Published in the August-September 2002 issue of the Spoke'n Word, newsletter of the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club
My friend Laurie recently told me that she and her daughter were planning to do the Canada>U.S. AIDS Vaccine Ride. This ride goes from Montreal, Canada to Portland, Maine in five days, for a total of 400 miles. She wanted to buy a new bike for the event, and asked for my advice. I sent her the following email message (which I have edited for publication):
Hi Laurie!
So you’re doing the Canada>U.S. AIDS Vaccine ride. You already have a good mountain bike, but it is not well suited to a long road ride like this one. A road bike would be the best choice. It’s like a Ferrari compared to a Jeep: while the Jeep works best off-road, the Ferrari is meant for the open road.
You can get a good idea of the quality of a bike by its components. Most road bike components are made by Shimano or Campagnolo. The different levels of Shimano components (from lowest to highest) are: Sora, Tiagra, 105, Ultegra, and Dura-Ace. For Campagnolo, they are: Xenon, Mirage, Veloce, Centaur, Chorus, and Record. You can find more information about these product lines at the manufacturers' websites.
Don’t be too impressed by a brand name. There are some big companies that make very good products, but you will sometimes pay more for the name. The small builders typically pay more attention to detail, and offer more bikes for specific needs. Get a bike that is right for you, not for the corporate marketing department.
There are many kinds of frame materials: steel, aluminum, carbon fiber, and titanium. The last two are very expensive. Aluminum is light and cheap, so the majority of inexpensive bikes use it. However, low-end aluminum bikes usually give a very harsh ride. Racers prefer aluminum, since weight is paramount. And most racers are young, so they don't care if they get bounced around. Steel, on the other hand, gives a more supple and forgiving ride. For my purposes, I have found that the comfort of a steel bike on long rides is well worth the slight extra cost and weight.
You will need to know about clipless pedals. These pedals allow you to be much more efficient, so you can bike longer distances with much less effort. I would not even consider doing a long ride without them. There are several competing pedal systems. All of them have good and bad points. The perennial favorite on the European pro circuit is LOOK pedals, which is what I use.
I was once in a circumstance similar to you. I also wanted to do a long ride, and had decided to buy a new bike. At the time, I lived in Somerville, Massachusetts. I went to a local bike shop called Ace Wheelworks. Jacques, one of the salesmen there, told me (in his thick French accent, which impressed me because it gave him the aura of a former European pro rider) that the road bike I had was fine. What I really needed, he said, was clipless pedals: they would make more of a difference than a better bike. To make a long story short, he was right. I bought pedals from him, and I have used them ever since.
Make sure that whatever bike you get has a triple chainring. (In other words, it has three gears in front.) This design gives you a much wider gear range, typically extending the low end downward. It makes climbing steep hills much easier. Adapted from mountain bikes, this feature was originally considered heresy on a road bike. However, it is now becoming increasingly common. Around the Asheville area, I find it to be essential.
Bike fit is very important. Make sure the bike's frame is the right size for you. Then get it adjusted just for you. This usually involves a custom bike fitting, where a technician adjusts the seat height, seat fore-aft position, stem height, and handlebar position. Also, the new grooved seats are very comfortable for both women and men.
Learn road bike technique. There is more to it than hopping on and pedaling. You are most efficient at a high cadence (RPM), and it is much easier on the knees. Ankling is a subtle strategy that lets you get the most out of each crank revolution. Road etiquette is important (and required by law): signal all turns and stops, and obey all traffic laws. When riding with a group, it is helpful to point out road hazards to riders behind you, and oncoming cars to riders ahead of you. And when you get better at bike handling skills, drafting is an advanced way to conserve energy.
You might want to subscribe to a bike magazine, to get acquainted with the latest technology and terminology. I recommend Bicycling Magazine; it is the only one that still covers road bikes for the non-racer.
I also highly endorse the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club. Though they are mostly a mountain bike club, they do have quite a variety of road rides. Their ride leaders without exception are highly capable, and take great care to insure that everyone has a safe and enjoyable ride. If you join the BRBC, they will send you their monthly newsletter, the Spoke'n Word, containing listings of all their rides. Or you can subscribe to their online mailing list, which sends out much of the same information.
I have listed some of the local bike dealers below. All of them have people with road bike knowledge and expertise. They are all good stores, and all are worth a visit. Support your local bike store! You may have heard that you can get a better deal online. This is sometimes true. However, online retailers do not offer the same support after the sale that you get from a local bike store.
Good luck on the AIDS Vaccine ride. I hope you and your daughter make it all the way!
--greg
Postscript: Laurie bought a new Cramerotti
Cerreto road bike from Liberty Bicycles.
She chose the Shimano Ultegra triple component package, and Shimano SPD
clipless pedals. She also had a complete custom fitting at Liberty Bicycles.
After her first ride, she wrote to me, "Yes, I got my bike!!! It is sooo
awesome. I rode it on my regular route today ... I go faster, uphill isn't
quite as strenuous, and downhill I fly."
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