What Road Bike Should I Buy

Unless you're consciously buying a frameset only, any road bike you buy will come with wheels fitted, so you won't necessarily have a free choice of which wheels to buy (unless you're custom building a bike, of course) but given the wheels will be an important part of the bike you buy, it's important to be aware of what is available.

what road bike should i buy

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Like frames, wheels come in a choice of either aluminium or carbon, and once again, the primary differentiator is cost. A pair of wheels starts at around 150/$200, and the prices rise well into four figures with the best road bike wheels fetching upwards of 3,000/$4,000.

On road bikes, the most commonly fitted tyre width is 25c, but if you're planning on riding longer distances, a 28c tyre would be considered a better option for a bit of increased comfort. If you're planning to ride on light gravel as an all-road bike is intended, 30c or even 32c would be advised. If the quoted tyre clearance is lower than the tyres you wish to use, you'll have trouble.

Disc brakes are only a recent addition to road bikes, but they are almost universally preferred for new bikes and the trend is very quickly heading towards disc brakes, meaning servicing and spares will be easier to find.

When choosing your brakes on a road bike, you're also indirectly making a decision about your gears, for it is the combination of those two sets of components that makes up your groupset. The reason the two are so intertwined is that the gear shifters and brake levers are built into one component, and it's not advised to pair shift/brake levers from one brand with derailleurs or brakes from another.

The three major road bike groupset manufacturers are Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo, although FSA and Rotor have options, too. Our rundown of road bike groupsets explains all the different options for road cyclists, from the budget options right up to the top-of-the-pile wireless electronic systems.

As with anything, the more you spend, the better bike you're likely to get. Often this means lighter and more aerodynamic components, with better brakes and faster shifting, but it's worth stating that the different types of road bike are diverse enough that even if you spent all the money in the world, you still wouldn't be able to get one bike that does all things better than the rest. You'd still need to decide whether to chase aerodynamics, weight, compliance and more.

Here you're likely to find carbon fibre frames as well as a few higher-specced aluminium options. Shimano 105 should be easy to find, and again, aluminium wheels will probably remain, but expect a little bit of carbon fibre elsewhere such as the seatpost or the handlebars. Most bikes from this point onward will have hydraulic disc brakes.

At this price, carbon fibre should be expected for your frame, but don't totally rule out aluminium with a good spec list. Meanwhile, Shimano's Ultegra mechanical or SRAM's Rival eTap AXS groupsets should be available. You might find some brands prioritise carbon fibre wheels in favour of a fancier groupset, but don't expect to find both.

Once again, a carbon fibre frame should be expected, and you'll probably start to get better carbon fibre that's lighter and stiffer. You can also hope to see an upgrade to electronic groupsets, either courtesy of Shimano's Ultegra Di2 or SRAM's second-tier Force eTap AXS. Once again, some bikes might prioritise carbon fibre wheels instead of the better groupset, and the finishing kit such as handlebar, stem and seatpost will depend on spec chosen elsewhere to help meet the pricepoint.

At this point, you shouldn't expect any compromises. You can reasonably expect to receive the highest spec carbon fibre frame and fork, complete with top-level carbon-fibre wheels, Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 or SRAM Red eTap AXS groupsets, perhaps even Campagnolo groupsets (although they are less commonly specced on complete bikes). A power meter should also come fitted, and everything from your bars to your saddle rails should be made from carbon fibre.

One of the great things about our buyer's guides is the buying links that appear within. These are powered by software that compares every store selling that product online, checks availability and then orders the results by price. The result is that alongside providing you with the knowledge about buying a road bike for your needs, and then providing our recommended options as chosen by our testers, we're also providing you with the best places to buy each bike.

What's more, here at Cyclingnews, we also keep our eyes on the various online bike shops for any great deals that appear, and highlight them in our roundup of the best bike deals. It's a great place to start your hunt for a new road bike, especially if you can be flexible with what you buy. We also do the same for kit, helmets, accessories and more.

On the subject of accessories, there are a few extra things you might want to buy in order to improve your time with your new road bike. The first, and perhaps most important is to pair it with one of the best road bike helmets.

Of course, you can go down a very deep and expensive rabbit hole with accessories, adding everything from new tyres to titanium bottle cage bolts. Our recommendation is to focus on safety and comfort, and only when you've got those dialled should you worry about trying to make things faster and lighter.

When it comes to buying a road bike, the process can be daunting to even the most experienced cyclists. While a new road bike is undoubtedly an exciting purchase to make, the endless lists of jargon and technical terminology can quickly leave you tongue-tied, and the abundance of different bikes to choose from can leave you drowning in decisions to make. But don't worry, we've all been there.

As tech editor here at Cyclingnews, I've overseen the creation of hundreds of bike-related buyer's guides over the past three years. Prior to this, I spent five years working in a local bike shop helping people from all walks of life choose the right bike for their needs. With that experience and some help from my colleagues and industry experts, I've put together this guide to buying a road bike, to help you choose the best road bike for you and guide you through the process from start to finish.

It's also worth adding that the price will be lower for direct-to-consumer bike brands such as Ribble or Canyon, or in-house brands such as Vitus (Wiggle) (opens in new tab), Boardman (Halfords) (opens in new tab) or Coop Cycles (REI). 041b061a72