How to choose your road bike frame?

Revealing the behaviour and characteristics of your road bike, choosing a frame requires taking several elements into consideration. Here are the basics for making the right choice.

Standards

When choosing your frame, make sure you correctly identify its various standards in order to choose the rest of your components, a list of which is given below:

• The type of headset
• The type of bottom bracket
• The type of front derailleur

Materials

Aluminium

Aluminium frames generally offer a good comfort/performance compromise at an affordable price. Competitors often criticise them for excessive weight and a lack of rigidity, but this material has undergone significant developments in recent years. It is now possible to find high-end aluminium frames that come close to the performance of carbon.

Two types of aluminium are mainly used: 6061 and 7005. The former is considered lighter, while the latter, being more resistant, allows less material to be used in the construction of the frame. Some manufacturers also offer scandium frames. Combined with aluminium, it provides a weight saving of 10 to 15%.

Carbon

Carbon is the material of choice in modern road cycling. Combinable endlessly with various fibres, it allows for particularly high-performing and lightweight frames to be produced. However, it is important to highlight that not all carbon frames are identical in terms of elasticity or rigidity. Often considered somewhat too elitist for those who simply want to enjoy a leisurely ride, they are undoubtedly well suited to experienced athletes and competitors.

The geometry of a frame allows you to optimise your bike for its intended use. It is defined by the dimensions and angles between the various tubes that make up your frame. Even though all of them are important, you can get a good idea of the overall geometry using two values:

Chainstay length
On average at 405 mm, they can be longer for more comfort and stability, or shorter for more responsiveness and reactivity.

Head tube length
This value varies depending on the frame size, but on a size 54 for example, the head tube averages 155 mm. A longer head tube results in a more upright position for greater comfort, while a shorter head tube leads to a more forward-leaning and more aerodynamic position for maximum performance.

Frame shape
Finally, you will often hear talk of a sloping frame. This simply means that the top tube is lower on the seat tube side than on the head tube side. This geometry provides better rigidity, for greater responsiveness and snappier accelerations.

Which road bike suits my riding style?

For occasional use, an aluminium frame will more than meet your expectations, with a slightly longer head tube and chainstays than average for greater comfort and handling stability.

Performance above all is the essence of a carbon frame with an aggressive geometry, meaning a relatively low cockpit and short chainstays combined with a longer top tube for a better pedalling position and greater aerodynamics.

A rapidly growing discipline, Gravel takes inspiration from road frames with adjustments, particularly in terms of sloping, that allow a variety of roads to be tackled: country lanes, forest roads, gravel roads and tarmac alike. An aluminium frame is the choice for leisure riding and a carbon frame for performance.

In Time Trial / Triathlon, carbon dominates today, and rightly so. The various manufacturing processes allow frames that are simultaneously high-performing, aerodynamic and lightweight to be produced.

For Track enthusiasts, purists will opt for an aluminium frame, but if it is the podium you are aiming for, you will need to go for carbon, which will offer maximum performance without compromise.