How to Buy Road Bikes

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Road Bikes

Road bikes perform best on smooth, flat surfaces making them great bikes for commuting, racing or touring. They are designed to give riders great handling, cornering and manoeuvrability in traffic and races. They are also the fastest bicycles -- light in weight and maximised aerodynamics with thin tyres and low handlebars. Road bikes are further classified as either performance road bikes or recreational road bikes.

If you're looking for an entry-level bike, road bikes can be pricier than mountain or hybrid bikes. This is because material used to make lightweight bikes costs more than heavier materials. An entry level road bike will cost at least $635, while mountain and hybrids start at less than $300. But for serious racers, road bikes can cost more than $3000. If all you want is a good, comfortable bike for fun rides, try looking look into a hybrid bike.

Contents [Hide]
1 Types of Road Bikes
    1.1 Primary Features
    1.2 Secondary Features
2 More on Frames and Ride Quality
3 How to find a good fit
4 Road Bike Gallery
    4.1 Road Bikes by Price
    4.2 Road Bikes by Function
5 Major Road Bike Brands
6 External Links

Types of Road Bikes

What kind of riding will you most do?

Performance

Road racing -- Racing (Light, stiff, hairpin handling, high performance climbing)
Marathon speed racing -- Triathlon (Aerodynamic, ride practically parallel to the ground)
Closed-circuit speed racing -- Track (Single speed, light, stiff, aggressive angles on frame)
Weigh less than 8kgs.
$2000 and more.

Recreational

Long distance riding -- Commuting and Touring (Comfortable, strong, tons of gears, built to carry equipment)
Some long distance riding, some speed -- Sport (Between the racing and touring models: both comfort and performance)
Wide range gear speed, slightly wider tyres on 700c wheels.
$635 - $2000

Primary Features

Choose a type of bike and keep your needs in mind when going through the factors below.

Frame

Aluminium

Pro: Light, stiff, large tubes, more durable than carbon, cheaper than carbon.
Con: Not as light as carbon, harsh ride, limited life.

Carbon Fibre

Pro: Used by the pros, extremely lightweight, flexible stiffness.
Con: Delicate, very expensive.

Carbon is so expensive you'll often only see it composing parts of the frame, like the and not the entire frame.

Steel (or Chromalloy)

Pro: Stiffest of all, strongest of all, inexpensive, can be repaired if broken.
Con: Heaviest of all, harshest of all, rusts.

Titanium

Pro: Strong, light, forgiving, stiffer than aluminium, more durable than aluminium.
Con: Very expensive.

Combo (Aluminium mainframe with carbon seat stays, for example.)

Same pros and cons relate, in proportion.

Components

Major brand (Shimano, Campagnolo, etc.)

Pro: Reliable, proven, light.
Con: Expensive.

Non-major brand

Pro: Cheaper.
Con: Slower, heavier, lower performance (braking, shifting, bearing), less durable.

Secondary Features

Pedals

Toe-clip -- stirrup or straps a rider slips his or her foot into.

Pro: Flexible, easy to use.
Con: Inefficient, possibility of slipping.

Clipless -- a binding system where the cleats on a rider's bike shoes lock into the pedal.

Pro: Efficient, no slipping, used by the pros.
Con: Requires special shoes and getting used to.

Platform -- no binding or strapping system.

Pro: Familiar, easy dismounts.
Con: Inefficient and plenty of slipping.

Crank sets -- Determines how many sprockets make up the front gears, and thus, how many speeds you'll have.

Two-chain ring (double)

Pro: Traditional choice for racing, lighter, standard on many high-end models.
Con: Little help on very steep climbs and long trips.

Three-chain ring (triple)

Pro: Great for steep hills, touring.
Con: Adds some weight, shifts a bit slower, requires upgrade on high-end bikes (cheaper at purchase).

Cassettes -- Determines the number and type of rear gears and, thus, the range of speeds; the first number says how many teeth the smallest cassette has, the second number is how many the largest cassette has.

11-21 -- flat course racing.
12-23 -- competitive road racing (popular pro choice).
12-25 -- for some hills.
12-27 -- for significantly easier climbing.
12-34 -- very easy gears, only available on triple chain ring.

Tyres

Thin (20c or 23c) -- For all types of racing; stiff ride; a 23c is the popular size.
Thick (25c or 28c) -- For touring and off-road; a comfortable ride.

More on Frames and Ride Quality

As discussed, a frame's material determines many of the bike's most important qualities, including weight, degree of stiffness and strength.

Stiffness - A bike's stiffness is related to its flex, which is how much energy it absorbs. The more energy a bike absorbs, the more comfortable your ride -- since it takes the hits for you. But a bike that takes energy into its frame is also wasting that energy, instead of passing it off to the wheels and producing more power and speed. Stiffness is determined by the bike's material and by the diameter of its tubing. Fat frames tend to be harsh (mountain bikes, which have thick-tubed frames, off-set the stiffness with increased suspension). Other factors include the geometry of the frame (wider angles are stiffer), the quality of the saddle and the seat post, and the type of wheels (narrower, high-pressure tires are stiffer). How much harshness you should withstand depends on how fast you want to go. Racers prefer stiff bikes. Sport and touring riders like some flex.
Weight - With road bikes, a light weight increases performance. All the construction values of a frame go into determining how heavy it's going to be, from the thickness of the tube and the walls to the types of components that complement it (high quality components are always lighter).
Strength - The wall-thickness of the tubes says a lot about a frame's resilience. A thick-walled steel frame is virtually unbreakable, with a "butted" aluminium frame right up there on the scale of indestructibility. But, of course, a thick-walled steel frame is also deadly heavy. It's an eternal battle between strength and weight. Choose your sides based on how long you plan to own the bike, and, again, on what type of riding you expect to do.

How to find a good fit

Standing up, there should be 25 - 50 mm of clearance between the top bar and your crotch.
Sitting down, you should feel comfortable reaching the handlebars.