• Home
• >
• Environment
• >
• Sustainable transport
• >
• Cycling
• >
• Cycling tips

Cycling tips

New to riding?

Choosing a bicycle

Test ride a variety of styles and find one that fits you and that you enjoy riding!

If you live in a hilly part of the area, you will probably want a bike with a good range of gearing.

When buying a bike, you’ll need to budget for a quality bike lock as well as the items listed below as required by the Road Rules.

To give cycling a go without investing in a bicycle, you can also check out Sydney’s bike share programs.

NSW Road Rules

The law says you must have:

• An approved helmet – must be worn at all times when riding a bike.  This includes all ages.
• A red rear reflector.
• At least 1 working brake.
• A bell, horn or similar warning device.
• At night, a front white light and a rear red light.

Cyclists are not permitted to ride on footpaths unless the path is designated as a shared path. The exceptions are children under the age of 16 and adults (18 years or over) supervising a child under 16.

More information on the NSW Road Rules is available on the RMS Website along with a link to the full text on the NSW Road Rules Legislation.

General tips

• Join a skills course. Waverley Council runs a series of FREE cycling skills and bicycle maintenance workshops. These courses include useful skills to give you confidence on the road.
• Start with shorter trips (eg. 5km) and once you get used to riding that distance, start to branch out on longer distances.
• Find a pleasant route.  Roads are often designed for funneling cars onto the major routes.  There are often back streets that are much nicer for travelling by bicycle that can get you to your destination in roughly the same amount of time.
• Find a cycling group that matches your type of cycling.  You can find like-minded groups on Facebook and Meetup.

ABC check

Before every ride, it is good to perform the ABC check:

• AIR – Are your tyres pumped up? Does your bike bounce?
• BRAKES – Are your brakes working?
• CHAIN – Does your back wheel spin freely?

More information

• Transport for NSW - for information about state cycling funding and priorities
• Transport for NSW  - getting around Sydney by bike including new pop-ups.
• Transport for NSW – Information about Pop-up cycleways in Greater Sydney and Regional NSW
• Roads & Maritime Services – Bicycles
• BIKEast - a bicycle user group representing people on bicycles in the Eastern Suburbs.  BIKEast are affiliated with Bicycle NSW and run local rides. BIKEast has two representatives on the Waverley Cycling Advisory Committee
• City of Sydney Whats On in Cycling

For more cycling tips, email: transport@waverley.nsw.gov.au.