Four Bicycle Accessories You Never Knew You Needed

Are you getting addicted to riding that bike? Made the switch from a car to a bicycle to save you a few extra bucks because of rising oil prices?

The trend to switching to cleaner and greener modes of transportation is growing and so is the sale of bicycles. You must have bought one already and got all the necessary accessories for it as well, like a pump, a bike helmet, etc. But there may be things in your bicycle tool collection that you don't have but may need. Here is a list of some of the things you thought you never needed.

• Mats – If you are a clean freak when it comes to maintaining your bicycle, imagine the dirt that you are leaving on the floor of your garage. All that greasing and shining and repairing of the bikes parts can be an icky process. One solution for this is to buy maintenance mats. These mats can be laid out on the area where you will clean your bike. You can set the bike on top of these mats and continue with all the dirty work without worrying about the grease stains and dirt puddles on the floor later on.

• Work stands – Ever tried to work on a bicycle even if it was in place with the support of a kickstand? It's really impossible because eventually you will push it hard enough for it to topple over. Working on the bike against a wall is also something tedious and tiring. What you need is to invest on a work stand. Propping up the bike on this stand will give you better access to all of the bike parts and you won't have to worry about the bike falling over because it will be held in place.

• Fluids – One thing you should know by now is that a bike is a bunch of moving parts that are slapped together to make one amazing piece of transportation. Those moving parts are mostly made of metal and so they need to be maintained. This is particularly true for the brakes and suspension of your bike. You will need to buy the right brake and suspension fluids for these parts. For the chain you will need to get good grease so that it doesn't rust shut onto the metal. These fluids will ensure the best performance from your bike at all times.

• Bottle Cage – Ever gone cycling and found yourself looking for a place where you can get a glass of water? You don't have to inconvenience yourself with such a trifle matter. What you can do is buy a bottle cage that you can mount onto the body of your bike. This is used to hold a bottle of water (preferably made of plastic or something indestructible) so that whenever you need to hydrate, all you have to do is pull it from the cage and take a swig. You can even do this while cycling so that you don't have to stop from the pleasure of cycling.