Forte
Can someone explain to me what the difference is? I want to get a bike so that I can ride it on the street and on trails. What bike do you guys recommend?
Answer
Generally, bikes meant for the street are lighter, have thinner wheels and tires, and a more horizontal riding position (your shoulders are down lower). Bikes meant for off-road are heavier, stronger, have wider wheels and rougher tires, suspension in front or back, and you sit more upright. Then there's a 'hybrid' category, which actually is the biggest category, that's a compromise between both. Some hybrids are more on the off-road side, some more on the road side. There is also the 'comfort hybrid' category, with higher handlebars so you sit more upright, and maybe a more comfortable seat, like a cruiser.
A fixie is a bike without gears (or you could say it has only one gear). A real fixie has no 'free wheeling', meaning that as long as the bike is going forward, the pedals go around. This is inconvenient when leaning the bike way over in a corner, because the pedal going low on that side can hit the street and ruin your whole day. Fixies have advantages though, in that they're much simpler, hardly anything to wear out or fix. And if you ride in a flat area you don't need gears that much.
One of the major features of mountain bikes is suspension, sometimes just in front but sometimes on both wheels. Suspension is a negative on a road bike because the front suspension flexes when you start so it steals some torque. In fact some hybrids, you can lock the front suspension for riding on the roads. But you're still carrying the extra weight everywhere you go.
Front and back suspension is really for a 'downhill' bike, which is a specialized form of riding most of us don't do. (It began when they started opening up ski runs in the Summer for bicycles. It's all downhill so a little extra weight is not a problem, but the bike has to be able to handle very rough terrain.) I see a lot of kids riding full-suspension bikes around town, and I think they want them just for the look--you know how most Hummers you see look like they've never been off road? 8^)
My bike is a hybrid. It came with 35mm tires (that's the width of the tires) because I wanted to be able to ride on the street and also gravel paths. But I found I didn't do that many paths, so I tried a pair of 23mm tires (skinny road tires) and I love them on the street and they are only a little worse on the unpaved path. A real road bike would be a little lighter, and only have room for the skinny tires, plus they usually have drop bars.
If you're buying a used bike, brand doesn't matter so much as what kind of stuff the bike has on it--what kind of shifters, brakes, deralleurs, etc. Often after a few years a lot of this stuff has been replaced.
My neighborhood has a couple of shops where they buy lots of used bikes and fix them up to sell them (or rebuild them from components taken off several bikes). These places will let you ride as many bikes as you like, of different kinds, so you can see the differences and see which you prefer. The guy who fixes the bikes usually can answer questions a teach you a lot. Plus the bikes are much cheaper than a new bike.
Generally, bikes meant for the street are lighter, have thinner wheels and tires, and a more horizontal riding position (your shoulders are down lower). Bikes meant for off-road are heavier, stronger, have wider wheels and rougher tires, suspension in front or back, and you sit more upright. Then there's a 'hybrid' category, which actually is the biggest category, that's a compromise between both. Some hybrids are more on the off-road side, some more on the road side. There is also the 'comfort hybrid' category, with higher handlebars so you sit more upright, and maybe a more comfortable seat, like a cruiser.
A fixie is a bike without gears (or you could say it has only one gear). A real fixie has no 'free wheeling', meaning that as long as the bike is going forward, the pedals go around. This is inconvenient when leaning the bike way over in a corner, because the pedal going low on that side can hit the street and ruin your whole day. Fixies have advantages though, in that they're much simpler, hardly anything to wear out or fix. And if you ride in a flat area you don't need gears that much.
One of the major features of mountain bikes is suspension, sometimes just in front but sometimes on both wheels. Suspension is a negative on a road bike because the front suspension flexes when you start so it steals some torque. In fact some hybrids, you can lock the front suspension for riding on the roads. But you're still carrying the extra weight everywhere you go.
Front and back suspension is really for a 'downhill' bike, which is a specialized form of riding most of us don't do. (It began when they started opening up ski runs in the Summer for bicycles. It's all downhill so a little extra weight is not a problem, but the bike has to be able to handle very rough terrain.) I see a lot of kids riding full-suspension bikes around town, and I think they want them just for the look--you know how most Hummers you see look like they've never been off road? 8^)
My bike is a hybrid. It came with 35mm tires (that's the width of the tires) because I wanted to be able to ride on the street and also gravel paths. But I found I didn't do that many paths, so I tried a pair of 23mm tires (skinny road tires) and I love them on the street and they are only a little worse on the unpaved path. A real road bike would be a little lighter, and only have room for the skinny tires, plus they usually have drop bars.
If you're buying a used bike, brand doesn't matter so much as what kind of stuff the bike has on it--what kind of shifters, brakes, deralleurs, etc. Often after a few years a lot of this stuff has been replaced.
My neighborhood has a couple of shops where they buy lots of used bikes and fix them up to sell them (or rebuild them from components taken off several bikes). These places will let you ride as many bikes as you like, of different kinds, so you can see the differences and see which you prefer. The guy who fixes the bikes usually can answer questions a teach you a lot. Plus the bikes are much cheaper than a new bike.
I don't know where to start looking...Can you recommend a bike?
Terraform
I'm new to the world of bikes and with so many brands and styles... I'm drowning in a sea of options! I am so lost as to where to even start. Can anyone reccomend a good bike brand, and style for me?
I live in Eastern Oregon. (Female, 5ft 3 inches tall) The bike would be for getting around town, as well as recreation on mountain trails, long stretches of lost highway, and perhaps the occasional bike rally event. I want a pro bike, no cheap brands please. $1000 budget (So i'm guessing mid quality range?).
It needs to be light weight, durable, have a good seat that wont wiggle loose (I am so tired of crappy bikes with seats that won't tighten properly!) and be as cutting edge as possible.
Function trumps style, I'm interested in something with a lot of features over something thats pretty and red. :/ Not interested in kids bikes, or k-mart specials.
Can anyone help me or point me in the right direction for research?
Thank you so much, for any answers. I'm so lost at the moment. :(
"Just go to a high-street bike store and browse round, don't search for brands on a bike as no-one particuarly notices."
Perhaps I came across wrong, or wasn't very clear. This is exactly what I don't want to do. I'm trying to figure out what is a really good brand for my own peace, not to have the "latest" or to look awesome. *sigh* I really want to do this right... you know?
Answer
$1000 in a bike shop will get you a fairly low-end full suspension bike, a pretty nice mountain hard tail or could get you a really nice used bike.
Given your height, you should probably be looking into a 13-15" frame (also known as XS and S). You will likely want a 26"-wheeled mountain bike as you might have a tough time finding a 29"-wheeled bike in your frame size.
Specialized, Trek, Kona, Santa Cruz, Titus, Ellsworth and Giant are among the better brands that are fairly common. You probably want to get a 27-speed drivetrain and hydraulic disc brakes.
When it comes to used bikes, I recommend Craigslist. There's not much in the "Eastern Oregon" bicycle section on Craigslist but there are quite a few in the Bend area (http://bend.craigslist.org/bik/) and in the Boise area (http://boise.craigslist.org/bik/).
I hope that helps!
$1000 in a bike shop will get you a fairly low-end full suspension bike, a pretty nice mountain hard tail or could get you a really nice used bike.
Given your height, you should probably be looking into a 13-15" frame (also known as XS and S). You will likely want a 26"-wheeled mountain bike as you might have a tough time finding a 29"-wheeled bike in your frame size.
Specialized, Trek, Kona, Santa Cruz, Titus, Ellsworth and Giant are among the better brands that are fairly common. You probably want to get a 27-speed drivetrain and hydraulic disc brakes.
When it comes to used bikes, I recommend Craigslist. There's not much in the "Eastern Oregon" bicycle section on Craigslist but there are quite a few in the Bend area (http://bend.craigslist.org/bik/) and in the Boise area (http://boise.craigslist.org/bik/).
I hope that helps!
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Title Post: What's the difference between fixie bikes, mountain bikes, etc..?
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Rating: 94% based on 932 ratings. 4,1 user reviews.
Author: Unknown
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