This guide is for people who have not yet developed opinions on brands, parts, geometries, etc. If you have opinions on most or all of those things, great! You don’t need this guide.

When I joined the cycling team at UC Santa Barbara my freshman year, I had very little experience with bikes and even less with purchasing them. My first road bike was given to me on loan by my team, and four months later when I bought my own road bike for the first time it was a process that required a lot of research. I was very fortunate to have teammates who helped me work through the intricacies of drivetrain selection, but since graduating I’ve had this conversation with a couple of my friends and realised I should maybe write things down in case they’re helpful to anyone in that position now. This is all intended as a jumping-off point for further research and not as the end-all-be-all of Contemporary Cycling Knowledge. There are also more sources at the end so you can explore further the things that interest you.

Am I in the right place?

The first decision to make is whether you’d like a road bike or some other kind of bike. Most people starting to ride over the age of 18 or 20 or so tend to prefer starting with a city/commuter/fitness/hybrid bike, and I’m hoping there will shortly be a sister guide here for that, too. A road bike will serve you well if you want to ride far, fast, on paved roads. That’s not to say road bikes are only good for that - I’ve certainly put mine through its paces on way different terrain - but you should know that you want specifically a road bike before you buy a road bike. To that end, we’ll only be talking about drop-bar, ‘traditional’ road bikes here, no e-bikes or flat-bar hybrids (no hate to them, they’re just outside the scope of this advice). We also won’t be covering cross bikes or gravel bikes, which are typically built on road-style frames and used very often for road riding.

Overall, bike shops are a great place to try out different types of bike. Local bike shops still exist, and the good ones are thriving - find one you like and give them whatever business you can afford. They’ll be happy to talk you through decisions, and some of these things (namely sizing and saddles) are best felt in person.

An overview of the process

I’m going to break this guide down into categories in which you’ll need to make decisions. Many of these feed into each other, so you’ll often have only a short region for one decision given your other decisions (for example, in the early 2010s, 2x11 gearing was limited to Shimano’s highest-end Ultegra and Dura-Ace groupsets, but by the mid-2010s it trickled down to the new version of mid-range 105, which meant you could enjoy a more varied gear range in a lower-level groupset).

So, in order of appearance in this guide, the things about which you might need to have opinions are:
• Geometries
• Frame materials
• Sizing
• Budget and culture
• Drivetrains/groupsets
• Wheels/tires
• Saddles, pedals, bar tape, saddlebags, accessories
• Brands and bike shop choice
• My first road bike
• Other resources

That being said, your first road bike is a great opportunity to buy something at the lower end of the range that suits you enough to get out and ride. You might find that your opinions develop further the more miles you put into a bike, and it would be moderately sad to blow your entire budget on a bike and then realise three months later that your preferences are now different.

Road bike geometry

A road bike’s geometry concerns the position and length of the tubes making up the bike. As you ride your bike more, you may develop concrete opinions about specific things like reach or downtube positioning or any other intricate metric, and these metrics are all listed on a manufacturer’s website (at least, the reputable manufacturers). If this is your very first road bike, though, you are highly unlikely to be able to discern a preference like that without having any experience actually riding it. So we’ll stick to the basic types.

Race frames: aggressive frames meant to prioritise speed over long-term comfort. Some companies advertise lower-end road bikes as having ‘race-ready’ frames - while you can race almost any road bike, there is often a substantial difference between the geometry of the bike a pro cyclist rides in a race and the one that the company is selling to you.

Endurance frames: also sometimes called ‘sportive’ frames (an in-between event that’s not a group ride but also not a race-race, often fairly long). Optimised for comfort on long days in the saddle - typically a more relaxed, spaced-out geometry. Also a little more well-suited for touring, cargo, and off-roading than race frames.

Cyclocross and gravel frames: larger clearance and a little more comfort-oriented than race frames (around on par with endurance frames). Most have disk brakes rather than cantilevers. Perhaps a slightly longer wheelbase (distance between the hubs of the wheels) than a race/endurance frame. Cyclocross/gravel bikes are more suitable for off-roading than either race or endurance road bikes, but can typically be ridden as road bikes as long as you don’t mind a tiny speed reduction.

Aero frames: mostly a subset of race frames, these are designed to be as aerodynamic as possible. Listen. If this is your first bike, you probably want to think not twice but, like, eight times before getting an aero frame. Aero frames are great for people who know they want the benefits and the look, but like with “what does an extra half-centimeter of downtube feel like,” it’s a question (in my opinion) best left for a couple thousand miles down the road.

A typical entry-level bike will advertise either a “race” geometry or an endurance geometry. While the choice is best felt during some test rides, you may know even without looking at the options that you’re leaning one way or the other. I ride a race-geometry bike on endurance rides of 120-140 miles and would never give it up for an endurance bike, but I could easily see the opposite being true for someone.

Frame materials

For an entry-level road bike, the main frame materials you’ll be looking at are carbon and aluminum. Full-frame carbon is expensive, so typically what you’ll find is an aluminum frame with a carbon fork and maybe carbon bars.

Carbon fiber - good at reducing road vibration, incredibly light, expensive, can theoretically be repaired, breaks used to be more catastrophic

Aluminum - slightly heavier, slightly less forgiving with road vibration, durable, less expensive, cannot be repaired as far as I know

There are also steel, titanium, bamboo, and other types of frames out there. You usually won’t encounter them when making this first purchase decision unless you’re looking at 80s and 90s steel frames. I have actually ridden an 80s steel frame as my only bike in France for about a year, but that was mostly out of necessity and I don’t really have much advice to give on that front.

If you’re looking at used bikes, have a mechanic check any carbon frame - cracks are sometimes hard to spot.

I currently ride an aluminum frame, though through a silly series of events I have recently also acquired a carbon road bike. Even as recently as the mid-2010s, there was some hesitation in the crowds I hung out with about carbon because it was said to break more catastrophically than aluminum. I have been informed this is not the case anymore, but if you’re looking at older models it might be worth examining the data on that more thoroughly.

Sizing

A road bike is typically measured in centimeters, with 44 being typically the smallest adult frame you’ll find and 62 being around the biggest. If you’re smaller than that, yay! That means you can look at juniors bikes, which are cheaper. They’re geared toward competitive young riders, so you won’t sacrifice much, often just wheel size.

Sizing is weird because different choices in geometry can affect how a different bike of the same size feels. For example, if you ride a 52, you might find that a 54 with a vastly different geometry feels smaller. I ride a 44 Cannondale, but in other manufacturers I might ride a 48 or even a 51. The standard sizing charts you’ll find on manufacturers’ websites are a good starting point, but I would caution against committing to a size before you ride it. If I’d done that, I might be on a 51 now.

Cannondale’s size chart is as follows:
48: people from 5’3” to 5’7”
51: 5’5” to 5’9”
54: 5’7” to 5’11”
56: 5’10” to 6’2”
58: 6’0 to 6’4”
60: 6’2” to 6’6”
62: 6’5” to 6’9”

Other manufacturers might have different numbers, but they’ll almost always be accessible on that manufacturer’s website.

A note on women’s-specific frames: although they often have different geometry (especially in top tube slope), sizing is usually well-standardised between any given manufacturer’s gendered and non-gendered frames. I ride a women’s-specific bike in large part because Cannondale sizing extended down to 44 for it and did not for the equivalent non-gendered model, but I’ve also really come to love the slight differences in geometry.

At this point, the reputable manufacturers don’t really play favorites in part selection along that axis, so if a women’s-specific frame feels good to you it is probably the one you should buy. And this is regardless of gender, if that needs to be specified - the current crop of models tend to be very similar visually, so there won’t be a big sign following you around saying “this bike was marketed toward [insert gender here]!!!” There are often colorways only available for women’s-specific or non-gendered models, though, that’s a bit of a bummer if you feel more comfortable on one bike but the colorway you like is only available on another.

Budget and culture

The sister topics of budget and culture will be relatively more important to certain people. Santa Barbara has a big cycling community that values appearances, so a bike purchase usually takes into some degree of consideration how well the bike would be perceived within that culture. If you’re not ingrained in a community like that, budget will likely be the largest limiting factor for you. There’s also the consideration of which brands you can access, but more on that in the Brands section.

I think of road bikes as having price tiers:

Below $500, you aren’t really looking at a new, brand-name bike. There is Chinese carbon out there and some people I know have had great success with those bikes, and you could also look at building up a frame on your own with used or spare parts. Otherwise, you’re looking at craigslist or some other repository. eBay is typically not a great place to start unless you narrow your search to things you can go look at in person. This price range in the used market would usually look like a lower-end road bike from 5+ years ago.

Between $500 and $1000, you can start looking at the most entry-level bikes from big brands, but you’re probably better off either scouring the used market or purchasing a non-big-name bike. Buying used, you’re now looking at a mid-range 5- to 10-year-old bike or a low-end road bike from 2-5 years ago. If you’re set on a new bike, I’ve heard good things about tommaso and I think the Giant Contend described in the brands section below looks promising.

Between $1000 and $2000, this is about the sweet spot for a good entry-level road bike that will serve you for many years. I ride a 2015 CAAD10 (more on that in the penultimate section), and the comparable Cannondale bike now is about $1250-1500. A bike shop will give you some sort of discount, but a typical all-rounder will be somewhere in that price range. Whichever brand you’re looking at, there will likely be a ‘race frame’ bike equipped with 2x11 or 2x12 Shimano 105 or similar (more in the Drivetrains section) and moderately good components elsewhere. Towards the top end of this range, you can look at either upgrading individual components or just purchasing a bike with a higher-end drivetrain to begin with. In the used market, you’re looking at a mid-range road bike about 2-5 years old.

Above $2000, you have very many choices. At this point, if you would like disc brakes or a high-end groupset or electronic shifting, these are all things that can be available to you for a moderate amount of money. However, for your first road bike, I would maybe caution against that level of material outlay. If it happens that you don’t end up loving the decision you’ve made, the resale market is not always kind to higher-end bikes. Consider perhaps investing a smaller amount of money into a lower-end model and leaving aside some money to make incremental upgrades you care about, like wheels/tires, shifters, etc.

Building your own bike. I feel like many people get to the point in their first bike search at which they think, “Hey! Why don’t I just build my own bike?” It seems like a great solution - you save money by buying exactly what you want in terms of components, and then you learn all about how your bike works by putting it together. But it’s very time-intensive, and you might well find that mechanics have jobs for a reason and that reason is not that flat tires are hard to fix. Of course if you’re set on doing that you might have a great time, and all the more power to you. If that’s where your heart lies, check to see if there’s a local bike co-op or ‘bike kitchen’ or something in your area. These kinds of places can loan you tools and a workstation, plus the expertise to help put it together. Check near a college campus or ask at your local bike store. Specific bike tools get expensive when you buy them all at once, so check out what you can borrow first.

Drivetrains and groupsets

Groupsets are the overall set of components making up the way your bike converts your energy to speed - the gears, cables, chain, shifters, brakes. The drivetrain is a subset of the groupset, consisting of the front crankset/derailleur, the chain, and the rear cassette/derailleur. There are three major drivetrain manufacturers.

Shimano: for a long time dominant in road cycling. Easy to find parts, moderately inexpensive. High-end features trickle down to lower groupsets regularly and efficiently.

SRAM: starting to be more of an equal player in road, dominant in mountain. Also fairly easy to find parts, also moderately inexpensive. ‘Double-Tap’ shifting versus two separate levers for Shimano.

Campagnolo: used by some bikes but vastly fewer than Shimano/SRAM, not interchangeable with practically anything, difficult to find tools and parts, expensive. Affectionately called Campy.

Suntour, FSA, etc.: often part of a bike’s groupset, especially at the lower end, but integrated into the groupset and not a brand-name groupset of their own.

We’re going to discount Campy and the other smaller manufacturers and compare some drivetrains from Shimano and SRAM.

Tier 1 - Shimano Tourney

Tier 2 - Shimano Claris

Tier 3 - Shimano Sora

Tier 4 - Shimano Tiagra // SRAM Apex

Tier 5 - 105 // Rival

Tier 6 - Ultegra // Force

Tier 7 - Dura-Ace // Red

Electronic options - Shimano Ultegra/Dura-Ace Di2 // SRAM Force/Red eTap

The main points for groupsets will be caliper/rim v. disk brakes, front and rear gear count, and electronic v. mechanical shifting. Rim brakes are easier to care for but get more mud stuck in them, disk brakes are better for precise or intense reductions in speed and do well in muddier conditions, but are also more expensive and a little more fiddly to maintain. Most road bikes now are 2-by, which means two gears in the front. I ride a one-by (one chainring in front) and love it, some people really like 3-by. I would say if you’re really concerned about complexity look at 1-by and if you’re really concerned about gearing range/granularity look at 3-by, but otherwise 2-by is a great place to start. If you do want to look at specifically 3-by, try older high-end used models.

Electronic shifting only appears in the higher-end groupsets and also needs to be charged, so either way I wouldn’t recommend it to someone buying their first bike. I do have friends who love electronic shifting, though. Gearing is generally described as #-by-#, where the first number is the amount of rings/gears in the front and the second is the number in back. So you could have 2-by-8, 1x11, 3x10, and so on.

Groupsets are updated fairly regularly, and you often only get one choice at a specific price point with a specific manufacturer. If the decision is between two groupsets made by the same company, you should probably choose the higher-tier groupset as long as you’re comfortable with the price. As updates of a groupset often lead to substantial changes, make sure you’re not comparing 2010 Ultegra to 2019 105, because I actually might prefer that 105. Generally, though, 105 was considered in my circle the gold standard of semi-affordable first-bike groupset. The components are usually easy to upgrade to Ultegra or Dura-Ace down the line, and the componentry’s actually pretty pleasant. Tiagra is probably the lowest I’d go to consider it a raceable bike and I would not choose Dura-Ace as my first road bike, but your mileage may of course vary.

It will be common for you to find a lower-end bike with a mixed groupset, like all Claris with a Sora chain. This is normal - you’re looking mostly at the shifters, derailleurs, and brakes. I would start getting worried if you’re mixing more than 2 groupsets, if you have a mix of Shimano and SRAM (BIG yikes), or if you’re in more than two contiguous tiers.

I started on 105 and upgraded the majority of my groupset to Ultegra by the time I cracked my front derailleur hanger 4 years later. A friend and former teammate very kindly shifted me over to a one-by SRAM Rival setup. Both have used FSA crankarms and a BB30 bottom bracket. The bottom bracket would probably be what gave me the most trouble. Otherwise, I’ve had almost no issues that weren’t user error or weird mechanicals. I did do a 6-day self-supported bike trip up the California coast with a friend and managed to break my chain, both derailleur cables, and my front derailleur hanger, but I wouldn’t say that’s a common experience. Switching to SRAM was not difficult, the shifting mechanism (double-tap) is different but easy to get used to. You might have a big preference on how the two groupsets in a tier look compared to one another, at which point that’s honestly probably the groupset you should get because my staunch position is that if you like the way your bike looks you will ride it more.

There is a good guide to all of the available Shimano groupsets here if you would like to read more about the specifics of these groupsets: https://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/your-complete-guide-shimano-road-bike-groupsets-206768. [NB: this link changed in Sep. 2020 and may change again in the future. If the link is broken and I haven’t noticed, search for “your complete guide to shimano road bike groupsets road.cc”]

Wheels and tires

Your bike will likely come with both wheels and tires! How great. If you are buying used without wheels for some reason or building up your own bike from a frame, generally the first set of wheels you buy will be stock-level wheels, where they’re enough to get you running but cheap enough to leave you with some budget for when you have more opinions further down the line. If you want to buy a ‘good’ set of wheels right off the bat and not worry about them, check if you have a local wheelbuilder (ours was John Jones at https://www.jonesprecisionwheels.com and I cannot recommend him highly enough) who can set you up with something that’ll work for your specific riding style.

Wheel compatibility issues include disk brake v. rim brake compatibility, freehub gearing compatibility, wheel size, and tire width compatibility. Thru-axles are also becoming popular enough that it’s worth checking that your wheel will be compatible with the minimum amount of fuss. If your bike comes new and complete with wheels, they will undoubtedly have no compatibility issues. If not, check what type of brakes your frame is set up to use, as that will determine your choices in the first category, and what number of gears your rear derailleur will do, which will narrow your choices further. Some wheel manufacturers make adapter kits for converting, say, a 10-speed-compatible rear wheel to 11-speed compatibility. It is highly unlikely you will need or be offered by a competent dealer a size of wheel other than 700cc, unless you’re one of the lucky few who get to save money with a junior bike. In either case, your tire width will also need to be compatible with the wheel.

Tires come in many a width, usually around 23-27 is what you will find on an entry-level road bike. The lower the number the thinner they are, which means faster but also means more responsive and less stable-feeling. 25 is a good starting point, and your wheel and frame are likely to fit that as well as 23s or 27s if you feel the need to change that up. I think our race standard was 23, 25 was more comfortable, and 27s were for the people who ran their road bikes as off-roaders or gravel bikes (that being said, I offroad my 25s fairly regularly and it’s not a big deal).

There is a long and storied debate over different brands of tires. Continental Grand-Prix (Conti GP) is a household name, as is Gatorskin. I ride Schwalbes because that’s what I’m used to, I really like the Durano Double Defence line. If you’re just starting out, it is unlikely you will feel a major difference between any “reputable” manufacturer or tire type unless it is called out as a weird type of tire like a trainer tire (which is for use only on stationary ‘trainers’). Tires are probably the most frequent thing you’ll change on your bike (maybe excepting brake pads or chain, depending on your setup) and also typically one of the least expensive, so there’s not much pressure to get it right, right away.

Saddles, pedals, bar tape, saddlebags, and accessories

Once you’ve found your bike, you’ll have an entirely new world of accessory options open to you. With the exception of saddles and pedals, I think all of them are mostly dependent on what looks best to you, even if the choices make slight differences in your ride.

Saddles are something you genuinely do have to feel out. Every bike shop I’ve seen does test rides for saddles, which should get you pretty close. Either way, you’ll be riding a flat saddle that doesn’t have much padding. Your butt (specifically, your sit-bones) will hurt for a few weeks. This is normal, and it goes away. It is not a problem with your stock saddle, unless you have intense pain and/or pain somewhere else like in the top of your hips or in your knees.

Bike shoes and pedals are a combo component - you need to watch out for compatibility. Shimano make some decent entry-level bike shoes if you’re looking to clip in (ride with ‘clipless’ pedals - I know, I promise it makes more sense historically). SPD-SLs are a common first pedal choice for road, while people who ride cross on their road bikes often like Crankbrothers pedals for use in muddier situations. Speedplays and Look would probably be the other two ‘big’ brands. If you’re not looking to clip in, you can wear any old shoes and choose whichever flat pedal looks and feels the best to you.

Bar tape is pretty much a fashion accessory. Some bar tapes will have more padding than others, and more padding absorbs more shock. If you’re worried, you can always double-wrap your bars - wrap the padding-filled one first and then the one you like the look of over top of it.

Saddlebag size influences how much you can carry with you. If you want to ride with a backpack, you don’t strictly need a saddlebag. A small saddlebag that fits discreetly under your saddle will likely be enough for a tube, some CO2 cartridges (if you don’t carry a pump), tire levers, and a multitool. Handlebar bags are also mildly in fashion, but one of those things where it takes a certain style to pull it off without looking dorky.

Bike bibs have padding to make the ride more comfortable (your sit bones will be sore the first few weeks no matter what you do, though, you can’t escape it and don’t even try) and straps that keep you from having to pull your shorts up mid-ride, while jerseys help regulate your temperature. Those together are called “kits.” Kits are also mostly fashion until you’re at the point where you feel strongly about certain types of fabric for the specific weather in which you’re riding. I can vouch for Castelli’s higher-end stuff, but I also know several people who ride in less expensive Amazon kits and love them. Some other brands if you’re trying to get really fancy are Machines for Freedom, Velocio, Assos, Rapha, and Black Sheep.

Cycling computers, like a Garmin or Cateye, plus heart rate monitors, speed and cadence sensors, power meters, etc. are all after-market additions you can look at if you think they will improve your enjoyment or efficiency.

HELMETS ARE NOT OPTIONAL. Helmets are mandatory. They are dorky. It is okay. MIPS has been said to work well in mitigating head trauma during crashes, so if you can spring for a MIPS helmet then that might be a good investment. Many popular helmet brands (Bell, Giro, Specialised, Bontrager) have MIPS options.

Brands and bike shop choice

Your choice of bike will largely be limited by where you buy it. If there is a local bike shop in your area, check it out. If you like it, support them by buying your bike there. They’ll often be able to give you a slight discount off MSRP, and you’ll help support valuable community infrastructure.

Bike shops will often be limited to one or two brands of road bike, so that’ll narrow down your choices. Otherwise, you can look at buying online. Wiggle and Ribble are two UK bike shops that deliver to the US, and Tommaso does online sales as well.

Some of the most recognisable bike brands will be:

Trek - https://www.trekbikes.com
Cannondale - https://www.cannondale.com
Specialised - https://www.specialized.com
Giant - https://www.giant-bicycles.com

Also worth a look if you want to dive deeper:

Bianchi - https://www.bianchi.com
Ritchie-Logic - https://us.ritcheylogic.com
Canyon - https://www.canyon.com
BMC - https://us-en.bmc-switzerland.com
Orbea - https://www.orbea.com/us-en
Cervelo - http://cervelo.com
Pinarello - http://www.pinarello.com
Colnago - https://www.colnago.com

And then there are custom framebuilders like Stinner in Santa Barbara, but if you’re going that route please consider consulting resources that are a bit more geared toward higher-end purchases.

Again, you might find the geometry on any bike to be comfortable regardless of whether or not it’s ‘women’s-specific,’ so if you have the good fortune to test a bike in person don’t discount any of your options in that arena.

I generally think you’ll get the most value for your money with one of the big brands (Giant may or may not be strictly on that list, but erring on the side of inclusivity). At the following price points, these are about the bikes you’re looking at with the big four in March 2020:

Below/at $1000 MSRP
Trek - Dolmane AL2 (Women’s) at $860 - 2x8 Claris
Cannondale - CAAD Optimo Sora at $1000 - 2x9 Sora. There’s two Claris models at $850 and $875, but the Sora is a substantial enough upgrade that I would consider it.
Specialised - Allez at $850 - 2x8 Claris. This is in my opinion the most popular road bike on the market under $1000. The Dolce is the equivalent geared toward women.
*Giant - Contend 1 at $950 - 2x9 Sora
[Note: Giant also makes what looks like a promising $640 Contend with Claris componentry]

$1000-1500 MSRP
Trek - Domane AL3 at $1020 - 2x9 Sora
*Cannondale - CAAD Optimo 105 at $1320 - 2x11 105
*Specialised - Allez Elite at $1350 - 2x11 105
Giant - Contend SL2 at $1260 - 2x10 Tiagra. This one comes with a 700x28 wheelset, so it feels more geared toward gravel.

$1500-2000 MSRP
*Trek - Émonda ALR 5 Disc at $1760 - 2x11 105. This is a thru-axle bike, which is a different method of attaching wheels to the frame. Disk brakes
*Cannondale - CAAD13 Women’s 105 at $1800 - 2x11 105. The SuperSix Evo and one of the Synapse options is right around this price point, too. The Synapse is an endurance bike, the SuperSix is the lowest configuration of their next highest model after the CAAD13.
Specialised - Ruby at $1900 - 2x10 Tiagra, disk brakes
Giant - Defy Advanced 3 at $1840 - 2x10 Tiagra, disk brakes

Re: Specialised and Giant in this last tier, I would personally opt for 105 instead of disk brakes, but that might not be the best choice for your terrain and riding style.

*Stars denote what I think is the best value for a given price range. Giant is sometimes regarded as a ‘cheap’ bike company because they do make a wide range of affordable bikes, and I think that’s honestly where they shine. I’d look hard at the $640 Contend from them if that were my price range. If you like the look of Trek, that ALR 5 Disc at $1760 doesn’t look bad at all. You’ll need to want disc brakes, but I wouldn’t necessarily call that a minus. Trek is a slight third to the twin pair of Cannondale-Specialised big-name road bike brands, in my circles, but their bikes are workhorses and I haven’t heard negative reviews from people who ride them. They also name all of their higher models with anagrams, which is fun! (Émonda, Domane, Madone). I’m very biased toward Cannondale, but I’d grab their CAAD Optimo 105 for $1350 out of all of the Cannondales listed here. It’s a solid 105 groupset at a comfortable price point. From Specialised, I’d look at the $1350 Allez or the equivalent Dolce. 105 is such a smoother riding experience than Claris that I’d be hard-pressed to go with the $850 Allez.

My first road bike

The very first road bike I rode was a loaner from my team, a Specialised Dolce. I loved that bike to bits, culminating in a ride where I took it off the side of a mountain going 35mph. Thankfully, it came out absolutely unscathed, just a bent derailleur hanger, and I got a ride home with only a bruised cheekbone to show for it (and maybe some long-term shoulder injuries, but who’s counting). The next month, I purchased my own road bike, a Cannondale CAAD10. The 3,500 or so miles that I spent on the Dolce were enough to give me a fairly clear picture of what I wanted in my “first” bike. My choice was based on the 105 groupset, the available frame size (44), and the fact that I really liked the look of Cannondales. I updated the wheelset first, then (I think) the saddle, cassette, and pedals. I still ride and absolutely love my pocket rocket, I mentioned above that it was rebuilt as 1x11 SRAM Rival, after 19,000 miles it’s still my go-to daily driver. You can see some of the terrible things I’ve put it through on the Ride Reports page.

I’ve also had the good fortune to ride an 80s steel Peugeot frame with downtube shifters in France for a year, and I recently happened to acquire a custom-painted carbon Ritchie bike with an Ultegra setup. They’re all extremely different rides, and all of them would be fun for their own adventures. If you find a bike you love, it really doesn’t matter what the componentry is because you’ll ride it more often and enjoy it more, but playing around with things is also a good time.

More resources

Geometry
Geometry Geeks: Understanding Bike Geometry

Frame materials
REI on frame materials

Wheels
BikeRadar’s Buyer’s Guide to Wheels
BikeExchange wheel explainer

Groupsets
Road.cc: Your Complete Guide to Shimano Road Bike Groupsets
Cycling Weekly on groupsets

GCN (the Global Cycling Network, they do really good videos about cycling mechanics and culture)
Tips for buying a used bike
Buying your first road bike
How to buy the best road bike for you (higher-end-oriented)

This guide was published 24 March 2020 and last updated 14 September 2020