Welcome to part six of the “Buying A New Road Bike Series“-Test Rides. In part five I emphasized the importance of getting a good fit. Well, now that you have an idea of what size and fit you need, you are ready to ride the candidates.
Consistency Is Key
The most important part of test riding is to be as consistent as possible. The more consistent the experience from one bike to the next, the better information you will have to make a decision. So, how do I do that?
- Clothing-Wear the same clothes as you would when you ride your own bike (shorts, jersey, helmet, glasses). Just bring your stuff with you.
- Equipment- Bring your shoes and pedals. The bike shop will put the pedals on the bikes you’re riding.
- Measurements- Get each bike you ride as close as possible to the “ideal” setup based on the fit information you acquired. That means seat height, setback, handlebar width, top tube and stem length, should be as close as possible.
- Test Route- Ride the same route with each of the bikes you are testing. That might be hard to do if you are visiting different shops to test the bikes. If so, try to duplicate the type of route (hill, flat, etc).
- Tires and pressure- This can be one of the biggest differences from one bike to the other. As little as 10 psi difference in tire pressure can make one bike seem better (or worse) than another. Try to get the tires inflated to the pressure that you use when you ride.
Listen To Your Body
Once you are out on the test ride pay attention to what you body is telling you. If you already have a bike, take notice of the things that you are trying to improve with your new bike. Is the ride stiff, or soft? Does the bike feel connected to the road? How does it take rough spots in the road? What is the handling like? All of these things and more will enter into your decision so pay attention. Ride the bike like you will be riding in the real world. This is not the time to be gentle with the bike. Don’t be afraid to stand up and sprint or power up a hill. Don’t be foolish or reckless. Chances are, if you damage the bike you will be responsible for it so ride smart.
Ride Multiple Times
If you have completed a test ride and don’t know enough to make a decision, ride the bike again. Don’t feel pressured to make a decision based on one ride. Ride a bike 2, 3 or four times if you need to. Each time you ride you will pick up little bits of additional information.
Decision Time
Once you have ridden the bikes you are interested in you will need to decide which ones are the closest fit to what you are looking for in your next bike. Chances are that one bike won’t meet everything 100% so there will be some compromises to be made. Just focus on which bike fits the closest to the criteria you have decided are more important to you. Once you have decided on the “best fit” bike(s) you will be ready to make a decision. But, before you buy the bike you have one additional decision to make, new or used? We’ll discuss that in the next part.
