Road Bicycle Reviews 2014

Bicycle shopping is hard. It must be; a fresh bike is a significant financial investment, and wading through a business filled toward top with marketing and advertising jargon doesn’t succeed any simpler. The yearly Velo Buyer’s Guide, on newsstands today, cuts through the nonsense as to what truly matters: choosing the most useful bicycles and gear the industry provides.

The 2014 Buyer’s Guide features more than 80 bikes, from lots of producers and across every price, alongside a lot more than 60 individually reviewed services and products. The very best helmets, shoes, clothing, plus are covered, with every piece hand-selected, ridden, and evaluated by itself merits by the Velo technical staff.

The target had been simple: no product would make it in to the Guide that our editors wouldn’t recommend to a pal.

Obviously, the Buyer’s Guide isn’t all gear reviews. The front regarding the concern is packed with practical advice, from wise updates to avoiding bad bike meets.

With rates of biking gear rising consistently lately, it’s crucial that you keep close track of the necessary performance-per-dollar ratio. Some improvements are simply smarter than others — less expensive, more effective, much more gorgeous. With $1, 000 in the pocket, tech blogger Logan VonBokel walks visitors through procedure of tuning a $2, 300 Cannondale SuperSix 5 for maximal performance benefit, and undoubtedly optimal driving enjoyment.

Lennard Zinn doesn’t want you to begin 2014 with a poor cycle fit; he delves into bike fit methods across time, from computer-guided modern methods to the old tape-measure standbys, debunking some preferred healthy fables in the process.

Spencer Powlison weighs in regarding the mountain bike wheel size debate, and his conclusions might surprise you. We’ve built a handy (albeit somewhat tongue-in-cheek) flowchart for the truly undecided — merely answer a few pre-determined questions, follow its course, and your perfect wheel dimensions will quickly provide itself.

Inside Guide’s address story, Velo technical editor Caley Fretz tackles concerns on the minds of many: are hydraulic road disc brakes ready for prime time? Performed SRAM’s recall cause the termination of technology, before it previously even got its footing? Or will all of us be riding hydraulic disks in two many years?

Eventually, look out for this year’s Horses for classes: six bikes, each chosen for its quality in a certain category, and custom-built by our technology staff becoming even better.

All this work plus in Velo’s 2014 Buyer’s Guide, on newsstands or perhaps in the Apple iTunes store.