How to choose your road bike, different level of
riders
How to chose your road bike? Well the first question
is how much do you want to spend and how much cycling
will you do? The answer to the first question is a
difficult one, many people when they are younger they
want to ride there bike all day and what to be the
next winner of the Tour de France, but they can not
afford to spend much on there bike. If they get fit
and win some races and get in a good team they will
be given a top class bike, but what usually happens
is they have to give up and work, have a family etc.
When they are older and have more money they can
afford the bike of there dreams. As to how much
cycling you do, that depends on whether you can
justify having the best bike around and only doing a
short ride on Sunday morning. Remember you get what
you pay for.
Basic Level Bikes.
If you go to the larger sports stores or bike shops
they will have complete bikes for sale, probably a
alloy frame with Shimano Tiagra or Campagnolo Mirage
or a mixture of cheaper components, this bike will be
built to a price, will ride fairly well, wont be very
light and is a good place to start. To get some thing
better, start with a nice alloy frame and if you can
afford it, carbon forks, then with what money you
have left chose your group-set of either Shimano or
Campagnolo and then you can pick your saddle,
handlebars, wheel rims and tires, this is all fun,
but if you are working to a budget, it can be tricky.
Mid Level, Touring and Possibly Racing.
In this range of bikes you can buy them as a complete
cycle, in the cycle shop, sports store or even in the
specialist magazines or on the web. It is more fun to
choose the components for your frame and how much you
want to spend. At this level you would probably be
looking at Shimano 105 or Campagnolo Centaur road
bike parts and you could possibly buy some built up
wheels from Shimano, Campagnolo or Mavic, but first
start with the frame, there are many frames out there
to choose from, get on the net and look for what you
want, it will probably be alloy again, with carbon
forks. Alloy seat pin, handle bars and stem and a
comfortable saddle.
Top Level Bike For Racing and Pleasure.
Now it gets more difficult, your components would be
Campagnolo Chorus or Shimano Ultegra, unless you can
afford the top components of both manufacturers.
Wheels again would be possibly Mavic, Shimano or
Campagnolo, deep carbon rims look Great and have a
wonderful ride, but will probably be too expensive,
best if you stick to alloy rims for high pressure
tires as tubulars, even though they ride wonderfully,
will be expensive and a lot of trouble. Handle bars,
stem and seat pin could be alloy or carbon, if you
have the money. The frame is the heart of your bike
and you will want a good one, at this price range
alloy is going to be the first choice with carbon
forks and possibly a carbon rear triangle. If you
look around you might manage to find an all carbon
frame at this price, Giant make a very well priced
carbon frame in a compact, sloping design, there are
others but you will have to spend a lot more money.
The Top of The Shopping List.
When're looking at a lot of money here if you want to
buy a professional road bike. The frame will be all
carbon or titanium with carbon forks and maybe a
carbon rear triangle or alloy main tubes with carbon
front or rear end. The nicest ones on the market at
the moment, in my opinion, are Colnago, De Rosa,
Pinarello, Battaglin, Time, Scott, Cervelo and many
more, all are available in different colours,
geometries and sizes, check out there web sites for
information and try to make your choice, it's a
difficult job. This is a professional road bike so it
will have to have the best components, Shimano
Dura.Ace or Campagnolo Record are your only choice at
this level. Same with the wheels, Dura-Ace or
Campagnolo Bora, these can be for high pressure
clincher tires or tubulars, tubulars are more trouble
but do ride well, but clincher tires are very nearly
as nice and much more practical. Handle bars, stem
and seat pin will be carbon and your saddle will have
a carbon base with a leather cover and sometimes with
gel for a little extra comfort.
The Best Bike You Can Afford.
You do only get what you pay for, so get the best
bike you can afford, look around the magazines and
the web sites and don't forget your local bike shop
until you get that little jewel, but be careful not
to make your partner jealous!
Andrew Caxton is a the Webmaster of
http://www.bike-cycling-reviews.com. A free online
magazine that carries articles on bike components,
bicycle clothes and reviews on the best heart rate
monitors.
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