Oxford city councillor Emily Kerr, and Annette Pattinson, of JoyRiders Oxford, which arranges free rides for women around the city, look at some important bike accessories.

Mudguards are probably the most important. Lights next if you are likely to cycle at night: it can be useful to get the same type of light for all bikes in your household as then you can share.

Locks should be around 10% of the value of the bike; if you have lots of bikes it can be useful to have several of the same combination lock so you can grab one or two.

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Puncture-proof tyres are great and puncture-resistant inner tubes are probably worth the extra couple of pounds.

Panniers are a good option for many people (they’re special bags for bikes, and you need to install a rear rack for them to clip them to), and many double as rucksacks.

One or two baskets can be a great additional or alternative - put heavier stuff in the back basket if you have one.

Kids bike seats are suitable for kids from around six months to age 4-5 (depending on the seat), there are three key options: front mounted, rear mounted, and bar-mounted - there is lots more information online.

Rear-mounted seats can double as bag carrying space in the absence of a child.

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A helmet is an accessory many adults choose to wear, but there’s no obligation and research suggests wearing one isn’t necessarily safer, partly because car drivers are the biggest risk to cyclists and they tend to take more care with bare-headed cyclists. Personally, I wear one about 80% of the time and my kids always wear them (because children are more likely to fall off when just cycling along).

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In terms of clothes, a cycling poncho can be useful to protect against the rain, I love mine which stuffs into the pocket on the front of it. Hi-Viz vests can be useful and are really cheap, or a proviz type of jacket which glows bright in car headlights.

You can also decorate your bike (or kids bike seat) with Hi-Viz stickers which can make you more visible and deter thieves (along with other customisation such as paint or nail varnish decoration).

We highly recommend a floor pump. It’s worth having a can of bike oil to keep your chain in good condition.

Carrying spare inner tubes, tyre levers, and a multi-allen tool can be useful even if you can’t use them very well (as often people will stop to help) or you can just take your bike to a bike shop to have punctures repaired.

For children from about 18 months to four years, the best bike to learn on is probably a balance bike.

These have no pedals, which means children can first learn the crucial skills of balancing and steering, before then moving on to a pedal cycle.

There’s no need for stabilisers for a child who has learned on a balance bike - they move straight to pedalling a two wheeler.

Spoke beads are brightly coloured plastic beads which make a click-clacking noise as kids cycle.

Bike streamers are ribbons which attach to the handlebars and flap pleasingly in the wind.

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Bike wheel lights thread through the spokes and create a cool effect which has the bonus of making the child more visible in the dark.

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Baskets are handy for kids to store small things in and mudguards are essential.

For people on a budget, Broken Spoke sell a range of second-hand parts at low prices.

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This story was written by Andy Ffrench, he joined the team more than 20 years ago and now covers community news across Oxfordshire.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Andy.ffrench@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @OxMailAndyF