This is it. This is the one where I take proper care of my bicycle, clean it down every time I take it out for a ride, do proper maintenance on it, and treat it like the princess it is.

These are the words that we have all said when we buy our first bike, and nothing will come between us; except laziness and procrastination.

However, when you have a new bike, let's discuss some of the most important things a cyclist should look after when he buys a new bike whether that is through their local bike shop or an online bicycle store.

There is an abundance of bicycle parts and cycling accessories available to address the problems you'll face cycling on the road or trail. If you're like most cyclists, you'll certainly want for the necessities, and a few toys that catch your eye. Some cyclists are satisfied with very little equipment, while others want only the best, and a lot of it. Either type of cyclist is served well at Alimay Sports which supports a balanced approach to cycling with a range of quality bicycle accessories, bicycle parts and bike components. Since Alimay Sports is an online bicycle store, we are here 365 days a year to help cyclists get the best bicycle products available in the UK.

So, what are some of the cycling accessories and bicycle components that can help you live by the first sentence of this article

Bicycle Maintenance

Bicycle Maintenance is the cornerstone of keeping a bike in good condition, as the title might suggest. By investing in the bicycle maintenance items at the start, then you will have a great supply of items that you have bought and will want to used simply because you've spent the money on them. So have some bike wash, some degreaser, and some bicycle lube to wash down your bike every week and keep it in good working order.

Just having it in your garage or house and leaving it beside the place where you park your bicycle, means you will always see it after every ride and will want to use it since you have paid for it and it can help prevent you from getting complacent on bicycle maintenance.

Bicycle Repair

Invest early in the essentials for bike repair, and avoid any longer term costs by neglecting the small repairs. The most basic of bike repair is a tube change, so invest in education on how to quickly change a puncture and that way the task won't seem as daunting. Get the tube changed as soon as it happens, and you have less excuses to get on your bike.

After you have invested in education, you will need some good tyre levers and a spare tube - this puts you on a good road to repairing properly.

The next item for bicycle repair is a good multi-tool and allen key set. This will see you through almost all repairs that you will be able for without having to bring it to your local bike shop.

Bicycle Upgrades

The last thing to do in order to keep your bike in good shape is, shockingly, upgrading your bicycle components. While this sounds self evident in upgrading keeping the parts new, there's also a psychological aspect to it. If you just make the small upgrades like better bar tape, a new chain, new tyres and regular maintenance, then you will see the benefit in incremental groupset and drivetrain upgrades.

By doing this, you won't feel the bike is past it, and then you can continue to upgrade the perfectly good frame that you invested in and keep a top notch bicycle all the time.

So that's our 1st installment, somewhat short and sweet, but some nuggets of advice that we've come to associate ourselves with over the years of cycling.

As the series of tips continues, we will begin to get into more details about specific items and how they can benefit you as you cycle.