Choosing the Right Bike

Choosing the bicycle that best fits your needs can be a somewhat daunting endeavor. Within these pages we hope to better define for you the different riding styles, the design process, different frame materials, and the various fabrication techniques that we employ. Our goal is to equip you with the tools necessary to guide you through the process of selecting your dream bike.

Defining Your Performance Style

In order to select the right high-performance bicycle you must first define your individual riding needs and goals. In other words, how will you use this bike? We have broken down the different categories into road and mountain and further defined the various styles within each of these disciplines.

Road Riding

Criterium - Short multi-lap race course usually less than one mile or kilometer in length, marked by hard cornering and lots of sprinting.

Circuit Race - Multi-lap road course which is typically 2+ miles in length.

Domestic Road Race - Open course with "improved" tarmac and safety support. Typically 30-100 miles in length.

European Road Race - More grueling races due to "less improved" tarmac, varied terrain, and array of landscape.

Stage Race - Long multi-day efforts with lots of rolling support. Courses are long and vary in landscape and condition.

Hilly Course/Triathlon - Sometimes "draft legal", the bike should be prepared to climb and descend, as well as time-trial.

Flat Course/Triathlon - Equip yourself for your best solo time-trial effort...defy the wind at all cost!

Non-Competitive Fitness - Club rides, centuries, or just your favorite 25-mile loop.

Fast Touring - Lightly loaded or not, plan a route and pack a credit card. No tents or cooking utensils allowed!

Loaded Touring - Lewis and Clark style. Panniers on front and rear, loaded for whatever comes your way.

Off-Road Riding

XC Racing - Light, nimble, and responsive is the name of the game. Give your best two hour effort and go home!

Adventure Racing - Efficient, comfortable, no excess weight, and able to go all night on mixed terrain.

All-Mountain - Epic all day mountain biking at its best. The perfect group, the perfect trail and no limitations.

4X / Slalom - Bar to bar racing...w.f.o.

Freeride / Big Hit - Gravity (and anti-gravity) is where it's at. Long descents and hard landings are not the exception.

On each bicycle page you will find a graph that demonstrates how well that particular bike will perform relative to the given riding style.

The optimum end of the scale indicates what the bike was specifically designed for, while the Capable designation denotes that the bike will perform adequately in that discipline, but that it was not specifically built for it. The Not Intended icon is pretty self explanatory, but it should be noted that in the case of mountain bikes especially, we don't recommend using that bike within that discipline as it may be dangerous and could actually void your warranty.

Selecting the Right Performance Attributes

Now that you have gone through the exercise of defining your riding style, you can begin to evaluate what performance attributes of your new bike are most important to you. There are five primary attributes that we feel are critical for selecting the right bicycle.

Stiffness
Durability
Aerodynamics
Stiffness vs. Weight
Ride Quality

Throughout this website you will see that we have rated each frame on a scale of 1 to 5 within each performance attribute. These attribute scores are based on our own internal rating scale and are intended to demonstrate the differences between the various Litespeed models within a given category. Other companies may use a different rating scale and therefore these measurements should not be used to compare against other products. However, the evaluations and comparisons provided are important and we do encourage you to ask performance-specific questions when comparing to other brands.

Stiffness

A frame's stiffness is directly related to efficient energy transfer from rider to rear wheel. In general, the stiffer the frame is the more power that is generated.

Stiffness vs. Weight

Although logic might indicate that stiffer is better, that may not always be the case. Some frames may actually be too stiff for the riding style you have chosen. That's why we have elected to offer an additional rating scale of stiffness in conjunction with a frame's relative weight. Bike weight is vitally important to the overall enjoyment of a frame, but just like stiffness if focused on in a singular fashion can lead to disappointment. The lighter it is the less energy is required to move it or stop it. However many frame designs may give up stiffness, durability, or handling in an effort to stay light.

Ride Quality

For the sake of simplicity we will be interpreting ride quality as the overall harshness or comfort of the ride relative to the material and stiffness of the bicycle. In other words a titanium bike because of the material will generally have a less harsh, more comfortable ride quality about it than an aluminum bike.

Durability

While perhaps not the first priority when evaluating a road bike, durability is a key factor when deciding on a mountain bike. Your goal should be to find the right balance between stiffness, weight and durability based on the performance style you have chosen.

Aerodynamics

The need for aerodynamics is relative to your desired riding style. No matter what your intended use, the wind is an obstacle and a bike's aerodynamic properties should be considered when selecting your dream machine.

Handling

Another important attribute when evaluating any frame is handling. We chose not to rate it on a scale because handling is a very subjective measurement and one that every rider will need to evaluate for themselves. Primarily dictated by the geometry of your frame, handling refers to the way a bike steers, climbs, descends, accelerates, and sprints. Although geometry is critical, other factors can heavily affect the way a bike will handle, including fork rake, wheel design, as well as stem, saddle, and bar positioning.

Each of these characteristics has a distinct effect on performance. Yet they cannot be evaluated totally independent of one another. Change any one of these and you most likely change them all. Therefore it is important not to get too focused on any one property but to appreciate the overall frame performance.

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