheap blinking white LED light will suffice to let others see you. If you also need light so that you can see where you're going, you should get something more expensive that's up to the task.

Things to wear

A lot of cycling duds are expensive. That's all the warning I'm going to give you about that.

I'll mention a helmet again, although I'm really considering it to be "safety stuff" rather than a "thing to wear".
The most important thing to wear for comfort when biking more than a mile or three is a good pair of bicycle shorts. They should have padding in the crotch, and no matter which gender you identify with, you wear them "commando"-- in other words, you don't wear anything under 'em. I almost (but not quite) exclusively wear the Performance Men's Elite Multi-L Shorts, which are reasonably comfortable and often obtainable at a great price. I don't have any personal experience wearing them, but I assume the women's analog of these are good shorts, too. I do have a single pair of Louis Garneau shorts, and I have to say that they're awesome. Finally, if you're willing to spend some more bucks on this (and I promise you that it's worth doing what you can to keep your ass and other sundry parts happy), I hear rave reviews for the shorts from Castelli and Assos. Whatever bike shorts you get, make sure they fit! If they're too small, they will hurt you when you go on a long ride.
A pair of bike gloves. Not mandatory, but helpful for keeping a good grip on your handlebar (sweat can make things slick!) and for protecting you from road vibration and the ravages of weather (cold, wet, sun, ...).
A bike jersey. These are typically constructed of some kind of highly wicking polyester, and have pockets on the back for easy access to stuff (e.g., food, wallet, cell phone). You can get them with short/long/no sleeves, hoods, ... If you're, say, a runner, and you figure that you'll just make do with cotton T-shirts like you do for running, you can do that, but it can be less than ideal. You could run an experiment: get a single jersey (buying one probably won't break the bank!) and see if it's enough of an improvement over T-shirts that you want to buy more of them. Because I'm a cheapskate, most of my jerseys are plain (instead of patterned) jerseys from Performance.
Bike socks. Not so critical, in my book, although I have (and use) plenty of 'em. General-purpose athletic socks usually work fine. For cold weather, I have to admit that I have some special-purpose windproof/waterproof socks, but your mileage may vary.
Bike shoes. If you're going to use pedals that you clip into, you'll need to have a pair of these. Even if you're not going to use pedals that you clip into, you might consider getting a pair of bike shoes-- they have stiff soles that work well for transferring power to the pedals. I and lots of folks I know are wearing SIDI shoes these days (pricey, but comfortable and effective!). See here for more information on pedals/shoes.
A cycling jacket that's appropriate for the weather is a great thing to have. Your mileage (and your desires and the climate where you ride) may vary, but for me, a great cycling jacket:

is windproof and breathable (Gore's WindStopper and Windtex are the two best (?) materials for this). If it's going to be wet, make your jacket waterproof, too-- Gore-Tex XCR is the best material I know of for this. I myself don't like riding in the rain, not so much because it's uncomfortable (it certainly can be!), but more because it's tough on my bike. Since I don't generally ride in the rain, I don't really need waterproof cycling clothing.
has pockets on the back (pockets in front can be nice, too, and might make the jacket more versatile)
can squish up into a little bundle and be stuffed into a jersey pocket (this often conflicts with the desire to be windproof, breathable, and maybe waterproof-- these fancy fabrics don't always squish up so compactly)

Cycling tights and/or full-leg cycling pants, for colder and/or wet weather. Some tights have padding cooked in; some are meant to be worn over cycling shorts.
Armwarmers and/or legwarmers can also be handy-- in fact, you might find that you get more mileage out of a pair of armwarmers than out of a jacket. You can start a bike ride wearing them and take them off and stash them once you (or the weather) warm up. Instead of stashing them, you can also just kind of roll them up your arm or leg and leave them there.
Sunglasses. These protect your eyes from the sun (duh!) (make sure your lenses offer 100% protection from UV light), and they also protect them from stuff in the air-- such as a cloud of small insects (yecch!). Even if the air doesn't have any nasties in it, if you're going fast, the wind is going to make it tough to keep your eyes open and functioning, and glasses help with that.

Pedals

There are three main ways you can go about pedaling your bike:

"Regular" platform pedals, which are just a flat surface that your feet rest on.
Platform pedals with toe clips on them. The toe clips are metal or plastic thingies that hold your feet on the pedals and enable you to apply some power to them while you're raising them. Often one can add toe clips onto platform pedals after the fact.
"Clipless" pedals, which ironically are pedals that your [cycling] shoes clip into. (They're called "clipless" because they don't have toe clips.) When you buy a pair of clipless pedals, you'll find that they come with a pair of cleats that you need to affix to the bottom of your bike shoes so that the shoes can actually clip in.

If you're planning on doing a nontrivial amount of biking, then I strongly suggest that you get clipless pedals and bike shoes. They'll make it more efficient for you to transfer power to the pedals. In addition, of course, bike shoes are designed to be good for biking. The downside is that pedals and shoes cost money (especially for really good ones!), and you won't be able to reasonably ride your bike without your bike shoes. (There are exceptions to this last problem-- you can buy pedals that are platform pedals on one side, but let you clip in on the other side. See here for an example.)

For road bikes, SPD and Look are the most popular types of pedals/cleats. There are lots of others, though. An up-and-comer is Shimano's [relatively] new SPD-SL style, which is what I have on my "good" bike (um, and that's the kind that that Lance fellow rides, too). Note that a given pair of bike shoes is not necessarily able to mount the cleats for every possible type of pedal that you might want to use! Talk to your bike shop when deciding on your pedals and bike shoes.

Your bike might or might not come with pedals right out of the shop. In fact, ironically enough, the more money you spend on your bike, the less likely it is that it comes with pedals. Ç'est la vie.

The visit to the bike shop when you buy your bike is a good time to buy your bike pedals and shoes, too.

Fix-it supplies to carry with you

Flat tires aren't necessarily frequent occurrences, but they're certainly an occasional fact of life for most cyclists. To deal with them, you should have (and you should know how to use!):

a spare inner tube (I actually like to carry two spares at all times). Make sure it's the right kind of tube-- it has to be the right size and have the right type of air valve
a portable pump. Make sure it can handle the valves on your inner tubes. Most portable pumps come with some hardware to mount them on your frame. An alternative is a CO2 cartridge system that can inflate your tube quickly without much work on your part
a patch kit
two tire levers

If you find that you get a lot of flats, you can purchase some relatively bulletproof tires (e.g., Specialized Armadillos) and/or self-sealing inner tubes and/or kevlar liners to put in your tires, and that should help you out.
A cycling multi-tool of some sort. I like the Topeak Alien and the Crank Brothers Multi-17; they both have pretty much everything you'd be likely to need on the road. The Alien even has two built-in tire levers, although I prefer to use standalones.
I also carry a spare kevlar spoke with me. Hardly anyone I know does this, though.
You could also carry some tire boots in case you make a rip in your tire (tire, not tube).

Miscellaneous

Most bicycle frames have room to mount two water bottles (you can mount more bottles using slightly more specialized-- but still readily obtainable-- hardware). Assuming your frame is like that, I recommend getting two cages (cage = water bottle holder) and two water bottles and mounting them on there. Biking becomes a lot less fun when you run out of water! Unsurprisingly, I'm not a fan of the small-sized water bottles, either-- get the big ones!
You could also get a Camelbak or similar pack to carry fluids (and maybe other stuff) on your back. These are nice when you're biking a long way and are unable or unwilling to refill your water supplies. They also let you drink pretty much any time with very little effort.
If you listened to some of my advice about things to bring along, you'll likely want an "under the seat" bag to stash stuff. I like a nice big bag under my seat so I have room for lots of stuff, but it's possible that you might not feel the need to haul around absolutely everything you own on your bike trips. Even if you don't carry tools, etc., around, it's a good idea to put some cash and some ID (such as a copy of your driver license) in there.
A cyclocomputer. Until you have a cyclocomputer, you probably won't realize how nice they are to have! These are helpful for navigating ("Um, I'm supposed to take a right turn after five miles. How far have I gone?"). More often, though, they provide invaluable information about your cycling that can make you a better cyclist, and they are a source of tremendous inspiration ("OK, I'm going to try to keep my speed above 25mph until I get to the traffic light.") You can get a basic cyclocomputer without spending very much money these days; additional money will get you additional features. I recommend buying a computer that displays your cadence (the number of times per minute that you're turning your pedals)-- this is useful for improving your cycling.
Get some good lube for your chain and other moving parts. If you have no idea how often you should lube your chain, then you probably don't lube it often enough! And if your chain is ever making chirping noises, lube it immediately! After you lube your chain, let it sit for a minute or two, and then wipe it off with a paper towel or rag to prevent excess build-up of gunk on there. Boeshield is the stuff that everyone seems to like these days.
A good floor pump-- preferably with a pressure gauge-- is nice to have. Pump your tires up to full pressure (tires list their recommended pressure somewhere on the side) right before going riding-- this will make your ride more enjoyable by reducing the odds of your getting a flat and by letting you go faster more comfortably with less effort.

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