Buying A Road Bike-The Search Begins

Remember when I said in a recent post, “It’s Not About The Bike“? And how I said I might get a new bike within the next year or so? Well, “within next year” might be within the next month or two. I still stand by my statement that a new bike will not necessarily make you a better or faster rider, but there is nothing wrong with wanting a new bike. I have officially started to research potential “candidates” and I thought it might be interesting to document my process.

I have been thinking about getting a new bike for a year or two but I did not do anything about it, mainly because I figured as soon as I started looking I would probably end up buying one. Also, I wasn’t financially ready to spend money on a new bike. Now, I might be ready to spend some money but I need to do a lot of research and prioritizing in order to feel good about whatever purchase I make. I think the steps I will use can be helpful to anyone who is looking to purchasing a bicycle. So, I will do a series of articles as I go through the process of researching, test riding, and eventually purchasing, a new road bike. I will try to cover all of the bases as I go along. Here are the basic areas that I hope to cover:

1. Determining what kind of bike you need (or want)
2. Setting a budget and sticking to it
3. How to research available bikes and manufacturers
4. Determining what features are important
5. Getting fit properly
6. Test riding
7. New or used
8. Making the final choice

There might be an additional area or two that I will think of as I move through the process and if so I will add them. Hopefully this series of posts will be helpful when you start looking for a new bike, whether it is your first, or 21st.

Stay tuned.