Many differing options are available to you as you look to purchase a bicycle. Choosing their next bicycle is difficult, even for professional riders. Considering the various factors makes purchasing a bike tough. Planning ahead for things like bike use, safety and comfort, as well as where it will be ridden, and what it looks like, will help you make a better decision. Choosing between all of the options available can be overwhelming, especially since new developments in cycling happen all the time. Take the easy road, and use the tests we suggest to choose your new ride.
You need to make sure you pick a bike that is the right size. To do this, you will need to measure your inseam. Simply measure through your inner leg from your groin to the bottom of your foot to find out your inseam. The goal is to be able to sit on the seat of the bike and still rest your feet flat on the ground. This is for saftey reasons and will allow you to stop the bike if your brakes fail, avoiding any injury.
For a road bike you should take away 9" from the inseam measurement you took earlier. This is due to the type of tires you will be using for a road bike. Designed to work best on concrete pavements, road bikes are best suited to cycling around the city. For a mountain bike take away 12 inches from your inseam. Again this is find out here to account for the size of tires. These tires are designed to handle rocky and jagged terrain so are therefore thicker. You can of course use a mountain bike for road cycling but this isn't supposed to be their primary use.
The number of gears you’ll use will also affect your choice. If you plan to ride in rocky or mountainous areas, you’ll need more gears than riding on flat land. You can’t evaluate the bike only by the number of gears it has. You may never have cause to use all the gears. Why spend extra money paying for something that you don’t need? Of course, if your cycling bicycle is going to be your primary mode of transportation you might need to make sure you have enough gears to handle rough situations.
There are lots of things to think about when you are trying to find the right cycling bicycle to fit your needs. There are tons of varieties of bicycles, as well as innumerable amounts of accessories available to you, so sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming. Don't become discouraged; map out what you need for your bike and you'll be on your way in no time.