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Five tips to help you find the ‘perfect’ bicycle
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Bicycling has always been popular, and would be much more popular if so many people weren't intimidated by the abundance of bicycle makes and models. Here are 5 tips to help you find the "perfect" bicycle. "Perfect," in this case, means the bicycle that's right for YOU!
Let's face it: If a bike isn't just right for you, it could spend a lot of time in the garage or storage shed instead of the roads and trails of life where you wish to go! Don't let that happen to your bicycling enthusiasm. Take a look at these tips, and find the bicycle you want for the lifestyle you lead:
1. Where will you be riding your bicycle? Despite the huge selection of bike shops, department stores, and online bicycle sales (take a look around eBay for some idea of the multitude of used bikes available there alone), there are some fundamental styles of bikes based largely on where you wish to ride. You could summarize most bikes out there as either moutain bikes, hybrid bikes, cruising bikes, and road bikes. Once you know where you'll be riding, and how often you want to ride, you can decide what type of bicycle is best for you.
2. How tall are you? Such a simple question, but it has real implications when you buy a bike. If you are a shorter person, you don't want a bike with a tall frame that might cause you to hit the crossbar every time you stop. Likewise, if you're a taller person, you don't want your legs cramped uncomfortably. Also, the most efficient way to ride comfortably on a bicycle relates directly to getting one to fit your height and leg length. The best way to find an answer to the height of frame you need is to actually get on a bike, or at least stand next to one.
3. Ride the bicycle you want to buy, or at least one as much like it as possible. Find a friend who has a bike you like and talk him/her into letting you try it out. An advanced test drive like that may actually cause you to change your mind about the bike you thought you wanted!
4. Buy the best bike you can afford, not the cheapest. Especially in these recessionary times, it's easy to cut corners and get the bike you "almost" want. But it is worth the investment to get the bike you really do want if there's any way possible. The goal is not to "sort of" like and use your bicycle. Certainly, if you plan on using your bike for regular transportation -- perhaps even with a child carrier -- you want to know you can depend on the bicycle you buy. The goal is to find the bicycle you want to get you out on the bike!
5. Visit a local bike shop and ask specific questions. Good bike shop owners and employees develop genuine expertise and answer lots of questions. Take advantage of that and get specific information about the various styles of bikes, frame sizes, components, etc. Support your local bicycle shop and buy your bike there if you can. But even if you ultimately buy a bicycle online, you can find valuable information to help you make the right choice if you get to know local bike shop owners and local bike riders. Local bike shops are the place to go for those contacts -- and often for quality service you just won't find anywhere else.
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