When you consider buying a road bike it is good to think about the terrain where it is mostly used. It suits better for longer rides with good tarmac roads because the tyres are so narrow. Uneven roads will start to feel bad for the lack of suspension.
These bikes are fast: narrow tyres will have only a small amount of friction with the road and with a light frame it is superb combination for riding longer trips. To get the best benefit out from the road bike you should get a good pair of cycling shoes with a right kind of clip that goes with the clipless pedals. This way you will have much more effective pedaling movement because you can pull the pedals up too during cycling instead of just pushing like you would do with flat pedals.
Maintenance of a road bike do not need much effort other than taking care of gears and brakes. There is no suspension so you don’t have to worry about that.
Browse road bikes
The Price Of A Road Bike
Usually the cheapest road bikes can be found for even under 300 euros but those bikes have the worst components that will not last very long. Sure they can be good entry level bikes and will give the rider a good general feeling about road bikes. After a while the rider will sure know what they want from a road bike and the next bike can be selected on the basis of riders needs. The biggest differences between different road bikes are the gears and the frame. Cheapest ones have the cheapest groupsets and frame is usually made from aluminium or steel. When the price goes up the groupsets will get better and the frame will usually have some parts made out of carbon fiber (fork is one of the most common part that is made from carbon fiber).
The Road Bike Frame
The sizing chart can be found from every manufacturer which shows what size frame will fit to people of different length. These size charts are directive but they are usually close enough. Even if the size of the bike would not be 100% match there are some adjustments that will help on getting the riding posture right. The easiest one is to adjust the height of the saddle. You could also adjust the height of the handlebars. If these adjustments are not enough you can add some length to the space between the saddle and handlebar by buying a stem that puts the handlebar closer or further.
Directive size chart
| Cyclists height | Frame cm |
|---|---|
| 148-152cm | 47-48cm |
| 152-160cm | 49-50cm |
| 160-168cm | 51-53cm |
| 168-175cm | 54-55cm |
| 175-183cm | 56-58cm |
| 183-191cm | 58-60cm |
| 191-198cm | 61-63cm |
Road Bikes Tyres
Road Bike tyres are narrow if you compare to other type of bikes. The width is usually between 2 and 3 centimeters. Narrow tyres are the best for gaining high speed but it also means that you will feel the rough road under you. It will get smoother if you select your tyres from the wider end but it gives you more friction and it will get a little harder to maintain the same speeds.
25mm – 28mm tyres are good for casual riding. These tyres are not wide but they have more air inside so they will forgive some of the road’s roughness that can be felt in riders hands and in the seat.
Tyres have some basic markings that gives you the information about the size. Basically there are two numbers that will give you the information that is needed: diameter and width. Diameter is usually 700 or 650 in road bikes where 700 is the one for 28 inch wheels.
Road Bike Gearing
Gearing is an important part for transfering the power to the wheels. It is good to take good care of it and adjust the shifters to work properly. Badly adjusted gearing will damage the chainrings and chains in a long run. Usually there are small screws in front and back derailleurs that will move them to right position so they don’t touch the chain when gears are not shifted.
There are three big manufacturers: Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo. All of them have different models for different price range. Here is a list of the models with a user level.
Shimano:
Claris (formerly 2300) – cheap entry level
Sora – quality entry level
Tiagra – enthusiast level
105 – quality enthusiast level
Ultegra – racing level
Dura-Ace – pro level
SRAM:
Apex – entry level
Rival – enthusiast level
Force – racing level
Red – pro level
Campagnolo:
Xenon – entry level
Veloce – enthusiast level
Centaur – quality enthusiast level
Athena – racing level
Chrous – between racing and pro level
Record – pro level
