There are many things to consider when purchasing a bicycle.

Bike size, first of all. If the frame is too big for you, you\’ll never be comfortable on the bike; and a bicycle that\’s too big will be harder to handle, which has negative safety aspects.

Then there\’s frame geometry. What\’s the \”reach\” from saddle to handlebars? The angle of the seat tube? Can you reach the brake levers comfortably?

What kind of frame material? Aluminum? Steel? Titanium (\”ti\” for short)? Carbon fiber (sometimes called \”plastic bikes\”)? The catch with steel is that it\’s vulnerable to rust. Where I live the average annual rainfall is 60 inches, and I\’d probably be hard pressed to keep a steel bicycle properly dried. What effect a salt-hazy climate has on steel, I don\’t know, but I rather suspect it isn\’t very good.

And, of course, there\’s the weight of the bicycle. That might not matter much for cruising around the neighborhood, or pedaling to the grocery store. If your  cycling interest is long-distance rides, or racing, it\’s a different story.

The Complete Book of Long-Distance Cycling gives a rule of thumb for determining what weight of bicycle is best (pg. 61): 12% of body weight. According to that formula, my road bike, once I add in the weight of the under-saddle pack, is too heavy for me by about seven pounds. This advice goes on to say, buy the lightest bike your budget can afford, if you can\’t get one that meets the 12% criterion.

This formula, however, was given for riders on long — really long — endurance tours. So far I\’m not doing such rides. I don\’t have to climb 12% grades. I\’m not racing or doing time trials.

So I\’ll keep plodding along with what I have. It still works, and it can get me to where I want to go. That\’s what matters.