How Do You Choose the Right Bicycle?

Cycling is a great sport that can provide much exercise and fun at the same time. It can be done on your own or with a friend or spouse or family. There are a few things you may want to take into consideration when choosing the right bike for you. The information provided here may help simplify your decision by balancing your needs and budget. Expert staff and a wide range of bike types (backed by great manufacturers such as Trek and Giant) can help achieving your goal of choosing the right bicycle. A great warranty and expert service department are also very important.

Some factors to consider when picking the right bike for you are frequency, terrain, and use.

Frequency: How often do you envision riding your brand new bicycle?Twice per month, strictly weekends, or daily? This may help give you a general idea on how much bike you really need and perhaps help shape how much you want or need to invest. If you are going to use it to ride around the block a couple of times with your kid twice a month, you would probably agree that you do not need to spend $2,000. By the same token, if you are going to be using your bike every day and want the performance and longevity, you likely are going to want to invest more than $300.

Terrain: What type of terrain is in the area you live or where you plan on cycling? Will you primarily be riding on the street (is the paved road smooth or full of bumps and pot holes?), gravel, mud, hard-packed dirt, full of hills, straight (level terrain) or a combination of one or more of these. The answer to this will help determine what type of bike you need and what features you might want to look for including how you want to customize or add to your bike. If the path you will be mostly using your bike on is paved, but has some bumps and a few pot holes and some patches of light gravel, you may want to consider a hybrid bike with front suspension or mountain bike with semi-slick tires swapped onto them. This will help ensure you have a smoother, more comfortable ride.

If you are going to be riding on rough terrain with many bumps, tree stumps, and possibly rocks, (hard-core mountain biking) then the ideal bike for you may very well be a full-suspension mountain bike that includes both front and rear shock absorption systems.

If the terrain you will be riding on is miles and miles of 100% smooth paved road, then the bike for you might be a road or racing bike to give you the speed, smoothness and comfort you need. Accessories and components you may consider would be a comfortable seat, water bottle cage, bottle, clip-less pedals, cycling shorts and jersey.

Use: Will you be using your bike for commuting purposes, fun, exercise, long distance, racing or combination of one or more of these uses? Do you want to be the next Lance Armstrong and will you be doing long distance, hard-core road cycling and doing it often? If this is the case you may need a higher-end road bike that will give you the lighter-weight (yet strong) frame and performance components that will increase the life span of your bike, comfort and enjoyment of your ride, and the most important factor of helping to increase your chances to stay ahead of the pack.If this is not your cup of tea but you are more of a recreational rider around your neighbourhood or on a light trail in the park or path through the forest, then a hybrid (essentially a cross between a road bike and mountain bike) may be the bike for you. Hybrid or Cross bikes can provide much comfort for you with features that may include a suspension seat post, high-rise handlebars, adjustable stem and smooth-tread tires.

Of course the general rule of thumb applies to bikes, and that is you get what you pay for, and the quality, longevity and performance of a bike increases as the investment increases. A bicycle store with a good assortment and expertise to help choose the right bike for you that meets both your needs and your budget is key. Cycling can provide you limitless exercise, fun, and general good feeling experience.