- The most useless bike parts are the ones that have no effect on the way the bike operates or functions.
- The ten most useless bike parts include horns, baskets, light systems, and many more.
- Spoke decorations are one of the ten most useless bike parts.
1. Spoke Decorations
Spoke decorations have been around as long as bicycles have. These decorations come in many types, colors, designs, and styles. From attaching cards to the spokes to using the hokey spoke text and visual image system, spoke decorations are one useless bike part that is not needed for a good ride. These extras may be nice but you can do without them.
2. Baskets
Baskets may be fine for some riders, but for most they are useless. These accessories were created to help carry items that were too bulky to carry while riding. Baskets are not needed and have no effect on the riding quality, so they are accessories that are not needed. They come in a wide variety of sizes and materials, but no bike needs a basket to function.
3. Bells
Bells are another accessory that makes the list of the ten most useless bike parts. Bells are normally added to kids bikes, and some adult bikes as well, to amuse the rider and make noise. Bells have no effect on the way the bike operates, and the bike will ride the same with or without these accessories. These are just useless gadgets intended to make riding more amusing.
4. The V Wipe
The V Wipe bike accessory is one of the most useless bike parts that can be found. This is a windshield wiper that is supposed to attach to your glove or bike, and it is intended to clear the rain from your visor while riding in bad weather. Not only are these useless but the reviews say they do not work very well either, smearing instead of clearing.
5. Flower Holders
Some bikes may have flower holders installed before purchase, or you can purchase these accessories separately, and install them after you purchase the bike. They are basically useless when it comes to determining how the bike rides and functions, even if they are convenient if you want to have a flower on your bike for decoration.
6. LED Lights
LED lights are another one of the ten most useless bike parts, even if they are terrific decorations. There are even light systems that can display text and images on your bike wheels, but they will not make your bike perform any better or make your ride more comfortable. These lights are not needed to enjoy a great bike ride, so they are useless when it comes to bike parts.
7. Handlebar Streamers
Handlebar streamers are often seen on bikes, and they can be a very colorful and eye catching decoration that makes your bike really stand out. These decorations are useless when it comes to functional bike parts though, and they do not make your bike go any faster or ride any better. The money spent on these streamers would be better invested in other parts instead.
8. Pegs
When it comes to the list of useless bike parts, pegs would have to make the list. These parts are great if you are a kid riding your best friend home, because the pegs give the second person a place to stand. These bike parts are not needed to have a great bike that rides fast and comfortably though, and they are useless for racing bikes and cyclists serious about their ride.
9. Horns
Horns are useless when it comes to bike parts. These parts are added as a way of drawing attention to the rider, and may be used at times to alert pedestrians that you are coming down the walk or roadway, but they are not needed for a bike that operates and functions optimally.
10. Monitors and Computers
A lot of the newer bikes aimed at cyclists who race are computers and monitors that will measure everything from your speed and distance to your heart rate and the number of calories you have burned. These systems do not make the bike a better bike to ride, and these are useless bike parts if your main interest is riding a bike and not in owning the latest gadgets on your bicycle. Your bike will ride the same with or without these high tech parts.
i think on-board monitors should not be on this list, they are necessary for professional cyclists and triathletes, the remaining gadgets are mostly not needed toys
I agree with jessy, on-board computers are essential part of my training
you can ride a bike without these, i agree, but it’s gonna be less fun for many. enjoying how your bike looks is a part of enjoying bike riding
Flower holder is very smart)) I wonder who could come up with this, should be a girl
he-he, maybe same people who advised to do it for VW Beetle
I have all of these accesories on my bike except for # 2 and 5. i don’t think that they are useless and i love my bike the way it looks))
Who created this list? All these items are useful to the bike rider at some point. You may not need them for the bike to function, but they are useful!!!
Our reviewer seems to mistake the concept “useless” with “non-essential.”
by this standard, paint and decals are “useless.” On a busy hiking-biking trail, I would rather have a “useless” bell to alert pedestrians I’m passing by. Why? After about 20 repetitions of “on your left,” it makes more sense to have a machine (a bell) to handle the necessary noise making.
Likewise with horns. If you ride in busy urban traffic, where the bikes in a bike lane can pass vehicles on the right, a genuinely life-threatening situation can arise if a driver tries to turn right while a bicycle is in the right-rear area of the motor-vehicle. A horn can be a life-saving (or tooth-saving, or road-rash-preventing) technology.
Baskets are not necessary? And trailers aren’t necessary for tractor-trailer trucks? Bikes are not exclusively used to transport humans — sometimes humans carry cargo. Baskets are one way to transport cargo (such as poodles, chihuahuas, loaves of bread or, well, you get the idea.) Carrying cargo in one’s hands is dangerous. Among the items on the list, baskets are the most useful, and the most essential in some situations.
Flower-holders and day-light spoke decorations are matters of beauty. Is all art useless? Does adorning a bike with art make either the bike or the art less useful, or diminish the purpose of the bike?
For decades now, the bicycle industry has dictated to consumers approximately how we should use our bikes. We have mountain, road, pro, and some nominal commuter bikes. But the real innovations that could move the industry into the mainstream of transportation solutions remain marginalized — recumbents, electrics, partially-faired. In the mean time, every carnal desire we can imagine has become available for cars: DVD players, GPS, bass speakers capable of leveling small buildings… yet bikes remain the purview of niche markets, styled for narrowly defined purposes (how many people actually ride their rugged “mountain” bikes in the mountains?)
The USA is so far behind the world in bike technology such as tricycles, transports and hybrid motor/human powered vehicles it might never catch up. Painting it into a corner where even carrying a flower on our bikes is considered “useless” — well, that seems useless.
Many of the things on this list are simply decoration. of course they are useless. Most decoration is. If it had a use, it wouldn’t be decoration. Also, pegs, really. I mean those aren’t useless at all. They are very useful and I don’t know anyone that would put pegs on their racing bike anyway. This article is crazy.
I would have to disagree with computers. Of course it depends on what type of computer you are talking about, but I use a small “computer” that gives me my speed, distance, time, heart rate and several other things. It has proven to be a great training tool for both recreation as well as performance. I wouldn’t give it up for the world.
I agree with some of the writer’s thoughts, like the computer, but I’m not a “serious” cyclist. I ride for fun. So do others. I do use my bell, because I live and ride in a crowded metro area, and believe it or not, that “ding” actually makes people pay attention – even when they’re texting! The rest of the so-called “non-essentials”, I say it’s up to the rider. It’s as much a freedom of expression as a mode of transportation.
Can we please get our attention off of trivialities like what’s on a person’s bicycle? Who cares if they have a picture of Clark Gable mounted on the wheel? As long as they know how to ride and don’t cut off cars or run over pedestrians, I really don’t care what their bike has on it. Like I don’t care what a car has on it, except maybe too much bass response.
To each his own, I always say. If a bunch of junk on your bike makes you happy, do it. It doesn’t have to be “critical” to the operation of the bike. Boy, people sure get hung up on being PC on the most inconsequential things. Save it for something important.