Discussion: accessories

The first and most important accessory I started using with my bike is padded bike shorts. I can't imagine a long ride without them.

Something like 7 hours a day on average for over two months. I was a lot younger then. Let's see how I like them on the bike (the unicycle seat is pretty cushy on its own).

Bike shorts are a pretty good thing, but I guess I like clipless pedals even more. Brake lever shifters are pretty great, too. Good thing I don't have to choose - I can have all three.

I have clipless pedals these days, though I also have a set with toeclips that I'll put on if I want to wear other shoes (like if I'm using a mountain bike to get me into the woods to do some setting/vetting). My current MTB has grip shifters, and my road bike has traditional downtube shifters (friction, not indexed). The unicycle of course has plain pedals without toeclips and no shifters.

Used padded shorts when younger, found that they didn't breath well enough so I usually stick to tech undies and REI convertible pants. Have a fairly comfy Brooks saddle, firm, not padded. Tried clipless, never really took to them, prefer a large surface flat pedal. Really like shifters on brake hoods a lot, I have a simple down tube level on a special mount.
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Best piece of gear would have to be a quality generator hub mated to decent, but not excessive LED light front and rear. No messing with batteries, have lights any time the wheel is rolling - good for long nights rides, but also good 'be seen' lights in the day.