Road Bike Buying Considerations

Most people would think that buying a road bike would be nice and easy, surely it’s about as easy as buying anything else - choose the bike that you want, order it online/buy it from a bike shop, then all you need to do is take it home and ride it. However, it is not all that simple! As with buying any piece of advanced equipment/technology - there are a number of different considerations to take into account - ensuring you buy the right bike for your exact requirements. There are hundreds of different questions to ask yourself when buying a new road bike, ranging from gearing, mechanical shifting, deep section wheels, frame material choices etc - but to keep things simple, we run through some of the key considerations:

Budget

Budget is one of the first considerations anyone makes when looking at buying a new road bike, but bike to work schemes, as well as competitive road bike finance now means that choosing what to spend on a road bike is more difficult than ever! The good news is, that you get more bikes for your money than ever before, trickle down technology means that entry level and mid range bikes benefit from the same technology as the most expensive bikes on the market. Although, a relatively small increase in budget sees a new world of components and quality open up - you do not need to spend £10,000 on a road bike unless you are mixing it with the pro’s.

Types Of Road Bike

Not all road bikes are the same! Road bikes cover a huge amount of different types of bikes, all with different purposes and slight variations. If you want to ride your bike as fast as possible, with a full racing jersey setup - choose a road race bike, if you want a more relaxed riding position - choose a flat bar road bike. Thinking about taking long trips on the bike - choose a touring road bike, and if you want to head off road, choose a gravel road bike.

Frame Material

At last, one of the easier decisions to make! Now you have decided what kind of road bike would suit you best, it’s time to think about frame materials. It’s widely accepted that carbon fibre provides the best performance, when it comes to frame strength, comfort and performance. Alloy is a cheaper material, which performs well - providing a decent balance between weight and performance. All different frame choices have different advantages and disadvantages, but quite often - dependign on the bike you choose, you won't have a huge amount of choice when it comes to frame material, as bike manufacturers tend to make the best decisions on what frame materials to use.

Road Bike Size

It does not matter what bike you choose, if you fail to get the bike in the right size - you won’t enjoy riding it. Manufacturers size guide recommendations and our Smartfit feature are the most reliable way to find the right size bike for you, with key measurements being the height and inside leg measurement needed to match you to the right size bike.

Road Bike Gearing Choices

It’s a safe bet that gearing on your road bike will have come from one of the following manufacturers - Shimano, SRAM or Campagnolo. Gearing will depend upon the price you pay - with gearing being one of the key components that improves when budget increases. When choosing what gearing to have, remember that small chainrings and large cassettes are the best for those riding on hilly terrain.

Wheels

Wheels are one of the easiest ways for bike manufacturers to save some money when specifying a new road bike. Expensive and cheap wheels can make a massive difference, so check out the specification of the bike, and look for bikes with high quality Aluminium wheels, or carbon fibre wheels. If the specification of the wheels on the bike you want is disappointing, have a think about setting money aside for an aftermarket set of wheels.