It’s not expensive or hard to upgrade your old bike into a comfortable bicycle. In fact, even a $5 pair of gloves and $15 wider gel seat can make your day a whole lot easier on your hands and touche.

Your bicycle hasn’t seen the light of day for 10 years. After a visit to the doctor, you decide to pull it out of the corner of the garage. A ride around the block confirms one hard fact: “Your body just can’t take the abuse it used to.”

However, take heart in the fact that with a few modifications to your old bicycle, you can be riding again in comfort once more.

Here are 5 changes you can make today to be riding in comfort.

Modification 1. Clothing. Gel Gloves ($5 to $50), I use a full finger variety with heavy padding to make the handle banging bumps less edgy.

Lycra Shorts ($25-$75) with a “chamois pad” are ideal. If you just want the padding under your stylish shorts/pants, you can opt for a liner that is basically underwear with the chamois pad integrated.

Modification 2. Seat. Wider Cushier Seat ($15 to $30). Yes, it’s embarrassing but so is walking around like you just had embarrassing tests. Suspension seat posts ($11 to $50) can be a cheaper form of suspension and help stop trips to the chiropractor. Full suspension ($250-unlimited) frames are of course the most expensive option to increase your comfort.

Modification 3. Handlebars ($15 to $35). Higher, wider and more positions to put your aching hands. You will need to either raise the stem, get a high rise stem, replace the handlebars with a higher-rise type or buy something called bar ends. I use a combination of all three to put myself into more of an upright position. The old “racer boy/girl stance” is no longer an option.

Modification 4. Fatter Tires ($10-$40) for the pair. Mountain bike tires are as wide as 2.4″ now with the standard being 2.1″. Find as wide a model as possible to take the edge off the bumps and make your bicycle more stable overall. I prefer Panaracer, Hutchinson, Kenda and Ritchey tires (Panaracer Fire XC 2.1 being my favorite by far).

Modification 5. Free. Use the gears more. In a lower gear you can sit and pedal up a hill. It is always going to be more comfortable than standing and sprinting. If your legs are burning, you are in too high a gear. If you can’t catch your breath, too low a gear is being used.

Don’t feel so bad about having to use these items. My wife and I are able to enjoy MANY hours of riding together using these exact modifications — one year ago we were almost crying from the butt and back pain without these fixes. Now we are ready to ride into our retirement and beyond.

The bike stores around me rarely carry the correct items so I have began buying my comfort bicycle supplies online. You can whip over to the comfort bicycle hub I have created for more information on these modifications as well as get linked over to a great store to buy specific items I personally recommend.