Most bikes will come with a set of cheap plastic pedals and these won’t stop you enjoying your road bike, but investing in a set of clip-in pedals will massively improve performance and control. 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. While may seem simple, there’s a huge number of things to consider when buying a drop-bar machine and this guide will help you select the best road bike for you.
Featuring skinny tyres and manufactured from lightweight materials, the road bike is designed to go fast! Scroll down for more information on at BikeExchange. Sure, there’s still a place for super narrow, pizza cutter-esque tires that save watts and shave grams or whatever.
Fast on road, comfortable off, the Grade Carbon Pro is the best gravel bike money can buy. Whether you are looking for a new road race bike or ready for your first road bike, Bike Barn has the bike for you. Browse our bikes online and stop into one of our convenient locations to take a test ride. Decathlon’s in-house Van Rysel brand offers great value in the Shimano 105-equipped Ultra CF. You get a carbon frameset and decent alloy wheels that give stable handling and good braking from the in-series rim brakes.
When mated to our full carbon FACT fork, the Diverge Base E5 becomes a light, lively, and versatile bike that’s ready to attack any surface. The new Diverge has the most progressive geometry we’ve ever created for a drop bar bike, giving riders a capable and stable bike in the dirt, that still feels responsive and nimble on the road. We’ve increased the frame’s reach and introduced a slacker head tube and a longer offset fork. All this creates incredible confidence with a planted feeling in the dirt, while spec’ing shorter stems keeps the overall cockpit length the same and the steering lively.
The best road bike pedals make a real difference to your riding experience and most riders adapt quickly to using clipless pedals. For decades, road bikes used caliper rim brakes, where blocks of rubber squeezed against the rims. Again, race bikes that favour aerodynamics will typically skew towards skinny tyres, while the endurance bikes that deliver comfort will generally have plump rubber. In recent years, it’s become more common to spec wider tyres on road bikes. Race bikes are often fitted with 25mm-wide tyres, while endurance bikes come with 28mm or even 32mm tyres. Once you have selected the right size frame – which any good bike shop can help you with – you then need to get your bike’s saddle height correct and adjust the handlebar height for comfortable riding.