In order to end up with the road bike best suited to your needs, you have to clearly understand what you are looking for and what options are available to you. This is done by researching in two areas.
Firstly, you research the market to find out what kinds of road bikes are available, familiarizing yourself with the different features, styles and price ranges etc. Secondly, you examine your own unique requirements in a road bike.
Research the market: Road Bike essentials
While you don't need to understand everything about bike measurements nor how to make adjustments and repairs, having some knowledge of what to look for will prevent you from having to return a bike because it isn't the right size, causes you back, neck, or wrist pain, or because it isn't designed for the type of riding you want to do.
The first part of the research step is to investigate just what's available in the road bike market. The range of options can seem overwhelming, but you can make a good start by understanding the following major features:
Racing Bike: This type of bike is geared for the person who uses a bicycle to workout or compete in races. Racing bikes are designed to be fast, easily controlled, and aerodynamic. The gear shifts, seats, and dropped handlebars will not be as comfortable as a regular road bike because racing bikes serve to make the rider more aerodynamic.
Touring Bicycles: Bikes used for travelling over longer distances are called touring bicycles. They are made to be heavier and more durable than racing bikes. Additionally, they have thicker rims and tires that are designed to carry a certain amount of weight via racks and panniers. They are also made to be much more comfortable than racing bikes. The bigger seats, higher handlebars, easy-to-manipulate gears shifts, allowance for bigger tires, and mud guards make a world of difference for those going long distances. Touring bicycles can also be manufactured as recumbent bikes (bikes where the cyclist sits reclined) or tandem bikes (two person riding), but are especially good for regular road cycling.
Utility Bicycles: These types of bikes are not made to go long distances, per se, but are designed for everyday practicalities, such as going to the supermarket, riding in the city, or riding around the neighborhood. These bikes were the most popular type of bike during the industrial age before cars became the mainstream form of transport. Like touring bikes, these bikes often come with mudguards, a kickstand, curved and high handlebars, strong, thick rims, and durable, multi-surface wheels. Also, these bikes can handle baskets or racks on either end for carrying items.
Hybrid Bikes: This type of bike merits a special mention. It is a mix of road bike and mountain bike components. Hybrid bikes can be used for any number of activities, namely trail riding or regular road touring. Some hybrids are called road-based hybrids, which are 70% road bike and about 30% mountain bike. Another type is a mountain-based hybrid, which is 70% mountain bike and 30% road bike. One major difference in the two models are the wheel and tyre size. Road-based hybrids often use slick tires with a range of 1 inch to 1 inch (32 mm to 40 mm) in width. Mountain-based hybrids often use semi-slick tires with around 2 inch (50 mm) width. Another type of hybrid is a comfort bike, which usually has smaller tires and is made with comfort, as opposed to speed, in mind. Well-padded and springy seats with very simple gearshifts are features of a comfort bike.
Mud Guards & Tyres (Tires): Mudguards are an option you will have for most types of road bicycles, except racing bikes, which are designed to weigh as little as possible. The main use of mudguards is to keep debris, mud, or rain brought up from the tire from hitting the rider. These are most popular with touring, utility, or comfort road bikes where the cyclist may not be using their bike for sport. However, hybrid bikes, or mountain-based hybrid bikes may not have them because the person using them may not want the extra weight or may not care about mud or other debris.
Road bike tires come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Recently, more manufacturers of touring bikes are making their bikes so that a variety of tire shapes can be used because a cyclist might be in a part of the world where specialty tires are not available. You can choose between slick and semi-slick tires, and decide how wide or thick you want these to be, depending on the type of riding you will do. Racing road bikes, for example, use narrow, slick tires.
Handle Bars, Gear Shifts, Derailleur, & Brakes: Handlebars may not seem all that important, but when it comes to comfort, they make a big difference. Bikes with higher handle bars and comfortable grips are easy to use and allow the rider to maintain better posture, which is important for those using their bikes daily or for touring. Gearshifts vary for each type of bike as well. Racing bikes might use quick-fire type shifters, while touring bikes might use more taut, simple mechanisms with less speed options. Derailleurs for road bikes are often like regular mountain bikes or are hub-based. Hub based gears have three to five gears and are used on utility bikes. There is a 14-speed hub gear available but it is very expensive (approximately US $1,000 or more).
A hub-based gear system is often more reliable but doesn't allow for quick gear changing like those on racing road bikes. Higher-end road bikes might use disc brakes, and other types of road bikes use classic braking systems, most often the V-Brake System that controls the front or back brake on the handlebars by pulling a latch towards the rider.
Research your needs: Questions to ask yourself
Now it's time to determine what your requirements are in a road bike. For example, will you use the road bike only for exercise, or maybe you would like to join a cycling club or compete in races?
You can start this process by considering the following questions - as well as any others you think of yourself - and recording your answers.
| What sort of road bike will fit your riding requirements? |
| | This question is a good one to start with since you might already have an idea of what sort of bike will work best for you. A bike used to do grocery shopping or to run errands will be different to a bike used to travel in another country. |
| If you are replacing an older or used road bike, what did or didn't work well? |
| | If you liked the seat on your older bike, you might consider getting one similar on your new bike. Or, if the handlebar design on your last model caused you some strain, you might search for another, more comfortable design. The beauty of a road bike is that it is meant to be more comfortable than a mountain bike, for example. |
| Would you consider buying a different type of road bike? |
| | Different companies come out with what they feel makes the perfect bike. These are sometimes called hybrid bikes. If you would like to use your bike for more than simple road touring and would like to take it on back trails, for example, you might consider a hybrid model geared towards your own preferences. |
| Is weight and transport going to be an issue? |
| | Road bikes are made of different materials and some are heavier than others. If you are going to be transporting your bike with you on road trips, for example, does it allow for easy transport, and is it light enough for you to handle? A bike that weighs more isn't necessarily more durable. With newer components, some bikes weigh next to nothing yet are extremely durable. |
| Can you perform small repairs to the road bike yourself? |
| | Everyone who cycles has to, at some point, do small repairs on their bike. Whether it is changing a tube in a tire or adjusting the handlebars, is the bike easy enough to work on where you won't have to take it to the bike shop for every small issue? For bigger issues, your new bike should come with some sort of warranty. |
| What is your budget? |
| | Road bikes can be bought quite cheaply off the shelf at a department store, or you can chose to buy a specialist road bike which can cost thousands of dollars in a speciality store. |
Understanding your needs is the key to a successful purchase and you can revisit your list of needs at any time during the buying process.
Once you complete this Research step, having informed yourself about the essentials of road bikes and identified your needs, you are ready to move on to the next step: Evaluation.
Video Links
Buyz123.com Research Links:Buying GuidesTerrific tips on purchasing a road bikeGeneralBike types explainedHybrid BikesHybrid bikes explainedRange of hybrid bikesOther Road BikesWhat's a sports utility bike?Racing BikesHow is a racing bike different from others?Range of road and racing bikes