How to buy the right Bicycle ?

These article will show you how ...

While buying a bike is not on the same level of commitment as, say, getting married, it is still a decision that warrants some thought. And, especially if you are considering buying a bike for the first time, it can seem as if your options are nearly endless.

What is the Right Kind of Bike for Me?

Your first decision comes in determining what type of bike you are after. There are basically four main styles of bikes to choose from, and your selection should really depend on what you anticipate your main type of riding to be. 

Road Bikes 

are designed for riding on paved streets and going fast. Featuring skinny tires, a lightweight frame and a riding position that puts you bent over the handlebars, you might choose this type of bike if traveling longer distances at higher speeds is important to you. 

The frames of most road bikes are not particularly beefy in construction and generally won’t stand up well for extended periods under heavy loads or on really rough surfaces. They are about as well-suited for a path in the woods as you would be when wearing high heels.

When thinking about the type of bike riding you're most likely to do, if you're going to be riding exclusively on pavement and want to go pretty fast and/or ride long distances, a road bike is probably what you want. Designed for racing, road bikes typically have a lightweight frame which is designed to allow the upright rider to maintain the most aerodynamic position possible.


Wheels: A road bike typically has narrow, smooth high pressure tires that minimize contact with the road to provide the least rolling resistance possible. As these types of tires allow you to feel each bump and pebble in the road, it's not necessarily the most comfortable ride, but that's not the intent.

Frame: The material used in road bike frames, like most other bikes will vary depending on their cost. In general terms, the more expensive a frame is, the lighter it will be. Having a lighter bike is most important in climbing, though it also factors into downhills and riding in the flats. A heavier bike usually translates into somewhat slower times for competitive riders, though that may not be important to you.

Most entry level bikes have either steel ("cro-moly") or aluminum frames these days, though I'd venture that aluminum is becoming the predominant material for basic road bike frames. There is certainly nothing wrong with either choice, but there are trade-offs. For instance, for aluminum to be strong enough to be durable over the long haul, the frame must be pretty stiff, which may translates into a slightly rougher ride. Steel may be heavier, but can flex more at the same weight, which can cushion the bumps a bit. The best way to find out which is right for you is to ride several different bikes and see if you can tell a difference.

As the price of the road bike goes up, you’ll start to see components (such as the front fork) switching from aluminum to carbon. Finally the whole frame on higher end bikes will be made of carbon fiber, which is very strong and yet light weight at the same time. The frames on the most sophisticated and high performance road bikes are made from space age materials like titanium, which is both amazingly strong and light. Because of the expense of these materials, these bikes typically fall beyond the range of all but the most serious or competitive cyclists.


Handlebars: Road bike handlebars go out straight from the stem and then curl under, allowing riders who want to go really fast to hunch over when riding at that point, in order to reduce wind resistance. This is known as going into the drops. Riders can also sit in a more upright position, with their hands on the flat, top part of the handlebars. Typically, you'll find both the brake levers and the gear shift levers mounted on the handlebars of a road bike for easy control.


Riding position: The way that a road bike is designed allows riders to bend far forward, reducing their profile and cutting down on wind resistance, along with putting them in a position to drive maximum power from their legs and hips through the pedals. While aerodynamic, being hunched over like this for any length of time may not be the most comfortable position for some riders as it requires you to support a substantial portion of your body weight with the upper body. This can cause strain and soreness in the hands, wrists, shoulders and neck if a rider is not used to it, or is riding a bike for which they might not be properly fitted or sized.

Gears: Road bikes have a wide range of gearing, with low gears that allow a rider to more easily climb steep hills up through rather high gear choices that a rider uses to go really fast. Typically a road bike will have either two or three chain rings as part of the crank assembly in the front along with eight or nine gears in the cassette on the rear wheel. This combination allows for anywhere from 16 to 27 possible gear combinations, a broader range than yesterday’s typical ten-speed afforded.

Pedals: Basic road bikes may come equipped with platform pedals. If this is the case, toe clips are usually a standard accompaniment, or may be added quite cheaply. However, clipless pedals are frequently/usually used on road bikes, which allow the rider to clip his or her cleated shoes to the pedals, providing the ability to drive the pedals through the full rotation of the circle, pulling up on the pedals during the upstroke as well as pushing them down.

Typical road bike accessories: cyclocomputer, frame pump, tool bag, water bottle and cage.

Major brands: There are almost as many road bike manufacturers as there are riders. Major manufacturers include Specialized, Trek Bianchi, LeMond and Cannondale.

Buying advice:
If you are buying a new bike and are reasonably certain you're going to stick with it for a while, buy the best frame you can afford, and if you have to cut corners to save some money, do it on the components. You can always upgrade them later. Buying a bike with a junky, heavy frame to save a few bucks will usually prove unsatisfactory, and you'll end up buying a whole new bike later, rather than being able to improve it piece-by-piece as your desires and wallet allow.

Mountain Bikes
have exploded in popularity over the past twenty years. These bikes have wide tires, usually with knobby treads and a stout frame, and are designed to handle the rugged trails without disintegrating.
Mountain bikes do not go as fast as road bikes, which is a trade-off for their durability along with a more comfortable riding position. You sit higher on these bikes, more upright with the straight handlebars, which is often a happier choice for people with back problems than being hunched over as you are on a road bike.

Warning: sometimes mountain bikes are the default choice of salespeople at the bike shop because they are easy to sell and usually less expensive than road bikes. Too many times though, new mountain bikes with lots of impressive features for climbing a steep mountain trail end up like those four-wheel drive SUVs that never actually go off the pavement. If you are going to buy a mountain bike, make sure you are doing so intentionally because you know that you will in fact be riding off-road. Otherwise, you will be paying for unnecessary features, and probably missing out on a bike that would be a better choice for you.


Use the sizing chart below to find the right sized mountain bike for you. Knowing your height and inseam measurements, you should be able to determine what size frame will be most comfortable for you. Of the two measurements, height and inseam, inseam is more important.
Mountain bikes are generally measured in frame size (inches), which is the distance from the center of the crank to the top of the frame at the seat tube.

   

Mountain Bike Sizing Guide

Mountain Bikes - Finding the Right Size
Your Height	Your Inseam Length	Bike Frame Size
4'11" - 5'3"	25” - 27”	13 - 15 inches
5'3" - 5'7"	27" - 29"	15 to 17 inches
5'7" - 5'11"	29" - 31"	17 to 19 inches
5'11" - 6'2"	31" - 33"	19 to 21 inches
6'2" - 6'4"	33" - 35"	21 to 23 inches
6'4" and up	35" and up	23 inches and up

In thinking about the type of cycling that you want to do, if you plan to ride "off road" a lot, like using your bike to traverse the woods or zip through the desert on sandy or rocky trails, a mountain bike is probably what you want. Mountain bikes are designed for riding under more rugged conditions, and typically:

• have a stouter, more upright frame
• offer higher clearance to get over rocks, logs and through ruts, etc.
• can take a lot of stress and abuse and still allow the rider to comfortably negiotate rugged terrain and go over or through obstacles that he or she may encounter on the trail. 

Wheels: A mountain bike usually has wide knobby tires that offer more substantial grip and traction on a variety of surfaces, including gravel, dirt, rock and sand. Tire pressure on mountain bikes is less than on road bikes, due to their greater volume and the better traction offered by a softer tire. The rims and spokes on mountain bike wheels are stronger and more durable, again to handle the rougher riding that true mountain biking entails.

Frame: Most entry-level mountain bike frames are steel (also called "cro-moly"), due to the strength and durability the material offers and the (relatively) low price of steel. Disadvantages of steel are its weight and that it can be prone to rusting. 

As the materials get more advanced, the price increases. Next on the ladder is aluminum, which is light and rust-proof and relatively strong, but not immune to breakage over time when subjected to repeated stress. I'm not a fan of aluminum in mountain bike frames, simply due to the rough nature of riding, which constantly subjects a mountain bike frame to significant stress, particularly when a heavier rider is involved. 

Carbon fiber frames, the next higher level of material, are similar to aluminum in being light, rust-proof and very strong, but also prone to breakage, but when they go it happens suddenly, and usually at the worst possible time.

Top-of-the-line mountain bike frames are made from titanium, which is super light and incredibly strong. In contrast to aluminum and carbon fiber, both of which can eventually fail over time, a titanium frame on a mountain bike will be a great choice for large riders because of its ability to handle larger loads without becoming fatigued. There's always a trade-off, though, and the downside is that titanium is very expensive. Because of its cost, these bikes with titanium frames typically fall beyond the range of all but the most serious or competitive cyclists.

Do I need to get shocks on my mountain bike?

If you are thinking about getting a mountain bike, do you need to get shocks on it? Depends. The most basic mountain bikes do not have shocks, but as the price level increases, you will quickly find that mountain bikes will have either front-only shocks (hard-tails) or else full suspension, both front and back shocks (soft-tails).

Having shocks definitely affects the comfort of your ride as well as performance. It used to be that hardtails could accelerate faster and climb better than full suspension bikes, because they were lighter and you didn't lose any transfer of energy to the rear shocks, but today's full-suspension bikes are nearly equal to hardtails now in that respect. If you are riding any bumpy terrain, you'll notice (and lament) the lack of rear suspension in a hardtail bike pretty quick, especially feeling it in your back and backside. Unless you absolutely cannot afford it or are only going to be riding very smooth trails, go ahead and get shocks, at least in front.

Handlebars: Mountain bike handlebars are typically flat, and go straight out from the stem. With a wider grip, usually about shoulder width, these handlebars allow riders to sit upright and offer a better position for vision and control of the bike on up and down terrain.

Riding position: The way that a mountain bike is designed allows riders sit upright in a position that gives them best control of the bike, with well-placed center of gravity and the ability to shift weight forward or back to provide balance and adjust to varying terrain.

Gears: Mountain bikes have a wide range of gearing to allow them to handle a broad range of terrain. With low gears that go well below that of most road bikes, riders are more easily able to conquer some wicked steep hills. On the high end of the gear range, mountain bikes typically are typically not so tall in the gearing as what you'd find on a road bike. Rarely is there the need for wide-open, blazing speed such as you’d have on a road bike, and the bike’s over-sized, knobby tires are not really conducive for going lightning fast anyway.

Typically a mountain bike will have either two or three chain rings in the front as part of the crank assembly, again smaller than what you’d find on a road bike, along with eight or nine gears in the cassette on the rear wheel, many times featuring one bodiaciously-sized gear called a granny gear to help with the particularly steep climbs. This combination allows for anywhere from 16 to 27 possible gear combinations, a range that accounts for virtually every type of terrain that a mountain bike will encounter.

Pedals: Basic mountain bikes come equipped with platform pedals. This is useful if you’re the type of rider who frequently puts your feet down. Other more advanced riders may prefer to use toe clips or even clipless pedals that allow the rider to secure his or her cleated shoes to the pedals, but people have different levels of comfort when it comes to being fully attached to a mountain bike given the varieties of terrain encountered and the frequent need to drop ones feet to the ground.

Accessories: for a mountain bike include a cyclocomputer, frame pump, tool bag, water bottle and cage. Also, given the rugged nature of the riding and the frequent distance from “civilization” that mountain biking trails go, many mountain bikers carry tools kits outfitted with a good many more tools and replacement parts than their roadie counterparts need to bring along.

Major Brands: Giant, Specialized, Gary Fisher, Trek.

Buying Advice:  

Be sure you will be doing plenty of off-roading before you buy a mountain bike. If you are just going to be riding in town or on paved or hard-packed smooth, flat trails, there are better choices of bikes that will be more comfortable and serve you better, such as hybrids or cruisers.

Also, beware of cheap, heavy mountain bikes sold by mass-retailers. Though they may offer snazzy-looking front and rear shock set-ups, generally these add a lot of weight to the frame, and being made from cheap components, will not last very long under any type of rugged riding conditions.

  

     

Hybrid bikes
are compromise between road and mountain bikes and offer the best features of both if most of your riding will be shorter trips on pavement. With skinnier, smooth tires, they typically can go faster than mountain bikes, yet feature the upright seat and handlebar position that many people favor.
Hybrids are a good choice for most city riding, and offer speed, durability and comfort.

So you've heard people talk about "hybrids." But what exactly is a hybrid bike, and why would you want to ride one?

A hybrid bike is one that blends the best characteristics of both road and mountain bikes into a bike that is sturdy, comfortable and fast, and ideal for riding on streets and bike paths.

Features of a hybrid that come from mountain bikes:

• a more upright frame, offering a more comfortable riding position
• a stouter frame that can handle more weight -- in rider and/or cargo -- as well as absorb the day-in, day-out punishment of potholes, etc., that you might encounter in a commute
• slightly wider tires for better traction and stability

Features that come from road bikes

• lighter rims for faster riding
• lighter components and taller gearing for going faster

    

Wheels: The wheels on a hybrid bike are a true combination of what you find on road and mountain bikes. Wider, like a mountain bike for greater stability and durability, but then with a higher recommended air pressure that puts them in the same level as a road bike when it comes to inflation level. The higher air pressure allows them to go faster by reducing rolling resistance. Think about how a properly inflated basketball bounces compared to one that is even slightly flat. Same concept.

The rims and spokes on hybrids are lighter too like a road bike, since the assumption is that you won't be doing the rougher off-road riding that mountain biking entails.

Frame: Most hybrid bike frames are made of lightweight aluminum or steel (also called "cro-moly"), due to the strength and durability the materials offers and their (relatively) low price.

Handlebars: The handlebars on a hybrid are typically flat like a mountain bike, and go straight out from the stem. With a wider grip, usually about shoulder width, these handlebars allow riders to sit upright and offer a better position for vision and control of the bike than the handlebars on a road bike.

Riding position: Like a mountain bike, a hybrid's design allows riders sit upright in a position that gives them best control of the bike with well-placed center of gravity and in a posture that reduces strain on the rider's neck and back.

Gears: Hybrids have a wide range of gearing to allow the rider to both climb hills and go fast on flats and downhills. Not usually equipped with gears in as low range as a mountain bike, the hybrid's gearing set-up is more similar to road bikes.

Typically a hybrid bike will have either two or three chain rings in the front as part of the crank assembly, again along the lines of what you’d find on a road bike. In the back you'll find eight or nine gears in the cassette on the rear wheel, a combination that allows for anywhere from 16 to 27 possible gear combinations, which will account for virtually every need a hybrid rider will have in town or on the bike path.

Pedals: Basic hybrids bikes come equipped with platform pedals. This is useful if you’re the type of rider who frequently puts your feet down. Other more advanced riders may prefer to use toe clips or even clipless pedals that allow the rider to secure his or her cleated shoes to the pedals, but people have different levels of comfort when it comes to being fully attached to the bike given the frequent stops you migth encounter riding in traffic. 

Accessories: for a hybrid bike include a cyclocomputer, frame pump, tool bag, water bottle and cage. This is about all you need to be self-sufficient when riding in town.

Major Brands: Cannondale, Specialized, Trek.

Buying Advice: A hybrid is a good choice for much in-town riding. The key to getting a good bike is to find one with decent components. It is these moving parts that will determine how well your bike will function and for how long.

Also, if you're going to be using a hybrid bike for commuting to work or school, check out the accessories that may make your trip easier and more convenient, such as lights, racks, and locks that can come as built-in features with many models.

Seven items you should carry in your tool bag

When you're out on a bike, you should be as self-reliant as possible. Here are the seven items to carry with you that will help you fix the most common problems you'll encounter when you're riding. The good news is that these will all fit in a little pack that attaches underneath your seat. And, if you don't already have these items, you can find them all pretty reasonably, without it costing you an arm and a leg.

1. Spare Tube

If you're going to be out and about, the most likely problem you'll have with your bike is a flat tire. So bring along another tube specific to your bike. They are fairly compact, easy to change out, and you'll be back riding in no time. Never changed a flat tire?

2. Patch Kit

In addition to a spare tube, you'll want to carry a patch kit as well. But isn't that redundant, you ask, when you're already carrying a tube? Not really. Murphy's Law means that you'll get a second flat in the new tube just as soon as you've replaced it. Plus, you are really carrying these items to be able to help cyclists who might need it, just as much as for your own good, right?

"The patch kit [I carry] is for other riders that my need help," says Pennsylvania cyclist Brad Morris. "Luckily I have used the patch kit 6 times, while still need to use the tube."

Plus, patch kits are typically quite small and are a nice "one-size-fits-all" insurance policy against tire problems.

3. Tire Levers

If you're going to fix a flat tire, you'll need tire levers. These small tools slide under your tire and help pull it off your rim so that you can remove the tube to patch it or replace it with a spare. They fit easily in your pouch or jersey pocket, and you really don't want to be without them.

4. Pump (or CO2 inflators)

Whether you carry a patch kit or spare tube, if your tire goes flat, you will need to find a way to get air back into it. That's where a nice little pump comes in. Usually clamped to your frame, these mighty little dudes will put enough air in your tire to get you back on your way.

Some riders prefer to carry CO2 cartridges - little battery-sized cylinders that deliver a burst of pressurized gas and refill tubes in a fraction of a second. They are lighter, but require a bit of practice to use, else you can blow out the tube you've just replaced. Plus, they cost about a dollar a piece, for what is typically a one time use.

5. Multi-Tool

For any number of potential fixes or adjustments you might face on the road, a multi-tool is a handy gadget that you'll want to take along no matter how short or long your ride. A multi-tool typically comes equipped with a dozen or more individual tools in various sizes, including Allen wrenches, hex bolt wrenches, screw drivers, a chain tool and more. Tucked neatly into one small package, it's like a portable tool box for fixing your bike - in more ways than you can ever imagine. Plus, many come outfitted with a bottle opener too, when the situation becomes particularly severe.

6. Cell Phone

How did we ever get by in the days before cell phones? For calling home to get picked up in case of breakdown, for calling your buddies who may be ahead of you or behind you on the route during those longer rides, or for just calling ahead to order a pizza at your favorite place, there is no reason not to carry a cell phone if you've got one.

There's at least one rider I know of for whom a mobile phone is all the equipment and tools needed on a ride. In case of a breakdown, he calls the bike shop (free service with purchase of a bike) to come get his wheels and then rings a cab company to send him a taxi for a ride home.

7. Identification/Money/Insurance Card

This is one of those just-in-case items that you bring and hopefully never use. Take along a few dollars for drinks and snacks along the way. And, in case of a split in your tire, a dollar bill can be laid along the split inside your tire to keep your tube from bulging out too badly until you can get it repaired. And, be sure to bring along copies of your identification and insurance cards. God forbid you get into an accident, but in case you do, you'll definitely want and need these items. Tip: on the backside of these documents, write down your list of emergency contacts as well as any special medical instructions or allegies to medicine you might have.

Enjoy !!! and have fun !!