Image by witsup.com

If you are concerned about buying a cheaper road bike and finding out that your brakes don’t work as you plummet down a hill this guide will help you determine what is important when buying your first road bike.
When buying a bike, chose build quality over price point.
Any bike can fail if built wrong. So what should you look at when buying a road bike? Let’s clip in and go down this road together.

Where to buy

Image by hidefninja.com

Avoid big box stores

Image by arsmetalsupply.com

The cheap price and convenience of buying a bike at a big box store can seem alluring, and yet it’s not a good idea. Bikes bought off of the shelf at big box stores are most likely put together hastily by an overworked employee who is not properly trained in bicycle assembly. One bolt not tightened can mean your handlebars shift forward thus throwing you over the handlebars. Learn from my experience.
So where should you buy? I suggest you buy your bicycle at a store that specializes in outdoor activities. Stores such as REI,  Dick’s sporting goods, and performance bicycle will do a once over before selling you a bicycle. They will have a better warranty program.  Test rides are more likely to happen at a bike specific shop.  Also, support your local bike shop. If you chose to buy online it’s still worth taking your bike to a bike shop to have it put together and checked out.

What to buy?

Image by dutchwheelman.com

Brands

Image by ebicycles.com

Asking a cyclist which brand to purchase is like asking a truck owner what truck they prefer. You are bound to get an ear full of why chevy is better than ford or vice versus. To be completely honest, branding is for you to decide. Try a bike that looks good to you no matter the brand. If you end up not liking it there is someone out there who loves that brand.

Material

Image by citybikes.com

If you are just getting into cycling let me be the first to introduce you to the debate of materials. The argument over steel, aluminum, titanium and carbon rages in group rides and on message boards everywhere. To make life easier for you allow me to give a simple rule. Steel is cheaper than Aluminium.   Aluminium is cheaper than titanium. All three are cheaper than carbon fiber. My first bike was steel and I still have it.
Steel is a sturdy material. Although steel can be the heavier of all of the materials the integrity of the material outranks the savings in weight especially for your first road bike. With a steel road bike, you can fall on it and not worry about cracking your frame. Carbon, on the other hand, while lighter is more susceptible to breaking under pressure. For this reason, I suggest for your first road bike chose steel.

Components

Image by thebicycleshop.com

Sram, Shimano, Campagnolo the list of component manufactures can quickly become overwhelming. Brake levers, shifters, cassettes, cranksets, chains, and derailers are all components that fall under the category of the groupset. Other components include wheels and tires, and pedals. For your first road bike don’t worry too much about the brand name of the components you are riding on. Instead look at what you need from each component.

Brake levers and shifters:

Image by wiggle.com

For older bikes, the brakes and shifters will not be integrated. Usually, the shifters will be located on the top tube. If you live in a flat area where you are typically using the same gear these shifters will be perfect for you. On the other hand, if you live in an area with hills, even slight hills, where shifting is more necessary, opt for integrated shifters.
Integrated shifters are integrated into the brake levers. The integration will put the shifting within reach at all times. Depending on how new your integrated shifters are you might have a “flight deck” style shifter or on the newer shifters STI style. For the flight deck style shifters, you will shift with your thumb and by pushing the brake. Sti brake levers will allow you to shift with any of your four fingers that are on the brake lever. If you live in a mountainous area where you are descending hills and want to shift to a harder gear while in the drops opt for the STI style shifters. If not, the “flight deck” style will do just fine.

Cassettes:

Image by highorbikes.com

A cassette is a thing you gave to your high school sweetheart to get her to like the same music you like. It’s also the group of cylinders on your back wheel that controls how hard it is to pedal thus making you go faster, or putting you in more pain. So what factors play into the cassette selection? It comes down to how fast you want to go and how many hills you have to climb.
The smallest sprocket ‘Cylinder” on the cassette dictates the hardest gear you can achieve. The smallest sprocket of road bikes come with 11, 12, and 13 teeth variations. The fewer teeth the harder the gear.
On the other side of the cassette, you will have 21 to 32 teeth. For the large sprocket, the more teeth mean the easier to pedal. Bigger sprockets are great for climbing. The ease of pedaling makes it a breeze to spin up a hill.
The great thing about cassettes is if you find you’re unable to go as fast as you would like or you can’t climb as easy as you would like, you can switch the cassette out for one that suits your riding style better. For more info on cassettes check out h

Cranksets

Image by mytenspeeds.com

Cranksets are the rings at the front with which your cranks are attached to. The cranks are the arms that stretch out from the rings and hold your pedals. Cranksets typically have two to three chainrings. The chainrings give you a wider range of gears to choose from. For a triple chainring, you will typically see 50/39/30. What this means is the largest chainring has 50 teeth, the middle chainring has 39 teeth and the smallest chainring has 30 teeth. Unlike the rear cassette, the bigger the chainring at the front the harder it is to pedal but the faster you’ll go. On newer road bikes, compact cranksets are more common. A compact crankset consists of two chainrings with the big ring having 52 to 53 teeth and the smaller chainring having 36 to 39 teeth. Although heavier, for a beginner road bike a triple chainset is perfectly fine.
If you find that your front rings are not giving you the range you’d like you can change them out. This is better done at a bike shop. For more on selecting cassettes and chainrings watch the video below.

Chains and derailleurs:

Image by web.standford.edu

For chains and derailleurs you really only need change them when they are worn out. If you are buying used these might need to be replaced before any long ride.

Wheels: and tires

Image by bikeexchange.com

The technology of wheels has become a huge part of cycling. The goal for manufacturers is to make wheels weigh less and be more aero. However, the lighter and more aero wheels will cost you. For this reason, I recommend sticking with your stock wheels on your first road bike. If you have the money consider upgrading them later. A good pair of wheels could turn your $1000 bike into a $3000 bike.
As for tires, the wider the tire the more comfortable the ride. However, the wider the tire the slower your bike will be. Skinnier tires mean less contact to the road which means less rolling resistance. If your wheels and brakes calipers can handle it, upgrading your tires to a wider alternative is a cheap way to make your bike more comfortable.

Pedals:

Image by ssgc.com

For your first road bike flat pedals are perfectly fine. It is what you’ll be familiar with. Clipless pedals are something to dive into once you’ve gotten used to the ins and outs of riding a road bike. For a guide to clipless pedals check out (Clipless pedals- how to not hurt yourself, and your bank account) Coming soon.

Conclusion:

Image by sickchirpse.com

Buying a bike can be challenging especially as a new cyclist. I hope that this guide will save you some money and give you what you need to have a successful first bike purchase and later upgrade your bike with all of the glitz and glamour your heart desires.