Vital Factors to Consider When Choosing Your Road Bike
Want to start biking on the road with your own bike? Choosing the right road bike is essential to ensure a safe and pleasant riding experience. With the many different variants of road bikes available on the market, choosing the right one for you can be an overwhelming thing.
Here are some essential considerations to make when selecting your road bike.
1. Bike Fit
Whether you're riding for fitness, recreation, or in preparation for a race, getting a road bike that fits you properly is crucial. The human body is a unique and incredibly complex biological machine, hence there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all bike for everyone.
A proper bike fit is critical is for a variety of reasons, including:
- Providing maximum riding comfort and enjoyment.
- Increasing riding speed.
- Reducing the risk of injury from bike accidents.
- Improving energy efficiency.
- Eliminating pain as a side effect of cycling.
While you can find bike fit charts for most brands fitted most brands posted on their websites, it's best to have your bike professionally fitted. Once you know your ideal cycling style, you can proceed to buy a bike that matches it.
2. Bike Tyres
The type of tyres that your bike will come in is another important consideration to make when buying a road bike. Most road bikes have skewed towards skinny, lightly treaded tyres. These tyres are great for racing purposes, especially on paved roads where safety isn't a major concern. Plump tyres are also available. They give a little more comfort and protection when speeding over rough terrains. That said, tyres can be changed without problems. If you don't like the feel or performance of one type of tyres, you can always replace them with other tyres.
3. Bike Brakes
Like cars and motorcycles, road bikes also rely on brakes to slow down and stop. Traditional-style bikes feature calliper brakes, where two blocks of hard rubber pads squeeze against the rim when the brakes are applied. Many modern bikes come equipped with hydraulic disc brakes, which use hydraulic fluid to operate the brakes. Disc brakes are heavier than calliper brakes but provide better braking ability in wet weather.
Once you have committed to a particular brake type, you'll have to commit to them throughout the lifespan of your bike. Unlike tyres, bike brakes can't be switched.
There you have it—three of the most important factors to consider when purchasing a road bike. Talk to a bike specialist close to you if you need professional help with choosing the perfect bike for you.
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