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How To Choose Your Road Bike, Different Level Of Riders
How to choose 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! bike cycling reviews
About the author:
Andrew Caxton contributes adding articles to
http://www.bike-cycling-reviews.com. At his site you can find
reviews on bike parts and cycling clothes.
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