York Road Bikes | Racing Bikes in York, North Yorkshire

Frame materials

Aluminium (AKA ‘alloy’), is what most high quality bike frames are made from these days and therefore relatively cheap. It’s very light and very stiff which makes it a good choice for the main frame of a performance bike, though a little too stiff for the front fork for which a little more ‘give’ is required for a bit of comfort.

Carbon fibre is currently the performance material of choice because it’s very light, but also versatile, in that it can be woven in different configurations to provide extra stiffness or a bit of flex as required in different parts of the frame. Pay more for more complex configurations that will further optimise the balance of strength to weight and stiffness to flexibility.

Steel is very durable and has a ‘high modulus of elasticity’ which basically means that it’s springy and comfortable when applied to bike frames. On decent steel bikes expect to find high quality branded steel alloys, the best of which have a higher strength to weight ratio than many aluminium alloys, so you can expect a very light bike. For this reason, it’s best suited to less hardcore road bikes such as those used in Sportifs.

Titanium is very durable and hard wonder metal that is expensive to produce and very hard to work with, albeit with very satisfying results to the purist. It can give you the ride comfort of steel, but with a similar weight to carbon or aluminium. For this reason you will find it on expensive recreational sports bikes, rather than on competitive models.

Road Bikes

‘Road bikes’ AKA ‘racing bikes,’ are pretty much the lightest and fastest things with pedals on two wheels. In terms of technological evolution and competitive aspiration, they represent for many the pinnacle of cycle culture. At such a level, minute differences in specification assume an importance that seems out of all proportion to the cost. There are plenty of people willing to pay £1000s for that difference and some very high class road bike specialists who cater to such tastes. If you are looking for a massive choice of exotic big-bling road bike brands with lots of writing all over them, then we are not the shop for you.

If on the other hand, you like the brands that we sell (Scott, Condor, Cannondale, Genesis, Surly and Ridgeback); are looking for some down to earth advice from experienced cyclists and technicians; and some good quality fairly mainstream equipment, then you have come to the right place. We offer a full custom build service on Condor, Surly and some Genesis framesets, complete with a comprehensive bike fitting service - which is free of charge with all new bikes. Below, we have set out for the uninitiated some things to consider when choosing a road bike, followed by a selection of the bikes that we offer.

The Frame

Road bikes are designed to be fast. To do this they have to be as light as possible and to be stiff enough in all the right places to enable the maximum power transfer from your legs to the back wheel. Against this, has to be set the demands of rider comfort on a bike that is ridden for hours at a time.

For a summary of the different frame materials see the column on the left. You will find aluminium frames with carbon forks on bikes from around £750. Our full carbon bikes currently start at £1,999.99. Pay a lot more for more complex configurations that will further optimise the balance of strength/weight and stiffness/flexibility. More hardcore road bikes are primarily made of carbon or aluminium

If you are looking for a road bike with a slightly more forgiving ride, for Sportifs or fast recreational riding, consider the Cannondale Synapse series (available in carbon at the top end), or something with a titanium or steel frame from Condor, Genesis or Ridgeback.

Components

Double chainsets are preferred by the sportiest riders, triple for those who need a bit more help with the hills and compact double for those seeking something in between. None of our road bikes come with pedals from the manufacturer so we will chuck in a set of Shimano SPDs FOC. Standard full length mudguards generally won’t fit on most top end road bikes, but we can supply so called ‘Raceblades’ which will afford some measure of protection for bike and rider for winter riding. If you are looking for mudguard clearance then consider the Cannondale Synapse range, Sportif models from Condor or the Scott Speedsters S55.

Key Features of Road Bikes

Very fast and light
Very sporty low riding position
No extra equipment
Choose your own pedals
Derailleur gears with high ratios
On road only!

Brands to consider

Condor, Scott, Genesis and and Cannondale

Alternatives

If you fancy something more robust and practical - Touring Bikes

Cannondale CAAD 10 2012
Cannondale
Road and Sportif Bikes
£1,399.99

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