How to Choose a Bicycle

Seeing the myriad of bicycles on display when you walk into your local bike shop to buy one, can be intimidating. However, buying a new bike is actually pretty easy. Here's how you go about it. Pick a bike shop you like; determine what type of bike you need; decide how much you want to spend on it; get on the right size; test ride a few; and take one home. It's really that simple, but read on for the details.

First, choose a bike shop you like. Hopefully it's a shop in your community, one where you are comfortable, and one where the staff is courteous, knowledgeable, etc., etc. Plus, it's nice to establish a relationship with your bike shop anyway. It makes your visits there more enjoyable when you return for service, accessories, advice, or information, all the things for which you go to a bike shop. We recommend Intown Bicycles!

Second, determine what type of bike you need. Aside from kids' bikes and some of the more specialized products like recumbents, there are six kinds of bikes from which to choose these days: road bikes, mountain bikes, hybrids, comfort bikes, flat-bar road bikes, and "Townies".

Road Bikes, once called ten speeds or racing bikes, are light, nimble, and fast. They have skinny tires, dropped handlebars, and you'll lean over a lot on them. They're pretty much just for pavement use, but ideal for long rides as they are very efficient and aerodynamic. Road bikes will vary in design depending on the intended use. Bikes for touring, for example, are made to be very smooth, stable, and comfortable, whereas racing bikes are built to be light, fast, and quick. A road bike is a good choice for touring, commuting, racing, or for those longer weekend rides. Geared toward the enthusiast, road bikes start at around $700.

Mountain bikes have fat, knobby tires and more upright handlebars than road bikes. Thus, you won't lean over as much on them. Mountain bikes are very versatile bikes. Although designed for off-road use, they make nice rugged city bikes as well. With a wide variety of tires available, you can adapt them more specifically for road or trail use: thinner tires for lighter, faster street riding; big, fat knobby tires for off road. Expect to spend $400 to $500 for the lighter duty mountain bikes, those that are predominantly for street use, but OK for light or occasional mountain biking. Expect to spend $600 or more for the heavier duty sport bikes.

Hybrids have medium size tires and higher handlebars so that you sit very upright on them. Hybrids make good city bikes. Most people find the upright riding position very comfortable, and the medium size tires allow you to go across the grass or down the sidewalk if you need to. Hybrids are good for causal riding, shorter distances, or for just running down the street for an errand or a cup. They start at about $345.

A comfort bike is exactly like a hybrid except that it has a wider tire on it like a mountain bike. Although comfort bikes do not have quite as nimble a feel to them as hybrids, they do have a very stable, very comfortable ride. The wider tires absorb the bumps nicely and enable you to negotiate rougher surfaces or dirt roads more easily. Comfort bikes also make good city bikes. Expect to spend around $400 for them.

Flat-bar road bikes (or performance hybrids) have narrow tires like a road bike and flat bars like a mountain bike. This is a relatively new kind of bicycle. It has the performance of a road bike, but you don't lean over quite so far on them. These make good commuter bikes as they easily accommodate racks and fenders as well as wider tires if desired. With their narrow tires, flat-bar road bikes are also well suited for longer road rides. They start at about $500.

The "Townie" is also a relatively new product. It's a cross between a beach cruiser and a comfort bike. Unlike any other bike on the market, the Townie allows you to have the seat high enough for proper leg extension, which makes the bike easier to pedal, and still have both feet flat on the ground. This bike is very comfortable and feels very secure. It comes in just one size and it fits most people. It's a good bike to share. The Electra Bicycle Company was the first to bring this "flat foot" technology to market. Townie is the name given to Electra's series of "flat foot" bikes, although this kind of bike is sometimes referred to as a forward-pedal type bike. These bikes run from $400 to $800.

Now that we've reviewed the different types of bikes available: road bike, mountain bike, hybrid, comfort, flat-bar road bike, and Townie, hopefully you've got an idea of what type of bike you need, which was step two for buying a bike.

Third, decide what you want to spend on your new bike. Let your intended use, not just your budget, help guide you. The more you ride, the more you may want to spend on your bike.

Fourth, determine your size. First of all, manufacturers measure their bikes differently. Thus, you may ride a different size bike in a different brand. That's OK. But in any case, you determine your proper size by standing over the top tube of the bike. You should clear it by at least an inch. (However, on a mountain bike, two to four inches of clearance is good, particularly if you're riding off-road. In mountain biking, a smaller bike is easier to handle and gives you more margin of safety over the top bar when you're doing technical riding.) The clearance is simply a safety issue so that you don't injure yourself when stopping, starting, or getting on and off the bike. But again, look for about an inch clearance over the bar to determine your size.

The other critical dimension to be aware of when sizing your bike, is the reach from the seat to the bars. The proper reach depends on the type bike, the type of riding, and the build of the rider. Mainly, you want to be comfortable. You can best assess the reach on a test ride, which is the next step in selecting your new bike.

Fifth, test ride. Take the different types of bikes out for a short test ride. See which ones you like and determine which kind best suits your needs. On your test rides, note how the bikes fit and feel; be sure you are comfortable; and try out the brakes and gears. You'll be able to feel the differences between the different kinds of bikes when you ride them. Test ride some bikes at different price points. Although, you'll find that the features don't really change as you go up in price, you'll notice that the better bikes will have a smoother, lighter, more solid feel to them. They will also work better, last longer, and require marginally less service.

Finally, Take one home.

So let's summarize.

First, pick a bike shop you like; that's important. Then, determine what type of bike you need. Decide how much you want to spend on it. Get on the right size. Test ride a few. Then take one home.

Buying a bike is really that simple. You'll find that bikes are very competitively priced from brand to brand and store to store. At a given price point, you'll see similar, if not identical components used on them. Thus, you can focus your attention on how the bikes fit, feel, and ride, rather than just on how they're priced. You'll know when you find the right bike. It's sort of like buying shoes. When you "try on" the right one, it just feels right. So go out and enjoy the process.

Happy Trails

Mike

4 Comments so far...

Hi,

With so many types of bikes and manufacturers today it is a bit difficult to make a good decision on which bike to buy. In addition, you will only know you bought the right or wrong one after you use it for a reasonable amount of time.

This article, nevertheless, is right on.

It would be nice if you do reviews of less expensive bikes, those in the $300 range for mountain bikes.

I enjoyed visiting your website, and thanks for the deralleur video.

-Posted on Aug 14th, 2008 by Noel

After visiting several bike shops in the area, I found yours to have the most affordable bikes and by far the most knowledgable staff. True, spending $800 or morecan hit the pocketbook pretty hard, but I think you get what you pay for, and I appreciate the information and instruction.

-Posted on Sep 11th, 2008 by mmbh

I think it does a disservice to the potential bike buyer to describe recumbents as so specialized to be outside consideration. Certainly the distinctiveness of their handling and performance as well as their relatively higher prices make them not the bike for everyone; however, they do suit a wide variety of riders and should be considered a viable an option as any other.

-Posted on Mar 28th, 2009 by Bent Advocate

I knew nothing about bikes but trying to buy one for my partner's birthday gift. This really helped!

-Posted on Sep 21st, 2009 by Nikasha