CGS Friends of Cycling
Road Bike Purchasing and Maintenance Recommendations
Introduction: If you are new to road cycling or cycling in general, choosing the right bike for your son can be a daunting task. Like any sport or passion, there are many opinions out there and lots of people are very passionate about cycling, bikes, and accessories. The points below are opinions only and they could always be challenged by other cyclists but to the newcomers, hopefully they will be seen as useful thought starters. Is it about the bike or the rider? A better bike will give the competitor an edge but rider skill, race tactics, endurance, and training, amongst other factors, form the essence of competitive cycling. Much like personal desk computers of the day, a race bike is a system put together by a bike builder (system integrator) combining several standardized components from a handful of global part suppliers. Selecting the bike may then revolve around finding a bike package which offers the best components at the appropriate price point. Furthermore, being more flexible on the brand of the bike may open the opportunity to purchase a higher spec group set or wheels or better pedals and shoes for the same money. The points below may help to cut through the marketing hype and get down to basics. The key components of a bike are.
•
•
A bike frame is potentially the most unique component on the bike. Frames vary in materials, geometry and the way these materials are utilized to make up the performance differences between different frames. Bike frames are generally made from mild or chromoly steel, aluminium, carbon fibre composites or titanium with price varying accordingly. Aluminium and carbon fibre frames are most common on competitive road bikes, offering good balance between, cost, mass, stiffness and comfort. It should be noted that a large proportion of the world’s bike frames are made in Taiwan and many of them are manufactured by the same major manufactures such as Giant. Consequently, the exotic brand name on the side of the frame may not tell the full story about the origin of your expensive bike. Groupset is the name used for the critical components such as brakes, brake and gear levers, derailleurs, cassettes, chainrings and the chain. For competitive road bikes, groupsets are generally made by one of the three big bike component manufacturers: Shimano, SRAM or Campagnolo, with Shimano being by far the most common. Furthermore, for a competitive racing road bike, the choice of groupsets from each of these manufacturers is quite limited. If you purchase the bike with Shimano 105 for example, the groupset will be essentially the same, no matter what bike they are fitted to.