If you have decided to ride a bike, you may be entering a world that is not well known to you. People use new words or words in ways you're not used to. Some people will try to give you advice, some will be good, some not so much.

We thought it would be a great idea to offer you a few tips and ideas to make cycling fun and easy.

• Buy a bike that suits you . A bike isn't a "bargain" or a "good deal" if it doesn't suit you. A bike that doesn't fit you can impact your long-term fitness goals and may put you off cycling permanently. A bike that suits you will also be easier to ride.
• Enjoy it. Don't jump on Strava right away and worry about fitness goals. When you enjoy cycling, all of these goals come naturally. Get out there, discover new places, stop taking photos all the time. The more you enjoy cycling, the more you will want to do it.
• Join a club. It doesn’t have to be a local racing club; You can now find local groups of cyclists on Facebook and other social media. Join them and have fun on a ride together; this fits well with the rule mentioned above.
• Learn to live in the moment. Did you just see a new road you've never traveled before? Go and see where it leads. Fancy stopping at this cafe? Just do it. Would you like to sprint down the street to this sign? You guessed it, just do it. Design your trip with pleasant moments and live for these moments.

What about saddle height?

Seat height. Everyone has difficulty finding the right seat height; it's just that many people have forgotten this over time. One of the easiest ways to adjust your seat height is the Greg LeMond method.

The Greg LeMond Method wants you to use 88.3% of your leg length to determine the correct position for your saddle. The easy way to do this is to measure from your crotch to the ground and then multiply the answer by 0.883.

The method won't be as accurate as a professional bike adjuster, but it will get you close. What you also want to do here is listen to your body. If you feel a little pain in the front of your knee, your saddle may be too low. Pain in the back of the knee and your saddle may be too high. It is worth noting that there could be other problems as well, so please see a professional if you are experiencing a lot of pain or problems.

How do I use my gears?

Using the gears may take a while to get used to. However, the answer for most people is that they probably want to switch gears more often than they do. You will want to listen to your body again. If your pedaling is slow and labored, find an easier gear. If you feel like your legs are about to fly off, choose a harder gear.

If you want to get used to changing gears, we would suggest for your first few rides that you initially limit yourself to using only your rear gears and see what happens when you shift up and down. Once you've mastered that, you can try using the front chainrings if you have more than one.

You also shouldn't be afraid to experiment and see what happens. If you want to downshift a few gears in a strong headwind or just keep going, try different gears and see what suits you best. We are all different, and what suits someone else may not suit you.

maintenance

Many beginner cyclists see a lot of articles telling them about maintenance and DIY. What many of them miss is that you don't have to do it if you don't want to. There is no shame in using your local bike mechanic because you lack the time, tools or knowledge.

If you don't want to know, you don't have to know, and if other cyclists want to criticize you about it, that's their problem, not yours. There are only two things you really should learn: how to inflate your tires and how to replace a tube. With tubeless tires becoming more and more popular, the second of these ideas is becoming more and more of an optional capability.