Bicycle repair online supplier right now: What are the best gear options for a road bike? When choosing a new road bike it’s important that you think about the gears it comes equipped with. Fortunately if you’ve already matched your potential bike to the kind of riding you plan on doing, there’s a good chance that the gear choice will also be well-suited. An out-and-out race bike may come with a more traditional gearing set-up, for example 53/39 tooth chainset paired with an 11-30 tooth cassette. However road bikes that fall into the endurance or sportive categories are likely to have a compact chainset, most likely a 50/34, and a cassette that will have 30, 32, 34 or even 36 teeth as the largest option. The lower gears will help you to both tackle steep hills with more ease and generally pedal with a higher cadence. However, this can mean larger gaps between gear ratios. There are other options out there too. SRAM, for example, now offers its eTap AXS groupsets with 48/35, 46/33 and 43/30t chainsets. Paired with its cassettes starting at 10 teeth, these give similar highest gear ratios to traditional gearing starting at 11 teeth, but greater low-end gear range for easier climbing and less need to shift between chainrings on undulating roads. Read more details at specialized mountain bike.

Because this bike has high clearance, you can ride it not only on paved roads but also on bumpy streets or gravel paths. Plus, the composite fork (which connects the frame and the front wheel of the bike), grouped with the composite seatpost and ergonomic saddle, absorbs shock, making every ride feel smoother. The flat handlebars tend to be more comfortable— especially for those new to road cycling — as they allow you to sit in a more upright position. “The flat handlebars are generally more comfortable, allowing the rider to be in an upright position, which any cyclist, but especially a beginner rider, would appreciate.

The Cervélo S5 garnered top spot in our Race Bike of the Year awards in 2023. We rated its straight line speed, but also its cornering ability and superb ride quality. It’s the handling that sets it apart from other fast aero bikes though: fast to respond to a change of line but not twitchy. We rated with Reserve wheels, with their internal width helping to add comfort to the tires and progression when cornering. It’s not the lightest bike, tipping the scales at over 8kg, but you don’t feel that when riding. If you want some validation of the bike’s qualities, how about 2022 Tour de France yellow and green jerseys and a slew of one day race wins?

Trek took note of riders’ needs, added more oomph to the latest electrified version of its all-road bike, and made it Class 3. (E-bike manufacturers have been conservative making bikes in this category, likely because each state’s restrictions differ—most allow Class 3 bikes in bike lanes and on roads, but you might not be able to take them on bike paths in some areas.) TQ’s impressively compact motor that lives in the bottom bracket is nearly silent and generates up to 300-watts of assistance and 50 Newton-meters of torque. The 360-watt-hour battery housed in the downtube gives the Domane+ SLR a range of up to 90 miles using standard energy-savings settings. Like the standard Domane, the Domane+ SLR has a sleek OCLV carbon frame with endurance-focused geometry for confident handling. Trek’s vibration-damping IsoSpeed decoupler (a mechanical pivot that lets the seat tube flex independent of the top tube) kept us feeling fresh on longer rides. We were also inclined to venture off the pavement, thanks to the generous tire clearance that let it run 40 millimeter-wide gravel tires.

Specialized’s 2023 update of the Allez has added disc brakes in place of the rim brakes on the older model. That has allowed it to increase tire clearance to a more substantial 35mm or 32mm with mudguards. That in turn has added an extra dose of comfort to the ride and means that the new Allez can handle light gravel duties and isn’t confined to tarmac. The base model bike has Shimano Claris 8-speed shifting and mechanical disc brakes. Claris has big jumps between gear ratios on the 11-32t cassette, while the mechanical disc brakes don’t have the stopping power of hydraulics. Discover extra details at https://www.capitolcyclery.com/.

There’s a smorgasbord of great choices in this category right now. If you’re after the ultimate aero gains, you’ll either have to head into a wind tunnel or do some instrumented on-road testing to find out which offers the most performance for your particular body. However, if you’re the type of roadie that wants to go fast without giving up much in the way of other performance aspects—such as comfort and handling—the Propel is an incredible machine. The fourth-generation Domane retains its signature vibration-damping IsoSpeed flex system built into the frame and receives a more aerodynamic carbon chassis. With these changes, this new Domane struck our testers as more balanced than before, easily absorbing road chatter and high-frequency vibrations. Credit goes to the high-volume, 32-millimeter tubeless tires and Bontrager’s Pro IsoCore carbon handlebar. The Domane is very stiff and efficient when you step on the gas, with nary a hint of bottom bracket flex. It’s a similar story up front with the huge head tube area confidently resisting undue twisting when you rise out of the saddle for a sprint or steep uphill pitch. This bike is one of only a few that confidently straddles the line between road and gravel: The handling is quick, like a traditional road machine, but with clearance for tires up to 40 millimeters wide, it’s well suited to light gravel duties.