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

Trek made their first bikes in 1976 in a barn in Wisconsin. Now they’re one of the biggest bike brands in the world. Trek bikes cover everything from professional-level road and mountain bike race bikes to commuters, hybrids and kids bikes. There is a strong heritage of racing at Trek and many Trek bikes have a strong race influence. They take a very scientific approach to researching bike and human performance and then make the fastest and most efficient bikes they can.

It doesn’t stop their attention and passion for cycling flows through everything they do. Since the 1990s, Trek has supported Places for Bikes. Places for Bikes is an advocacy organisation in the USA that gets more people on bikes more often! Places for Bikes ethos falls in line with the companies mission statement to:

Build only products we love. Provide incredible hospitality to our customers, and change the world by getting more people on bikes.

Frame - 500 Series OCLV Carbon, KVF (Kammtail Virtual Foil) tube shape, adjustable top tube IsoSpeed, invisible cable routing, 3S aero chain keeper, T47 BB, flat-mount disc, Duo Trap S-compatible, 142x12 mm thru-axle

Frame fit - H1.5 Race

Wheel front - Bontrager Aeolus Elite 50, OCLV Carbon, Tubeless Ready, 100x12 mm thru axle

Wheel rear - Bontrager Aeolus Elite 50, Tubeless Ready, 100x12 mm thru axle

Max tyre size - 28c

Shifter - Shimano 105 R7170, 12-speed

Front derailleur - Shimano 105 R7150 Di2, braze-on, down swing

Rear derailleur - Shimano R7150

Crank - Shimano 105 R7100, 50/34

Bottom bracket - Praxis, T47 threaded, internal bearing

Cassette - Shimano 105 7100, 11-34, 12-speed

Chain - Shimano SLX M7100, 12-speed

Max. chainring size 1x: 50T, 2x: 54/40

Saddle - Bontrager Aeolus Comp, steel rails, 145 mm width

Seatpost - Madone aero carbon internal seat mast cap, integrated light mount, 5 mm offset

Handlebar - Bontrager Elite Aero VR-CF, alloy, 31.8 mm, invisible cable routing, 93 mm reach, 123 mm drop

Handlebar tape - Bontrager Supertack Perf tape

Stem - Bontrager Pro, 31.8 mm, Blendr-compatible, 7-degree

Brake rotor - Shimano RT70, CentreLock, 160 mm

Rotor size - Max brake rotor sizes: 160 mm front and rear

Weight - 56cm - 8.70 kg / 19.19 lbs

Weight limit - This bike has a maximum total weight limit (combined weight of bicycle, rider and cargo) of 125 kg (275 lb).

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