Buying a bike you can ride into the sunset

You name it, Billy Starr has seen someone ride it. Drop-bar road bicycles, flat-bar mountain bikes, even an old-fashioned high-wheeler.

Riders have brought all these styles to the charity rides Starr organizes every August, collectively known as the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge. The rides are best known for the millions of dollars they raise for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Jimmy Fund. But they have also made Starr an expert on buying bikes.

Many of the event's first-time riders, who cover 68 miles or more, buy a new bike. Though not all plan to stay with the sport, Starr's advice to them is simple: Buy a quality machine, since they'll probably keep it for years to come.

''The one I thing I try to tell people is don't sell yourself short," Starr said. ''It's a sport that you can age with gracefully."

Starr practices what he preaches, keeping a pair of high-end bikes at his Wellesley home. One is a $3,000 Merlin road bike he bought a decade ago with a titanium frame and a carbon-fiber fork that holds the front wheel. The other is a $2,200 Bianchi aluminum-frame mountain bike, with a shock-absorbing fork and powerful disk brakes.

He also owns a steel road bike made by Ben Serotta, the New York frame builder whose best-known customer is Massachusetts Democratic Senator John F. Kerry.

When buying a bike, Starr says, riders should pay attention to fit, comfort, and durability.

''Fit is absolutely the single biggest determinant of enjoyment," said Craig Gaulzetti, manager of International Bicycle Centers in Newton where Starr bought the Bianchi. ''I'd rather see a person on an $800 bike that fits perfectly than an $8,000 one that doesn't."

Sales staff at specialty bike shops can help you with a proper fit and match the bike to your riding goals. A good salesperson will ask you lots of questions and let you test the bike to see if it suits you.

The art of bike-fitting boils downs to this: Sitting on the bike seat, with the ball of your foot on the pedal, rotate the pedal so it is at the lowest point of its rotation. Your knee should be just shy of fully extended, to create the most efficient pedal stroke. Salespeople should be able to pick the right frame size and adjust the seat and handlebars.

Nationally, bicycle sales have leveled off at around $5.3 billion, or 12.9 million adult bikes sold in 2003, the latest figures available from the National Bicycle Dealers Association. That's a slight dip from 2002 when 13.6 million bikes were sold. Bike sales peaked in 1973 with 15.2 million bikes when high oil priceshelped boost sales.

The latest trend is a shift back to road bikes, away from mountain bikes that dominated in the 1990s, especially for models costing more than $600. Just as with sport utility vehicles, a lot of riders discovered they rarely ventured off-pavement, especially as they got older.

''The road bike is much more forgiving," said Gaulzetti.

Ross Kerber can be reached at kerber@globe.com.