Buying a road bike? Here’s how to choose the right one for you

Buying a road bike can be riddled with jargon and confusion, so here we will unpick everything you decathlon road bikes review need to know to choose a road bike perfectly suited to your riding requirements

Since the definition of a road bike can be so broad and varied, what constitutes the best for you will depend on many factors personal to each reader.

For example, take the Specialized Tarmac. It’s a great example of a road bike, it’s won countless bike races at every level, and it’s lauded by many – myself included – but if you’re looking to commute 10 miles each way during winter, it’s not the right one for you as it can’t take mudguards. Equally, the Trek Domane is incredibly capable over rough ground, it can accept mudguards for the commute, and has also won races at the top of our sport, but if your aim is racing hill climbs or criteriums, then others would perform better.

I will therefore use this guide to explain what types of road bike exist, and explain what factors we look at when judging a bike’s quality and suitability in the first place. When I’m done, you will know what your options are, and have the tools to compare the merits and pitfalls of each, so that you will be comfortably buying a road bike in no time.

Types of road bike
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The first step to understanding which road bike you need, is to ascertain what types of road bike actually exist, and perhaps more importantly, what differentiates them from each other in their purpose. Bikes are predominantly unisex by design, but a few brands do make bikes specifically for women. The model hierarchy of these brands will usually mimic the unisex approach outlined below, but the best women’s road bikes will include subtle differences tailoring the frame and its components to the requirements of female riders.

confused math lady meme used with ‘when someone asks what type of road bike you want’ overlaid

Or when someone tries to explain a geometry chart… (sorry in advance) (Image credit: imgflip)
Broadly speaking, road bikes fall into two branches: race and endurance, both of which have subcategories which I’ll dive into momentarily.

Race bikes are usually more ‘aggressive’ in their geometry. This means that the frame is slightly longer and the handlebars are lower, putting your body in a more forward-leaning – and aerodynamic – position.

Steep vs Slack

Left: the Specialized Crux, with a steep fork angle. Right: a chopper motorbike which really accentuates what a slack fork angle looks like. No road bikes go anywhere near to this extreme, but it serves as a clear difference to help you understand. (Image credit: Courtesy)
Endurance bikes, meanwhile, will be slightly taller at the front, usually with a shorter reach to promote a more upright position that is more comfortable to hold for longer durations, enabling you to ride longer distances before your back and neck start to ache. They also have a longer wheelbase (the distance between the front and rear wheel) with slacker steering angles (a Harley Davidson motorbike has a very slack steering angle), which helps to inspire stability and handling confidence.

From here, as your budget increases, so too does the specificity of the bike’s design, and this is where race and endurance bikes diverge again into sub-niches.

A Giant TCR lightweight bike next to the Giant Propel aero bike

Left: The Giant TCR, is a lightweight bike with thinner, rounder tubes. Right: The Giant Propel aero bike, with deeper tubes.
Race bikes can be split into two categories: lightweight and aero. The best lightweight bikes will focus on weight; they’ll use shallow wheels, smaller frame tubes and minimal added features in a bid to keep the weight down. The best aero bikes will focus on cutting through the wind, usually with deeper wheels and deeper section frame tubes with aerodynamic profiles. Within this race category, some brands merge the two into single bikes designed to blend an optimum balance of both.

The best endurance bikes category is slightly different in how it splits. Rather than diverging into sub-niches, endurance bikes remain in a category of their own – often described as sportive or fondo bikes – with concessions to extra comfort such as bigger tyres, compliance-boosting elastomers, leaf-spring frame designs or literal suspension systems built in. Meanwhile, additional derivatives of ‘endurance’ have cropped up to cater to people’s differing riding preferences. I’m talking primarily about the recent upsurge of ‘all-road’ bikes, which include even bigger tyres and different gear ratios. All-road bikes bridge the gap between endurance road and gravel bikes, allowing riders to head off the tarmac onto gravel terrain. They are, however, best suited to ‘light’ gravel, rather than super bumpy singletrack.

There’s also the additional category of electric. The best electric road bikes primarily replicate the geometry of endurance bikes to aid comfort, but with an integrated battery and motor to assist with the pedalling requirement.

In buying a road bike and choosing the right one for you, you’ll need to consider the type of riding you’re planning on doing. If you prioritise your racing performance above anything else, then a lightweight or aero race bike is likely going to be the right choice. However, if you’re conscious of your on-bike comfort and plan to ride long distances, then endurance bikes will be your go-to. If you think you’d like to be able to continue when the pavement ends, then an all-road bike will be best.

If you’re brand new to this and you have no idea of what sort of riding you’ll do – or what you’re interested in trying – then try to focus on versatility. Rest assured, a race bike can still cover long distances and an endurance bike can still race, so don’t feel overwhelmed that you’ll make the wrong choice, because there really isn’t such a thing.