You might be thinking about buying a new bike, but you may find yourself thinking “What kind of bike should I get?” There’s a lot of different kinds of bikes to choose from that are good options for different reasons, so picking the right one can be tricky. This article will explain the different styles of bikes and help you choose which one is the best for you. After reviewing the different styles of bikes, there are several questions to ask yourself to help you further.
- Where will you be riding your bike?
- What position do you want to sit in?
- What did you like about your previous bike?
- How often are you going to ride your bike?
- What bikes do the people you’re riding with have?
What are the different kinds of bikes that I can choose from?
There are many different kinds of bikes that are on the market. Each style will have its pros and cons as they are designed for specific uses. Some bikes will be made to perform on pavement, and others will be designed to be capable of riding off-road. Some bikes will have more emphasis on performance, others will focus more on comfort.
Mountain Bikes
Mountain Bikes are the kind of bikes that are designed for having off-road capabilities. They have wide, knobby tires that provide traction in the dirt, and have suspension to keep your wheels on the ground. Higher-end Mountain Bikes are designed for riding on mountain bike trails, while entry-level models are designed for everyday use and light off-road riding.
Road Bikes
Road Bikes are the kind of bikes that are best designed for the road. They have the drop down handlebars that put you in an aggressive riding position and have skinny tires with a smooth tread. This bike is great for long distances at higher average speeds. Some Road Bikes are designed to be racing bikes that focus on performance, and other models have more focus on comfort for more casual long distance riding.
Cruisers
Cruisers are the bikes that are designed to be upright and comfortable; great for just riding around the neighborhood. They will have wide seats, wide tires for comfort, and usually come as a single speed or with seven speeds. These kind of bikes aren’t the fastest bikes, but they are certainly the most comfortable.
Dual Sports
The Dual Sport is a hybrid that is most like the mountain bike. Compared to a mountain bike, it has slightly smaller tires, less aggressive treads, and smaller suspension. This kind of bike is designed for light off-road riding and the road. It’s designed mostly for on-road riding, but can handle dirt and gravel well. It’s the jack-of-all-trades.
Fitness Bikes
The Fitness Bike is a hybrid that is most similar to the road bike. Instead, it has a flat handlebar that will put you in a more moderate riding position and they’ll generally have a little bit wider of a tire. This kind of bike is suitable for road riding, but not quite as fast paced or long distance as the Road Bike.
Traditional Hybrids
This is the hybrid most like a cruiser, but instead, it’s designed to be a little bit more efficient on the road with skinnier tires as well as more gears to choose from. It offers a nice mix of comfort, having a more upright riding position, and efficiency on the road.
How do I decide which kind of bike is best for me?
So now that you’re familiar with the different kind of bikes that you could choose from, you simply have to answer a few questions so that you can narrow it down to the one style of bike that you would want to choose.
Where will you be riding your bike?
If you’re going off-road, then you’re going to want to look at a kind of bike that has off-road capability like a Mountain Bike or a Dual Sport. If you’re going to be riding on the road, you’d want to look at any other style except for the Mountain Bike in a Dual Sport.
What position do you want to sit in?
If you want to be in an upright and comfortable riding position, you probably want to look at either cruiser or a traditional hybrid. If you want to be in a fast and aerodynamic position, you’d want to look at a road bike. If you want somewhere in between, a more moderate riding position, you’d look at either a mountain bike a fitness hybrid or a dual sport.
What did you like about your previous bike?
If you’ve owned a bike before, you’d want to consider what you liked or disliked about that bike. If you had big tires because you had either a mountain bike or a cruiser, and you found that it was just too slow on the road, well go for a kind of bike that has a skinnier tire like a traditional hybrid or a fitness hybrid. Maybe you had a road bike in the past and that aggressive riding position just doesn’t work well for your back anymore, so maybe you’d want to look at a fitness hybrid because it has a more upright riding position or maybe a traditional hybrid because it has an even more upright riding position that’ll feel better for you.
How often are you going to ride your bike?
This is a good question to give yourself an idea of how much you need to spend. If you’re going to be riding only once or twice, maybe less per week, you will get away just fine with a more entry level bike. If you’re going to be riding four or five plus days per week it’s going to be very reasonable for you to spend more money on a higher-end bike that has more durable, higher quality components so that the bike will actually be able to last you for how often you’re riding It.
What bikes do the people you’re riding with have?
If you’re going to be riding with a bunch of friends that are going road biking at 20 miles per hour, you’re probably going to want to go with a road bike as well so you can keep up with them. If your friends are going on more slow-paced rides well a road bike would not be reasonable for you, you’d probably want to look at a traditional hybrid so you can comfortably ride at a slower pace. If you have friends that go off-road occasionally well maybe you’d want to consider getting that kind of bike with off-road capabilities so that you aren’t left behind.
Once you’ve considered these questions you should be able to narrow the vast amount of options down to one particular bike. Now you know exactly what kind of best for you.
