Your first road bike: five checks before you buy

A road bike you like riding is one that fits you. Before looking at the colour, check these five points.

1. The frame size. Measure your inside leg: our sellers give a size guide on every bike page.
2. The material. Aluminium is light and affordable, steel is comfortable and lasts for decades, carbon is the lightest.
3. The gears. Two chainrings and eleven sprockets climb almost any hill.
4. The brakes. Disc brakes stop just as well in the rain.
5. The tyres. 28 to 32 mm are more comfortable on rough roads.

Photo: Adrian Flores princecycling (CC0), Wikimedia Commons