Buying The Right Bicycle

Buying a bike can seem like a hard decision with all the options available nowadays. If this is your first time buying a bicycle, your choices may seem endless and complicated. In this simple guide, the most popular types of bikes will be discussed while outlining their basic features and qualities, making your bike buying decision as simple as it can be.

Road bikes

As the name suggests, road bikes are built for riding on paved, smooth streets. This kind of bike is best suited for going to school or work for example. The simple features will allow you to arrive at your destination with ease at high speeds, due to the light weight design and the skinny tires allowing maximum speed possible. However, stability is highly compromised in this type of bikes which, along with the skinny tires, make it very unsuitable for any irregular terrains. This kind of bike definitely cannot be used if you are going hiking in the woods or any other unpaved area, as it will not withstand the rough surface. Road bikes are best suited for school kids.

Mountain bikes

With the highly impressive durability, mountain bikes have become the most popular bikes in the past two decades. Mountain bikes feature a lot of advantages over road bikes, especially in stability and the strong design that will not fail you in the roughest terrains. However, these features come at a price of reduced speed. With all these impressive features in the bike frame, mountain bikes are a lot heavier and will not go as smoothly as it should on a paved street. Therefore, do not be fooled by the lower price of mountain bikes. There is no need for you to purchase it if you are simply looking for a fast ride to school or work, because you will never use all the special features in the mountain bike, either way, nor will you be satisfied with the performance in the paved street.

Another advantage that mountain bikes offers is the more comfortable riding position, which will suit people with back problems much more than regular road bikes.

Hybrid bikes

Hybrid bikes are simply a mix between road and mountain bikes, featuring the best of both worlds. They differ from regular mountain bikes by the smoother, thinner tires which allow faster speeds on paved roads. On the other side, the uncomfortable riding position of road bikes has been replaced with a more upright one, making it the bike of choice for many city riders. Hybrid bikes definitely allowed the speed of road bikes in the comfort and durability of a mountain bike, making it the perfect choice for frequent short trips on paved streets.