Guide To Road Bike Gears

If you are buying a road bike one of the big differences between models will be which gears they use. Most manufacturers will make the same bike, using the same frame but putting different gears and wheels on it. So for instance you can buy a Trek Domane AL 2 Disc with Shimano Claris gearing for £975 or get the Trek Domane AL 4 Disc with Tiagra gearing for £1625. They are fundamentally the same bike. One comes with the Shimano Tiagra gears and the other comes with Shimano Claris gears.

In most cases, the bottom of the range gears and top of the range gears will basically work in the same way. The big differences are in the quality of material used and the weight. Top of the range gears will be lighter and smoother to use.

One thing to watch out for when comparing bikes is whether the full groupset is being used. If you are buying a bike that has Shimano 105 gears on it. Shimano makes 105 brakes, gear levers, front and rear derailleurs, cranks, chainrings and bottom brackets. So basically all of the running gear on the bike. Some bike manufacturers will fit the full groupset, others will fit Shimano 105 front and rear derailleurs but use their own brakes and cranks to save a few pounds. So if you are comparing bikes be sure to check how much of the groupset the bike actually uses.

Read our Guide to Road Bike Gears

Road Bike Buying Guide

Nothing beats the feeling of effortless speed you get on a road bike. There are lots of reasons to ride a road bike, from the simple joy of it, to racing, long distance challenges, or café rides with friends. Whatever you want to do there will be road bike out there for you.

Men’s and Women’s road bikes

Nearly all manufacturers have stopped making dedicated men’s and women’s bikes. They are now all unisex. What you will see is that on smaller bikes, brands will often fit a wider saddle (generally more female friendly). On larger bikes they will often fit a narrower one (generally more male friendly).

Disc or rim brakes

It is getting increasingly hard to buy new bikes with rim brakes as the industry has almost exclusively switched to discs. The reasons for this are pretty simple. Disc brakes are much, much, more powerful than old rim brake systems so you can stop a lot more easily and safely. Disc brakes also allow much bigger tyres to be fitted which is more comfortable. Older disc brake systems did often suffer from rubbing and squeaking. While this hasn’t been completely fixed yet it is much less common on modern bikes with hydraulic brakes. Mechanical disc brakes can still take a bit of fettling to get them right so go for hydraulic if you can.

Read our full road bike buying guide

Who are BMC?

BMC (Bicycle Manufacturing Company) began in 1986 – distributing Raleigh bikes. By 1994 they were making their own. The earliest days of BMC saw fast and monumental innovation across the bicycle industry. The late '80s and early 90's defined the ambitions of cycling, and BMC was perfectly positioned to make the fastest of those ambitions real. In 2000 Andy Rihs, chairman of the Phonak Group, took over BMC, and the brand invested more in engineering and design; this saw BMC move from a quality niche bike company to a world premium bike brand.

"From the earliest days, BMC has always focused on creating speed. We've spent decades building our sport, refining ideas, and pushing technologies to their limits. Fast, unrelenting, and iconic."

BMC continued innovating and focussing on speed, opening BMC Impec Lab in 2010. The research facility allows the BMC engineering team to innovate & refine new ideas at an unmatched pace. This has led to the refinement, advancements, and innovations in developing faster bikes in the decades since. This singular focus on speed has led them to become the renowned brand they are today.

Read more about BMC Bikes

Please note: Manufacturers can sometimes change the specification of the products from time to time.