If you've just recently bought a new bike and are unsure how to get started, keep reading for a few tips to get you going.

Getting started

If you're nervous about riding in traffic, find a quiet area to start with, such as your local park. Practise riding single-handed so you can make hand signals, and get comfortable looking over both shoulders to improve your visual awareness.

Use your gears

Using your gears effectively will make riding much easier. It is best to reduce your pedal power when changing gears. Most bikes will have two sets of gears. The front gears, or chainrings, will give you big changes in gear and are controlled by the left gear lever. While the rear gears, or sprockets, form the cassette and are controlled by the right gear lever. Try to change your rear gears more than your front gears.

Learn how to make adjustments

Make sure you know how to remove, install and adjust your bike'€™s wheels, seat height and handlebars. Ask a local consultant if you need help. Depending on what bike you have, you should try and learn how to calibrate and adjust your suspension pressures, brakes, and clamps, if you have a bike with a carbon fibre frame. Some of this can be done at home and will maximise your riding experience and prevent damage.

Learn your riding positions

There are three riding positions: neutral, bent forward and standing. In neutral your hands are generally on top of the hoods. If the bike is properly fitted, you will be able to look around you, not have too much pressure on your hands, and feel comfortable on long rides. When bent forward, which is mostly used when descending, you place your hands in the drops if you have them, which are the curved part of the handlebars on a road bike. You bend forwards from the hips, angle your wrists to easily access the brake levers and shift your weight slightly back in your seat for more traction. Finally, standing up is most often used when climbing, but also for resting muscles. To do this, stand while keeping your arms relaxed, your torso bent slightly forward and hips still and centred above the front of the nose of the saddle.

Ride with others

It's much easier to stay motivated when you ride with others. Find out if any of your friends or family own a bike and are interested in riding with you. Or find a riding group to join. Ask your local 99 Bikes if they organise group rides. Otherwise, there are riding clubs on Meetup.com, Cycling Australia's website and Bunch Ride Finder.