Flat-bar road bikes give you convenient performance.
Bicycles San Clemente is proud to offer a choice of road bike styles to suit your choice of cycling experience. Our Absolute and Roubaix bikes are not ultra-high end exotics, but dependable road performers that deliver a smooth, efficient ride.
Road bikes are engineered to perform on pavement, the smoother the better. They are sketchy on packed dirt (like our Beach Trail) and they do NOT work on rutted dirt trails or gravel.
“Flat bar” style
The Absolute 3.0,was a Consumer Reports #1 choice in 2010. It provides a more upright riding position and familiar mountain bike brake and shifting controls. It’s adjustable stem lets us raise or lower the handlebars as you prefer. The saddle is slightly wider and more padded than traditional road saddles to accommodate this more upright ride.
But the Absolute still offers 24 gears from 118 to 23 inches to climb even the steepest hills,controlled with Shimano’s popular Rapid Fire shifters. High pressure 700c wheels deliver full road bike performance. We put racks on the men’s frames to hold a camera,jacket,or whatever makes your ride more convenient.
Drop bar road bikes give you optimum performance.
“Dropped bar” style
The Roubaix 3.0 has been Fuji’s entry-level racing bike for years. 700c x 23 wheels respond instantly,the 18 gears range from 123 to 36 inches with a Shimano 9-speed cassette.
Our 2011 Roubaix is race ready with the same custom drawn tubing and carbon fork as Fuji’s most expensive aluminum bikes. The riding position is traditional for road bikes:top,on the hoods,and “in the drops.” The flip-flop stem lets us raise or lower the bars 1” for best aerodynamic profile.
Shimano Sora “Ergo” shifters vs. STI
We selected the Roubaix 3.0 in part because of the Sora shifters. Shimano originated Totally Integrated road bike controls in 1990. These connected the derailleur cable uptake cam and escape mechanism to the brake lever,requiring a challenging new skill for novice riders:using the same fingers but in different ways for braking,shifting up,and shifting down.
Italian Campagnolo introduced its version of integrated controls a year later. With “Campy Ergo” riders use fingers to shift up,their thumb to shift down. Most novice riders master Ergo controls in just minutes.
Ironically,Shimano uses an Ergo-style finger/thumb design on their entry level Sora shifters. These provide the same subtle trimming positions for the front derailleur as the more expensive 105 and Ultegra shifters and the same palm-friendly hoods,they’re just easier for most people to learn. We think you’ll enjoy ’em.
Which gear am I in?
In practice is doesn’t matter,so long as the gear you’re in is comfortable. But for you intellectuals out there,figuring out your gear is easy if you remember this:
* The farther the chain is from the center of the bicycle,the higher (“harder”) the gear.
* The closer to the center of the bicycle,the lower (“easier”) the gear.
* This is true both on the front chainrings and the rear wheel cassette.
How do I shift SORA gears?
* The Right lever shifts the Rear derailleur.
* The leFt lever shifts the Front derailleur.
* To shift down in the rear,move the Right lever toward the center of the bicycle.
(Imagine pushing the chain toward the center of the bike with your right hand.)
* To shift up in the front,move the Left lever away from the center of the bicycle.
(Imagine pushing the chain away from the center of the bike with your left hand.)
* To reverse the shift with either hand,push the thumb button down.
How do I shift Rapid Fire gears?
* The Right lever shifts the Rear derailleur.
* The leFt lever shifts the Front derailleur.
* To shift down in the rear,push the Right thumb lever.
* To shift up in the front,push the Left thumb lever.
* To reverse the shift with either hand,pull Rapid Fire trigger with your index finger.
Where can I ride around here?
Orange and North San Diego Counties offer hundreds of miles of Class 2 painted bike lanes on our arterial highways. You can literally get anywhere you need to go by bike. We have hundreds of Class 1,separate “bike trails”off the roadways,often along seasonal streams like Aliso,Oso,San Juan Creek or rivers like the Santa Ana or San Luis Rey.
Metrolink and Amtrak make it easy to venture to San Diego or LA and get back the same day. For