Riding to work gets you past the traffic, costs very little to run and builds exercise into a day that might not otherwise have any. The hard part isn't the riding. It's the planning: what to wear, where to put the bike, and what to do when it rains. Here's a plan for getting started.
The short version
- Start with two or three rides a week, not five.
- Plan and test your route on a weekend first.
- Keep spare clothes, a towel and a spare inner tube at work.
- A good second-hand bike beats a cheap new one.
- Decide in advance what you'll do on wet days, including the ride home.
- Carry as little as you can; leave what you can at work.
- Log your rides. Watching the kilometres and savings add up is good motivation.
Why ride to work?
It's exercise you don't have to schedule
Most of us fall short of the World Health Organization's recommendation of 150–300 minutes of moderate activity a week. Two 25-minute rides a day, five days a week, is 250 minutes. Your commute can do the whole job.
Keep most rides at an easy, conversational pace. Steady aerobic riding builds fitness without leaving you wrecked, and it's what makes riding most days sustainable. Hard efforts are fine now and then, but they need recovery. Our article on riding or running to work every day covers this in more detail.
Many workplaces also have a cycling group or a few regular riders, which turns it into a social thing too.
It's cheap
A bike isn't free to run: budget a little each month for tyres, chains, brake pads, servicing and replacing worn clothing. Even so, it costs a fraction of running a car. The blogger Mr. Money Mustache's well-known comparison of commuting costs found that even the most frugal car commute costs many times more than cycling the same distance, once fuel, wear and depreciation are counted.
Here's a quick sum for your own commute: take your daily round-trip distance, multiply by your car's real cost per kilometre (fuel, tyres, servicing, depreciation, parking) and by the days you'd ride. Many people find their car costs somewhere in the range of 30–60 cents per kilometre all in, so a 20 km (12 mile) round trip three times a week can save over $1,000 a year.
It's often quicker
In a congested city, a bike's door-to-door time is very predictable, and often faster than driving once you add parking. The gym time you save is a bonus.
Cycling is also a big business. One estimate put the value of cycling to the US economy at around US$6.2 billion a year, and the number of adults riding for transport continues to grow.
Choosing a bike
Buy good, second-hand
A good used bike sells at a fraction of its new price, and a well-maintained one will have a much better frame and components than a new bike at the same price. If you don't feel confident buying privately on Facebook Marketplace, eBay or Craigslist, ask a local bike shop. Many sell trade-ins or know of good bikes for sale, and they're usually happy to help a new commuter: you're a future customer.
It also helps if your commuter bike doesn't look too shiny. A tidy but unremarkable bike attracts less attention from thieves.
Avoid "bike in a box" bargains
Cheap bikes from department stores are built to look like good bikes: suspension, lots of gears, brand names on the visible parts. The details tell the story. It's common to see a well-known brand on the gear shifter and an unknown part doing the actual shifting. These bikes tend to need constant adjustment, puncture often and put beginners off cycling altogether. Our puncture guide explains why their tyres in particular are a false economy.
Match the bike to how you'll ride
There's no single best commuting bike. Think about where you'll ride (all road, or some gravel paths and trails?) and what you'll carry.
Compare the whole package. A mid-range mountain bike might need mudguards, slicker tyres and lights added before it's a good commuter. A similarly priced commuter bike might come with all of that already fitted.
Ask other riders at work, too, but make sure they ride like you do. Someone who rides 100 km (60 miles) every weekend for fun may have different priorities.
Consider an e-bike
An e-bike roughly doubles the distance most people find comfortable, flattens the hills and lets you arrive without a sweat. It costs more up front, but around a cent a kilometre to charge.
How far can you ride to work?
On a regular bike, 20 km (12 miles) each way is a reasonable commute for someone with average fitness. You can go further if you have the time, fitness and flat terrain. Hills make a big difference.
Start with two or three days a week. A 16 km (10 mile) each-way ride, five days a week, is tiring until your base fitness builds. If distance is a problem, ride part of the way and take the train or bus for the rest, or look at an e-bike.
What to wear
You don't need to look like you're in the Tour de France. You do need to be comfortable and visible.
Double up instead of buying the best. If your budget for shorts is $50, buy two pairs at $25 rather than one at $50. Having a spare set makes laundry, rain and forgotten kit much less of a hassle.
Gloves
Fingerless or full-finger cycling gloves with padded palms are the most overlooked piece of commuting kit. They make the handlebars more comfortable, keep your hands warm in winter and protect your palms if you fall, because your hands will be the first thing to hit the ground. Wash them often in summer.
Upper body
Use layers so you can handle changes in weather. A snug, moisture-wicking base layer helps with sweat. Make sure tops are long enough to cover your lower back when you're leaning forward; cycling tops are cut longer at the back for this reason. Add a light, long-sleeved jacket to cut the wind chill, ideally with reflective details and a pocket or two.
Lower body
Shorts or full-length tights, as you prefer. Mountain-bike-style shorts, which look like normal shorts but have padding in the right places, are a comfortable middle ground.
Helmet
Wear one, and check your local law: helmets are compulsory in some places, including Australia and New Zealand. The evidence on safety is clear. A 2018 meta-analysis of 55 studies by Alena Høye, published in Accident Analysis & Prevention, found that bicycle helmets reduce head injuries by 48% and serious head injuries by 60%. They reduce face injuries by 23%, and they do not increase the risk of neck injury. The benefit is greater in single-bike crashes than in collisions.
Sweat and showers
Some sweat is hard to avoid, especially in summer. You can reduce it with breathable clothing, an easier pace on the way in (save the effort for the ride home), and an e-bike if that's an option.
A shower at work is ideal. If there isn't one, a pack of body wipes, a small towel and a change of clothes go a long way. Keep a set of work clothes at work if you can, and swap them on any day you drive or take the bus.
Plan your route
- Look for quiet streets, bike lanes and off-road paths, even if the route is a bit longer.
- Note any busy junctions you'd rather avoid, or where it's safer to get off and cross with pedestrians.
- Ride the route on a weekend first, so the first commute isn't also the first time you've seen it.
- Most map apps now have a cycling mode that favours bike lanes and quieter roads.
Where to park
Find out where the bike will live during the day. Many buildings have secure bike storage, which is far better than a lamp-post on the street. If you have to lock up outside, use a good D-lock through the frame and back wheel.
Be considerate if you bring the bike indoors. You won't win friends wheeling a wet, muddy bike through the office or scraping it along corridor walls.
Riding in the rain
Unless there's a severe weather warning, riding in the rain is less unpleasant than it looks. Accept that you're going to get a bit wet, and focus on comfort and safety.
Fit mudguards
Mudguards (fenders) make the biggest difference. Most of the water that soaks a cyclist isn't falling from the sky: it's flung up by the tyres.
- The back wheel sprays a stream of road water up your back and onto the saddle. That's uncomfortable, causes chafing, and is a serious test of your backpack's waterproofing.
- The front wheel throws water up through the frame at low speed and, at higher speed, ahead of the bike at exactly face height. Gritty, oily road water in the eyes is unpleasant and reduces how well you can see.
Full-length mudguards that stay on the bike all year are the most convenient: one less thing to fit when the weather turns. Even in dry weather they stop grit flicking up into your face.
Protect your eyes
Clear or lightly tinted glasses keep rain, and drips from your helmet, out of your eyes. Choose a pair with some airflow so they don't fog up.
Be seen
Drivers see less in the rain. Use bright front and rear lights, even in daytime; a flashing mode stands out well in traffic. Many commuters also add a helmet light, which shows exactly where you're looking at junctions. Check local rules on flashing lights.
Make it stick
Planning is most of the battle. Get the route, the bike, the clothes and the wet-weather plan sorted before the first ride, start with a few days a week, and the commute quickly becomes the best part of the working day.
This article is a 2026 rewrite by Cole of Mark's 2019 original.