If you’ve been paying attention to BikeRadar over the past 12 months, you’ll have found it impossible to ignore the fact that an array of lovely looking bikes have been released in 2022.
While the sight of those sparkly new paintjobs and fancy-sounding manufacturer claims might be tempting you to loosen the purse strings, we’ve got five very good reasons why you don’t need a new bike.
It won’t make you much faster
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The latest bikes certainly come with promises of smoother suspension, aero claims, and visions of adventures into the wilderness.
However, they’re not going to turn you instantly into a significantly faster, or technically better, rider. We know, annoying, right?
This applies to the best road bikes, gravel bikes and mountain bikes, so if you were hoping to spend your way to cycling stardom, you might be disappointed.
Take those aero road bikes that look more like spaceships. Given the same position, components and power output, the fancy tube shapes are only going to save you a few watts.
Instead, you could spend some time working on your flexibility. Increasing this will enable you to ride in a more aerodynamic position.
So, if you’re keen to splash the cash, we’d recommend optimising your current setup and clothing because this will be a far more cost-effective way to go faster.
When it comes to smashing a gravel or road race, there’s no better use of your money than some coaching. Paying someone to tell you to train does wonders for your ability to actually do the hard yards, and having a professional to guide you through preparing for an event makes it a whole lot easier.
Stick with it and trust the process, and you’ll be amazed at how much fitter you’ll get.
And mountain bikers, instead of simply buying more suspension travel or extra slack, you might want to spend some money on coaching to improve an area of your technique.
Bikes are more expensive
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You might have noticed that bike prices have gone through the roof in recent years and it means the upgrade you’ve flirted with is going to set you back a potentially silly amount of money.
An Ultegra-level road bike, for example, can now set you back to what a Dura-Ace bike used to be. While the bike industry might point to rising shipping and manufacturing costs, more complex frame shapes, disc brakes and a host of other things, we’re still struggling to keep up with the rise in prices.
Gravel bikes also carry a hefty premium these days, with the industry sensing a growing gap in the market. Most come with groupsets that we saw updated several years ago.
If you’re dead set on buying a new bike, this is one of the best times ever to buy second-hand. Yes, it has its risks, but if you do your research and are prepared to replace a few worn components when needed, you can get yourself a new-to-you bike for a fraction of what the seller will have paid originally.
Two good places to browse are Facebook Marketplace and eBay – or The Pro’s Closet in the USA. The former is a bit better for finding bikes in your local area, but the latter two come with much better buyer protections. So, if you’re new to the second-hand buying game, it might be worth sticking with them.
A full service can make an old bike feel like new
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If you want to get that new bike feeling, but your budget just won’t stretch, tinkering with your existing bike can get you part way there.
A full service, some new tape or grips, fresh tyres and a gear tune will give you the same fuzzy feeling inside, especially if you take the time to book it into a proper bike shop and let them do all of the hard work.
Those of us who have a nice summer bike will take great joy in assigning a Saturday afternoon to stripping down, cleaning and reassembling our pride and joy.
To get yourself primed for some quality shed time, our top tip is to make a list of any jobs that need doing in the month leading up to a service.
This will enable you to get the spares and tools you might need to get the job done as quickly as possible. Or, if you’re taking it to your friendly local mechanic, they’ll have a much better idea of what needs doing on top of their basic checks.
Aside from feeling smug come spring, you might just save yourself some money too because parts that wear quickly, such as chains, can be replaced before they chew through more expensive components such as cassettes.
Bikes haven’t progressed a huge amount recently
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We’ll park this argument for the mountain bike world because tech and frame design have seen more progress there. However, on the road side of things, everything now seems to be a rough combination of aero and lightweight.
We love seeing the trend of new bikes floating around the UCI’s minimum weight limit of 6.8kg, while also seeing impressively aero frames.
But, unless you’re racing, many of us at BikeRadar would argue those performance upgrades aren’t necessarily worth the cost of a new whip.
So what is actually stopping progression on the road bike side of things? Well, the road bike market is led by professional road racing and consumers often want to ride what the pros use.
As a result, the UCI would have to remove the minimum weight limit for the lightweight bike category to see any sort of revival.
And for aero road bikes to get significantly faster, they’d have to make further amendments to their bike design rules. Seeing as they’ve only just adjusted these for 2023, and considering the general public’s continued love of low weights, we’d say it’s unlikely.
N+1 is dead
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There has never been a better time to own just one bike. With the humble gravel bike, you can have a platform that is capable of racking up some big road miles, blasting along trails and even tackling the stuff we’d have traditionally assigned to a cross-country mountain bike.
Okay, so if you want to do one discipline really seriously, you’ll probably want a bike that’s suited perfectly to the job, but if you’re like us and love riding your bike in as many places as possible, this is our favourite way to go.
Owning just one bike is so much simpler than having to clean and maintain a small fleet.
If you’re tight on space, or just can’t afford to invest in another bike for another discipline, then try modifying your bike for oodles of versatility – you might be surprised.