10 Things You Need to Know Before Buying Your First Road Bike

If you're buying a road bike for the first time, here are the things you should know.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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For people who don't know what they're doing, walking into a bike shop in 2014 can be daunting. There are so many brands, so many styles, so many different bikes made for so many different things. Even narrowing down the scope—in this case to road bikes—doesn't make things much easier. There is still seemingly so much to learn. The best thing to do is try out a lot of bikes, and find what works best.

But before that, it's good to read up and know a little before even setting foot in the door. So, to try and make things a little simpler, we broke down some basic knowledge that ought to make the whole process a little less mystifying. Here are 10 Things You Need to Know Before Buying Your First Road Bike.

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Figure out its main purpose.

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Understand what "expensive" means.

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Sizing is extremely important.

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Bikes say something.

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You will upgrade things.

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Do materials matter?

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Electronic or mechanical?

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Every bike is laterally stiff and vertically compliant.

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You are not entering the Tour de France.

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It's not fast or slow, you are.

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