A Cyclocross Bike , as the name implies, is designed for cyclocross racing. But they can handle so much more and are often purchased for anything but competition. They can handle everything from gravel to off-road to all-season commutes. One way to classify road bikes is by their handlebars: flat bar and drop bar. Although most of this article will be focusing on traditional drop bar road bikes , flat bar road bikes are a great option that should be considered when looking at a road bike.
Also called fitness and commuter bikes , flat bar road bikes are the most popular of any category of bikes - and for good reason. First, they are comfortable and easy to ride.
The rider is in a neutral body position. This means that when you're riding a properly sized flat bar road bike, you won't be stretched long and low like a racer leading the peloton, but you also won't be sitting as upright as the Wicked Witch of the West think cruiser bikes. The result is that the rider steers with their hands and shoulders while having strong, intuitive control of the bike in a comfortable body position. Second, these bikes are fast and efficient.
They can feature light materials, like aluminum and carbon fiber, with a position that inspires a lot of confidence. Riders hop on the bike and go. These bikes are typically all-purpose in design so that they can go everywhere from roads to bike lanes to gravel for the truly adventurous.
Their ease of use, comfort, and versatility are why so many people have found flat bar road bikes to be the right bike for their ride. If flat bar road bikes are so great, then why would I want a drop bar road bike?
Drop bar road bikes are faster than their flat bar cousins, and with a little riding discipline, they can be more comfortable on the longer rides. To narrow your options, it helps to answer two questions. First, do you want to go fast or do you want to go far?
A bike built for speed will feel very different than one built for distance. Even novice riders will feel it easily, and it's that dramatic a difference that cuts the selection of bikes in half.
The second question is will you be riding on smooth or rough roads? This is about the demands being placed on the bike from both a kinesiological and a technological perspective. If a bike is engineered for pavement, it won't have to deal with mud jamming up the brakes, but it will have to account for responsiveness of control at high speeds far more than one engineered for gravel.
Answering these questions - pavement versus off-road and speed versus distance - simplifies the bigger question: How do you intend to ride your road bike? Still fast, endurance road bikes is a category engineered to smooth out the riding surface, absorb bumps before they get to the rider, and reduce strain on the body. Born in races over cobblestones, these bikes are popular among experienced and novice riders alike.
One of the key features found across the board is a body position that reduces strain on the back, neck, and shoulders. These bikes usually do this through a taller head tube, which allows the rider to sit in a more neutral position. This relaxed position tends to make endurance road bikes quite popular among beginning riders as all of a sudden, a thirty-mile ride sounds short and very achievable. In addition to that more upright position, endurance road bikes tend to have the front wheel further out in front of the rider.
This results in a longer wheelbase, which helps the bike keep a straight line more easily. Instead of responding to the minute direction of the rider's eyes, these bikes listen to the hips. These bikes need a little more input and participation from riders to turn, which means that on those century rides through farm fields, riders can go ahead and enjoy the view while letting the bike keep rolling forward. The long wheelbase of an endurance bike also means a smoother ride, forcing vibration to travel longer distances and keeping you steady over the bumps encountered along the way.
To complement this, most brands engineer vibration-inhibiting designs into the frame. The tricky part is that these innovations have to accomplish vibration control without sacrificing the efficiency of the frame too much.
The result, when you combine a relaxed body position with a smooth yet still efficient frame, is a bike that allows riders of every level to push the limits of endurance and explore new roads and vistas previously beyond their reach. For an even smoother ride, Specialized developed the Future Shock to help soften bumps in the road. The Future Shock is a lightweight suspension system above the head tube that absorbs vibrations and bumps to make your ride more comfortable and efficient.
You can read more about the Future Shock here. Want to explore gravel and dirt roads for an adventure off the beaten path? It sounds like you need a gravel bike! Take the upright positioning of an endurance road bike, which alleviates strain on back, neck, arms, and hamstrings, and drops the rider a few millimeters down.
Doing this positions the rider closer to the ground, lowers their center of gravity, and makes them more stable on uneven terrain. He is also a regular contributor to the BikeRadar podcast.
With a near encyclopaedic knowledge of cycling tech, ranging from the most esoteric retro niche to the most cutting-edge modern kit, Jack takes pride in his ability to seek out stories that would otherwise go unreported. He is also particularly fond of tan-wall tyres, dynamo lights, cup and cone bearings, and skids. Jack has been writing about and testing bikes for more than five years now, has a background working in bike shops for years before that, and is regularly found riding a mix of weird and wonderful machines.
Jack can also often be seen zooming about with his partner aboard their beloved tandem, Cecil. Home Advice Buying Guides Best road bikes how to choose the right one for you.
When you buy through links on our site we may earn an affiliate commission, but this never influences our opinion. Best alloy, steel or titanium road bikes Bike frames are made from a variety of materials. The collection of drivetrain and braking components known as the groupset is one important deciding factor in determining the overall cost — and quality — of a road bike.
A bike fit from a good shop is an invaluable investment. The numbers on the sidewall of the tyre refer to the size of the tyre on the wheel and width of the tyre when inflated. Minimum and maximum air pressure figures are usually printed too.
Many modern road bikes now feature disc brakes. Tom Wragg. Clipless i. Robert Smith. The Boardman SLR 9. Jack Luke Social networks. Carbon framed road bikes are lighter , and they can be more comfortable because they're more compliant ; therefore they can be faster!
The third thing to pay attention to is the groupset model specified in the bike description. This is the bike's transmission and brakes. Each has a hierarchy of groupset models, from basic entry level right up to the same parts you'll see the pros using.
The best buying advice is to go for the best groupset you can afford. Higher end groupsets provide smoother shifting, more gear choice, and overall lighter weight. Perhaps the 'question of the moment', is whether you get a disc brake road bike or a calliper traditional rim brake road bike.
There are benefits and drawbacks of both systems. Disc brakes are fantastic at having consistent stopping power, in wet and dry conditions; even when the bike sprays up a quantity of dirt and grit onto your wheel rims, you can still brake consistently with disc brakes. Rim brakes, by contrast, tend to suffer in particularly wet or grimy conditions; however, they are cheaper, easier to maintain, and provide more wheel upgrade choices.
We won't try to persuade you one way or the other; disc or rim brakes, your first road bike will be great fun! It is vitally important to get a bike that fits you properly. We have an in-depth bike size guide to help make this easy.
We asked the buying team some of the most frequently asked questions from beginners in the market for a new road bike. A: Our advice is always to buy the best bike you can afford; it will reward you with a long lasting level of fun and performance, and most importantly, inspire you to get out more.
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