There are a lot of options when it comes to bike and e-bike models – including Dual Sport, Mountain, Trail, and Road. With each type, you’ll want to ensure that your head, skin, eyes, and hands are protected.
What safety gear should I wear while riding my bike or my electric bike?
When thinking about what safety gear to wear when bike riding, you need to figure out what kind of riding you will be doing.
What to wear when riding a bike or e-bike on a paved surface
When riding a bicycle or electric bike on the road (meaning leisure riding on bike paths and sidewalks), you’ll want to protect your head, skin, eyes, and hands from the pavement and sun.
Here’s what we recommend for road riding:
Helmet: Helmets are such an essential part of safety when riding a bike/e-bike, as it’s important to keep your head protected in case of an accident. When riding on the road, you’ll just need a simple bicycle helmet, such as a Bravovelo Helmet, for the right amount of protection.
Padded shorts: These EVS Sports padded shorts are more for comfortability and protecting your buttocks, but are recommended if you plan on doing long rides.
Reflective Vest: Wearing reflective gear should always be towards the top of your list for protecting yourself while riding a bike, especially in the dark. This Fly Racing Safety Vest will keep you visible to others. For more recommendations on staying visible while riding, check out our "Top Ways to Increase Motorcycle Visibility" blog. Although the blog discusses motorcycles, much of the information will be relevant to bicycle riders as well.
Sunglasses: Sunglasses will not only keep the sun out of your eyes, but they can help protect your eyes from dust or other things in the air. Bobster sunglasses are perfect for leisure riding and they’re affordable, too!
Gloves: Not only will gloves help keep the sun off your hands, but they’ll also protect your hands in case of an accident. Alpinestars Street Gloves are great for protection and allow movement in your hands to go around the handlebars/throttles.
Shop bicycle and eBike road gear here:
What to wear when riding a bike or e-bike on trails
When riding a mountain bicycle or a mountain e-bike on trails, you need different protection for the same parts. Trail riding means you need to protect yourself more because of the uneven grounds and trees/twigs that can interrupt your ride.
Here’s what we recommend for trail riding:
Helmet: When riding trails, you’ll need a full-face and lightweight helmet, such as this Fly Racing Formula Solid Helmet. It’s important to protect your entire face from trees, twigs, and debris.
Knees/elbow pads: Since trails are more uneven grounds and trails have more opportunities for accidents, we recommend wearing knee guards and elbow pads. Instead of buying them individually, you could also get this EVS Sports Slam Combo Kit that comes with knee and elbow pads and a R2 Race Collar that helps prevent spinal injury in the neck area.
Long sleeve: Long sleeve jerseys, like Thor jerseys, are an easy and lightweight way of keeping trees and twigs from scratching your skin. These racing jerseys would also protect your skin in case you hit the ground. They’ll also help protect your from the sun, though you might end up with some sweet tan lines!
Sunglasses: These 100% Hakan sunglasses are perfect for trail-riding. They provide UV protection (UV400) and have scratch-resistant lens coating that will provide protection for your eyes.
Gloves: These Fly Racing Coolpro Gloves are great for trail-riding because they have silicone print to help your grip and they are breathable. They will help protect your hands, while allowing the flexibility of holding onto the handlebars/throttles.
Shop bicycle and eBike trail gear here:
As you can see, while riding the trails or even leisurely riding around the neighborhood, you need to wear protective gear.
You can browse all of Motomentum’s e-bike models here and all bicycle/e-bike gear here. Take our advice and make sure you are well geared up for your next bike or e-bike ride!
