March. Warm temperatures. Sunshine. Blue skies. Time to dust off the bike.

It's that time of year again, when the hearts of cyclists start to pound, their lungs fill with fresh air and their legs ache from unaccustomed pedalling.

It's also time to line up for spring tune-ups at bike shops in the Southern Interior, something you should done it in January. The sight of all those bicycles hitting the road and trails will no doubt prompt many non-cyclists to swear: "This is the year I buy a bike and explore all the trails I've been reading about (on Castanet)."

For those who don't know the basics of buying a new, or new-to-you, bicycle (or want to improvetheir ride), here are the Bike Sheriff's tips with a few references to www.bicycle-guider.com.

Depending on the manufacturer, bike frames can come in as many as five sizes but there is a lack of standardization across brands so don't rely solely on bike size labels such as XS, S, M, L and XL.

Manufacturers also use different sizing measurements, such as centimetres and inches, so it becomes........

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