What kind of road bike should i buy??

I want to buy a race bike for my dad, he is into cyclism, i know nothing about race bikes, i want to surprise him. he lives in mexico, he is 5.3. What kind of frame would it fit him?? brand? i know a good bike could be pricely, i want to get one for about 350-800 dls. any ideas?? Thank u so much!!

To get the right size you need to know what his inseam is this will get you close to the right frame size. His height dosent matter that much just the length of his legs. There are more factors involved like arm, and midsection measurments but assuming he is average sized based on his inseam you can get a good fit.

Since you want to suprise him you really cant get him fitted just right. Do a search for a bike fit calculator and it will ask you for certain measurments, you could tell him you are buying him some clothes and ask him to measure himself and let you know what those are, plug them into a bike fitting calculator and get him a perfect fit!

if you want to buy a real road bike you should look at trek and specialized. They make great bike along with many other brands.

For that price range trek has a good road bike/starter type but you don't get into really good bikes until you hit $1000 to $6000.

ok most of us don't need $6000 bicycles.

I would recommend talking with him and finding out what size bike he rides. Then going to craigslist in the bicycle section and looking for his size and a good brand.

Then you can get a great bike in your range. Most bikes lose nearly 1/2 their original value in a year so you could get him a specialized Allez Elite for around 4-$600 originally 1200-1400 new.

That is pretty cool that you will spend that money for your dad. Get him a 13" frame. Any brand will be alright in that price range. Keep up the cheerful giving!