How to choose your road bike
Road cycling: sport and leisure for all
Road cycling is a discipline that combines challenging yourself, the pleasure of being outside and the beautiful landscapes. Your bike is your best companions, whether for training, race day or just for the pleasure of riding.
Choosing your road bike is therefore essential to find a powerful and comfortable model. Among an offer that is becoming increasingly larger and crowded, several criteria must be taken into account, most notably, the use you want to make of it and the budget you have.
▶️Not sure a road bike is what you need? Then see this guide to help you define what kind of bike you need!
▶️You know what type of bike to choose but don't know what size fits you? Head to our Bike size guide and get all your questions answered!
Choose your road bike
It is necessary to know what kind of riding you're going to do. You will not buy the same bike if you aim to just go to work everyday with it or to train and compete in races. The terrain you will be riding on 80% of the time matters as well as the elevation gain and the distance you want to cover on a regular basis.
For leisure and occasional practice
Priority is given to comfort and ease of maintenance. Usually, we can recommend an aluminium frame or even a steel frame if weight is not a big deal for you. An aluminum frame is a good compromise between strength and lightness, we will choose an ergonomic saddle, a good length of stem and a flat bar for a more comfortable position but you can go with a drop bar if you feel like it.
For leasure and occasionnal practice, we recommend buying your bike second hand as there is no need for a super fancy, brand new bike. Buying your bike second hand can be tricky when you don't know what to look for, that's why we've put together this guide to help you in your quest of the perfect bicycle.
For competition and/or regular use
Priority is given to lightness, stiffness and aerodynamics . You can choose between an aluminum frame or a carbon frame knowing that if you are looking for high performance, a carbon frame will be the most suitable, but also more expensive. Carbon is a light, stiff and comfortable material that dampens road vibrations and gives you a good driving experience. It will bring you a good return and you will gain speed. Quality, light and strong wheels are essential if you are going to ride often, we even recommend to have wheels for training and wheels for race day. The groupset you'll use is an important element to consider to have accurate and responsive gearshifts and a high-performance bike with effective raises. Two types of groupsets exist: mecanic groupset and electronic groupset. The mecanic groupset is definitely the most common as it is the oldest and the the cheaper option compared to electronic shifting. An electronic groupset is more efficient than its mecanic cousin, the gear shifting is way more precise and faster. This type of groupset are mainly for competitors and riders who want performance above everything else. Be aware that the electonic groupset needs to be charged often like your GPS computer!
Bike manufacturer have created bikes made solely for competiton. For example, there are models of aerodynamic bikes with tubes profiled on the frame for a better penetration in the air and which are studied to have a very supine position or models that are very light with a big gear range to help you climb the steepest sections with more ease.
To ride on the flat
If you mainly ride on flat terrain, a single-chainring is probably more than enough espacially if you go for a 12-speed cassette. We recommend you buy an aero oriented bike like the Cervélo Caledonia 5 is a very good choice.
To ride in the mountains
If you mainly ride on hilly terrrain or even high mountains like the Alps, then you shoud consider getting a lightweight bike with a double or triple-chainring with a large cassette at the rear to have a wide range of speeds and climb more easily in the Pyrenean or Alpine passes. We recommend the Orbea Orca M31eTeam.
Once you have chosen your bike, think of the rest of the equipment you will need to ride comfortably and safely: the pedals, the shoes, the helmet, the glasses and the outfit!
All road practices
Cyclocross
Gravel
Triathlon
Track
Trekking/Travel
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