Things to Know Before Buying a Bicycle

Brake Lever/Shifters It's hard not to find these anymore, but if you don't get them, the bike you buy is significantly harder to upgrade. Carbon Fork Many bikes now are sold with shock-absorbing carbon-fiber forks. A good steel frame is usually designed to work around a steel fork and will feel plenty supple, but you can realize a significant weight savings with carbon. It's the material of choice for forks on carbon, aluminum, and titanium frames. Double or Triple Chainrings Double-chainring setups are the best for fast club riding and racing applications. They're lighter and shift faster. Triples add a third chainring so you have enough gears to spin up the steepest of hills. They are a bit heavy, but for most riders a triple-chainring is a great way to go. Foldable Tires Foldable Kevlar-beaded tires are lighter than their wire-bead counterparts, and rotating weight is the most important on any bicycle. Machined Sidewall Rims Rims with a machined sidewall, or braking surface, make for more powerful and consistent braking in a variety of conditions, and can increase the rim and brake pad life as well. Road or Mountain Pedals Single-sided road clipless pedals offer large platforms and secure, stable pedaling from a very solid connection between shoe and pedal. Road shoes are stiffer and lighter, offering the best power transfer. They are ideal for fast recreational riders for whom most bike rides are spent on the bike with infrequent stops for things like food or bathroom breaks. Mountain bike pedals fit recessed-cleat shoes, which allow for better walkability than the slick-soled road shoes. They still provide a solid, efficient connection between shoe and pedal, but the platform isn't as large and the shoes typically have softer soles. These are a good choice for the recreational rider who likes diversions on rides or stops frequently. Sizing Unlike mountain bikes, road bike sizing is normally done in centimeters. Multiply centimeters by 2.25 to get an equal inch sizing if you're more comfortable with that. Road bikes should be fit with less clearance on standover height than mountain bikes: 2-3cm max. Road compact geometries have considerably more standover height and should be fit using seatpost extension and length of the cockpit (reach to the handlebars from a seated position). STI/Ergopower All road bikes use integrated brake lever/shifters now. The two manufacturers, Shimano and Campagnolo, refer to them as STI (Shimano Total Integration) and ErgoPower, respectively. Both are excellent systems with slight differences. Test ride bikes equipped with each to find out if you have a preference. Tires Road wheels are about 27 inches in diameter. Mountain bike wheels are 26 inches in diameter. So how come mountain bike tires are sized, for example, 26