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When shopping for a bike, keep in mind you're also shopping for a
bike shop. Ask yourself if they understand your needs, or seem to be pitching today's
special? How do they assure that the bike fits you? And, very importantly, ask yourself if
the shop is the sort of place you'll feel comfortable bringing the bike back to if
something's not quite right. Keep in mind that these items are far more important than a
$50 difference in price, since the most expensive bike you can buy is the one you don't
use because it's not quite right.
So you've decided you want a new road bike, and plan to test-ride a couple. Here's a few
things that will help you get a fair comparison and make the right choice!
What the shop will require
First, a couple things to keep in mind. You're going to be taking a spin on something
that's reasonably expensive, so assume the shop's going to require you to leave something
valuable that ensures your return. Often it's a valid current California driver's license.
Some shops may require a charge card authorization be run for the value of the bike, and
some require car keys.
What you should bring
- Bike Helmet - it's a good idea to try and stay alive
- Bike shoes and clipless pedals - if you've already got clipless
pedals from another bike, bring your shoes with you! It's much better to test ride a bike
the way you're used to riding. If the pedal system is something other than standard SPD
(the typical mountain-style recessed-cleat pedal/shoe system), then bring along your
pedals as well, and have them installed on whichever bike you ride.
- Bike shorts - if you've got cycling shorts bring those too. You
want to be testing out the bike and not be distracted by uncomfortable clothing etc.
How the bikes should be
set up
OK, you've figured out a couple bikes you'd like to ride. Remember, you want to test each
bike under optimal conditions, so here are some things to make sure of:
- Make sure the seat is adjusted properly...both for height and
tilt. The nose of the seat should be level with the back, and even small variations here
can make tremendous differences in comfort. Once you have the seat height figured out,
have it measured (from center of crank to the top of the saddle) and set up each
subsequent bike to exactly the same height. This is very important, as even small changes
in seat height can have a dramatic effect on how a bike feels...and you're testing a bike,
not a saddle position!
- It may be possible for a skilled salesperson to take a quick look
at your position on the bike, with your hands on the lever hoods (where you'll be spending
most of your time with STI levers) and notice that you'll definitely need a shorter, or
longer, stem (the part that holds the handlebars to the fork). In some cases, this change
can be made very quickly, due to new stem designs that allow you to change the stem
without having to remove & reinstall the brake levers and handlebar tape. It's
definitely in the best interest of the shop to make your ride as comfortable as possible,
so don't be surprised if this is done before you take your test ride.
- Have each bike's tires inflated to full rated pressure, right in
front of you. This is as important, if not more so, than the saddle height. If you ride
the ultimate carbon-framed bike with its tires carrying only 80psi, vs. a
much-less-expensive machine with its tires running at full rated pressure
(approx. 120psi),
can you guess which is going to have a faster ride??? I recognize that this is going to
annoy a whole lot of salespeople, who will pinch a tire with their fingers and say it's
fine, but this is a really important point. A tire even 10psi low is not giving you the
ride you need. Tires in high-quality bikes have a normal tendency to lose a fair amount of
air over a couple week's time, so it should not be a surprise when they need air...it
should be expected. Always test-ride with fully-inflated tires, period.
- Ask if the salesperson could run you through the gears on a stand,
just to make sure you know how they're supposed to work (which you probably do) and to
ensure that they're properly adjusted.
The actual test ride
Now you're ready for your test ride. Question is, where? There are basically three types
of test rides...the classic "parking lot" ride, the "around the block"
ride, and the longer "road" ride. The parking lot cruise is useful for having
the salesperson check out your position on the bike and, in some cases, is as much of a
ride as a customer feels comfortable with (because they don't want to deal with traffic
etc.). Usually, after graduating successfully from the parking-lot ride, you'll want to
take it on a bit longer spin around the block, getting up some speed on the straight-aways,
or maybe just feeling better because you don't have a salesperson looking at you while
you're riding. [By the way, for the parking lot ride, it might be OK to use normal street
shoes on clipless pedals, but for anything more, make sure the pedals are compatible with
your shoes
Ask the bike shop if they have worked out a longer
"course" – about 4 miles – that includes various conditions - good
pavement, bad pavement, hills, descents and maybe even a combination of head &
tailwinds. It’s is important to test the bike under normal conditions and a longer
ride will give you a better idea of how the bike performs.
At this point you may have fallen in love and confirmed your
suspicions that this is the bike for you! But if that's not the case and you want to test
ride another bike, make sure that the seat height is set up exactly the same as it was on
that first bike, and have the tires aired up, and run through the gears again.
How
to compare different bikes...what to look for
Afraid you won't be able to tell much difference between two bikes? Even if you're
inexperienced at cycling? The differences will be more obvious than you think! And what
should you look for? Check out for how each bikes accelerates while sitting and standing,
comfort over big bumps, how it handles road buzz (vibration from "grainy" road
surfaces) For longer rides, find a small hill you can charge up. Why? Because there's
nothing that separates a great bike from an also-ran like a hill. A really great bike just
feels like it wants to go, even climb, even when you're not in the right gear. An also-ran
will have you constantly searching for that right gear, that sweet spot where everything
comes together (hopefully). The really great bike just doesn't care...it simply performs.
You've
found the right bike...now what?
You've found your bike...it's got the right features, feels great while riding, etc. Now
you need to get measured for proper fit. The frame size on what you rode might be
correct... then again, it might not. At reputable bike shop will take a series of
measurements of the rider, to make sure you have not only the correct frame size, but
top-tube plus stem distance (critically important and frequently ignored!),
seat-to-handlebar drop, seat height, handlebar width and more. It's not a matter of how
much clearance you have standing over the frame! That might help get you in the ballpark,
but since the front-to-back distance of a frame changes with size, your arm & torso
measurements might dictate a frame size different than stand over height might indicate.
Please note that, in the majority of cases, the stem length on
the bike will need to be changed. This isn't a big deal if the shop sells a lot of road
bikes...they'll have the various stems in stock and ready to go. Any shop not
willing to swap the stem for proper fit on a road bike may not be a good place to buy
one! In most cases, there should be no charge for a stem swap, but there will be
times where you have to go to a stem that might cost a bit more, or perhaps because it's a
lot higher they might need to replace several cables & housings, which definitely
takes a lot of time. In those cases, you could expect to pay a small amount of money to
cover the difference and/or the labor involved.
Double or
Triple crankset for a Road Bike?
A "double" crankset refers to one with two
chainrings on the front, representing a mid and high gear range option.
A "triple" crankset refers to one with three
chainrings, the extra chainring being a very small one on the inside that gives you a
considerably lower gear range than available with the double. This small chain ring is
commonly called a "granny gear" as in even your granny can climb a hill in this
gear.
In general, a "double" crankset bike will have either
14, 16 or 18 gears, and a "triple" will have 21, 24 or 27 gears.
Things to consider-
If you climb in lower gears, you’re not necessarily going to go slower up the hill.
In fact, the opposite may occur, as the lower gearing of a triple might be more optimal
for your own physique. Not everybody was built with massive muscles, and in most cases,
higher RPMs at lower gears will be more in sync with your body than big massive gears that
you might barely be able to turn. A bike with a triple usually has about the same high-end
(your go-fast gears) range as a double. So in general you’re not giving up anything
at the high end but rather adding on at the lower end (meaning that you’re getting
new gears to make it easier to go uphill while keeping the high gears that allow you to go
fast downhill). Way-cool high-end bikes are now available with triple cranks right off the
showroom floor! It’s no longer the case that the only way to get a
super-high-performance frame and wheel set was on a bike with a double crankset. The market
has dramatically changed, and there are now as many options with triples as there are with
doubles and if the bike you want isn’t available with a triple, chances are that the
bike shop can install one on it. Triple-equipped bikes are not just for wimps!!! Even
hot-shot riders come across incredibly-steep hills that make him/her think (although
rarely aloud) "It sure would be nice to have a lower gear right now!" And
besides, just how comfortable do you feel calling every mountain bike rider a wimp?
Virtually 100% of them have triple cranks, and they USE the lower gears all the time! In
fact, it’s probably the widespread success of triple-equipped mountain bikes
that’s helped fuel demand for the wider range gears on road bikes.
So why wouldn’t everybody get a triple-equipped bike?
Many people (particularly men) have this macho-thing about being strong enough to climb a
hill without the help of so-called granny gears. There’s not much you can do about
this type of attitude. The only "cure" is a pair of busted knees, and that
"cure" usually ends the cyclists' riding career. It’s still the case that
the very highest-end component groups are not available with a triple crankset
(specifically Campagnolo Record and Shimano Dura-Ace). So if you want a $3000+ bike with
the very hottest components, it requires a bit of improvisation if you want it with a
triple. There remain a number of cyclists that believe tradition is more important than
progress, and since early, classic road bikes didn’t have triples 30 years ago, they
still shouldn’t now. This is frequently the same type of person who feels that
"steel is real" (meaning that any other material, be it aluminum, titanium or
carbon-fiber, just isn’t what a bicycle is supposed to be made out of) and probably
doesn’t wear a helmet. And there are truthfully some people so strong that they
don’t need a triple crankset, or for inexplicable reasons just don’t have a
whole lot of trouble climbing in very tall gears at very high speeds. Alas, there are
few of us so afflicted. Finally, there are slight trade-offs in terms of weight (figure an
extra half-pound or so of weight) and shifting performance. Not much decline in
performance, but the longer chain makes for a bit more work for the rear derailleur, and
on the front, shifting between the inside and middle chainrings isn’t quite as
precise as the shifting on a double.
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