Road Bike Chain Buying Guide

The ultimate guide to buying a road bike adam kavanagh july 11 2016.

Road bike chain buying guide. The complete guide to buying a bicycle. Road race bikes road bikes of the road racing kind will offer you an exciting fast and fun experience. Our road bike buying guide will go through each type of road bike helping you to choose the best bike for you. The type of chain you need will depend on the type of bike you are riding.

To wrap it up we want to say to keep the quality classes in mind. An 11 speed chain for example is narrower than a 9 speed chain as the sprockets on the 11 speed cassette have a narrower spacing between them. Bike chain selection is firstly decided based upon the speed of the chain. A number of different chain widths are available to suit specific bike types such as bmx or to fit different road and mtb drivetrains e g.

Unless you run a belt drive the chain is one of the hardest working components on your bicycle. Most modern road bikes feature a dual ring set up with a front mech being responsible for shifting duties. The most popular biking purpose is road tracks and if you want your bike to feel light on the road then consider buying alloy model. Besides the chains must match the speed of the bike.

And 1 3 in the front chainrings. Designed to reduce your frontal profile from the wind road bikes typically place the rider in a more athletic and lower position compared to more recreational bike types. This is because it determines the width of the chain. For example time trail triathlon and some other specific types don t have disc brakes.

If we add the brake aspect to the road bike buying guide then we would suggest you look for disc brakes unless you ride a specific type of road bike that doesn t use them. Even when pedalling at a normal cadence a huge amount of metal on metal contact is continuously. The drivetrain is a closed circuit which propels the bike and as you spend more money the efficiency. A classic road racing bike for example may use a 53t large chainring while a bike more aimed at leisure and sportive riding may use a 50t large chainring as part of a hill friendly compact chainset.

This also helps to recruit additional muscle groups such as the hamstrings and glutes. The drivetrain consists of the cranks chainrings chain cassette derailleurs and shifters. Most use a traditional chain but some city bikes feature belt drives. One of the major advantages of nickel plated models is their ability to withstand corrosion.