Must Haves

[MartianDestiny]

The basics:

Helmet
Gloves
Sunglasses/safety glasses

Spare tube
mini or CO2 pump
tire levers
patch kit
multitool
Knowledge on how to use the above

Saddle bag or camelbak (depending on riding type to carry above)

Water bottles and cages (or camelbak)

Eventually you'll probably find you want at least 1 nice pair of bike shorts, depending on your expected riding style.

As for pedals, it depends on what kind of riding you are planning to do, so more information is necessary.

Same with the kick stand (more info needed). My bikes stay on a rack or against a wall at home and don't have kickstands (extra weight on the road bike, and one more thing to catch something/be dangerous on the mountain bike). I can see the potential appeal with a cruiser or commuter bike, but you are still going to be locked to a rack most of the time and won't need one.

Adding to the cheap gear list (with a note that I, too, try to strike a balance between the local guy I want to see stay open and "whoa that's crazy cheap"): REI and TE (right here) both run pretty nice clearance sales from time to time; keep your eyes open (and check out REI outlet online as opposed to their standard catalog). Also, surprisingly, you can get good deals (especially on helmets) at Amazon. Just be careful that it's brands you've heard of elsewhere because Amazon sells everything from crap to really nice stuff and you have to know the difference.

[Ritamarie]

Really good advice so far! I just wanted to add that we hang all of our bikes upside down from the ceiling of our workshop. Eliminates the chance of your good bike getting knocked over, and save a lot of space. With 9 bikes in the family, this is important!

Use two per bike -- one per wheel! You can get the hooks at the hardware store. They look something like this: http://doitbest.com/Utility+hooks-Na...sku-233820.dib

(They cost just a few $ each in the local store. The price on this page is for 40 hooks.)