Buying A Road Bike Doesn't Have To Be Difficult
We Have Lots Of Experience Helping Riders Find The Best Bike For Their Needs. Check Out This List of Pointers To Help With Your Decision
1. Budget
Determine how much you are willing to spend on your cycling habit.
Are you a beginner? Intermediate? Expert? Do you race? Looking to ride on gravel? Pavement? Track? Dirt Road?
All of these can factor into the price of the bike you may be interested. You should make a budget before you buy and stick relatively close to it.
2. Extra items
If this is your first bike, or at least first in a while, you want to factor extra items like a helmet, gloves, and cycling apparel into the budget. You may also want certain items like road shoes, clipless pedals, and cycling glasses too. About $200 should be enough to get just about everything you need.
3. Maintenance
Another $200 should be considered for yearly repair and replacement of parts. This would include a
new set of tires, a new chain, and some workshop labor. You can also save some money by trying to do some of the work yourself in your own garage if you are confident and willing to get a little dirty.
4. On-the-Road Emergency Items
There are a lot of things you could put in your saddle bag or handlebar bag, but the most important items are: a puncture repair kit, lights, a lock, and tire levers.
You may also want a frame pump to help in those extra sticky situations. $60-$120 will cover most of these, depending on the quality of the lock you buy.
5. Frame Composition
Now we get into the nitty gritty. Alloy? Steel? Aluminum? Carbon?
From this point onwards, oversized aluminium tubing is pretty much
dominant. As you head towards the $1,000 mark, you might start seeing
the appearance of carbon in the fork, and possibly portions of the
frame. Steel is the most forgiving of the trio, and will tolerate the
most neglect, as long as you don’t let it rust. Aluminium takes hard
knocks in its stride but has to be watched more closely after about
three years or more of use as it has a limited fatigue life. Carbon is
the most temperamental as any cracks or frame damage from careless use
usually mean the bike is toast. You should only consider carbon if
you’ve got a long commute on good roads or are planning more serious
riding beyond your everyday jaunt to work.
6. Sizing and Fitting
Like with clothes and shoes sizing tends to vary between manufacturers, so while you might need a
bike with a 54cm frame from one brand, you might require a slightly
smaller or bigger size from another. You should stand over the bike with
both feet flat on the ground, legs close together. Lift the bike up or
look at the amount of clearance: you should be able to lift the front
and back wheels evenly off the ground by about 7 to 8cm, which should
give the equivalent clearance between your crotch and top tube. As always, ask us if you are not sure.
Equally important is the reach, or distance from the saddle to the bars –
a test ride will help you to determine if your position on the bike of
your choice is going to be comfortable or not, and our experienced shop
staff are trained to help you achieve this correctly.
Come in to Circle City today and let us help you with all of your cycling needs.
