Bicycle Guide: Different (Pedal) Strokes for Different Folks

Types of Bikes

To start, you'll need a bicycle!

There are many types of bikes used for different purposes. Think about what kind of riding you plan to do.

If you're seriously considering buying a bike for transportation, don't be put off by what may feel like the high prices of good quality bicycles in bike shops. The difference between a $99 and $699 bike is an enormous leap in the quality and longevity of the bike's components and frame; and will almost certainly mean more comfort and enjoyment. Start a love affair with your bike!

Common Bike Choices

Hybrid / Urban

Features

Some call the hybrid the "best of both worlds".

• Upright riding position with flat bars like a mountain bike
• Wide gear range like most mountain bikes
• Large 700c wheels (same as a road bike), but with wider tires (generally 32-40mm). On paved roads, this gives hybrids increased cushion over a skinny road tire, and greatly increased efficiency over mountain bikes' wide & knobby tires. 
• Depending on frame material and components, hybrid bikes can be lighter than mountain bikes.

Riding suited for a hybrid

• Short and long trips in paved environments (i.e., commuting, errands). 
• Good for well-worn, unpaved trails (i.e., the Otonabee Rail Trail)

Mountain

Features

Road

Road Bike Features

• Tall, 700c wheels with narrow tires (generally 23-28mm)
• Light(er) frame with geometry designed for riding on the road.
• Road racing or sport touring bikes are fast, light and often aggressively postured (hunched over the bars).

• Fast road riding, training and racing
• Not as conventional for daily commuting or errands
• Not suited for off-road riding. To ride a road bike off-road, you'd be looking for a cyclocross bike! 

Touring 

Touring Bike Features

• Touring bikes look similar to road bikes, but are longer, more upright machines designed to carry loads and provide comfort over long distances.
• Extra-strong wheels for carrying loads
• Slightly wider tires than a road bike
• Fender and rack mounts to make a 3 season workhorse!

• Long distance road riding, commuting,
• Can be ridden more comfortably on unpaved roads than road bikes.

Cruiser / City

 Cruiser Features

• Simple, low-maintenance bikes
• Most have one or three gears, and many stop with a coaster brake.
• Built in racks, fenders, chainguards and lights
• Very upright riding position

• Great urban bikes if speed isn't important to you.
• The built-in features all contribute to making an urban workhorse perfect for errands and recreation.
• The upright riding position, weight and lack of gear range can make these bikes challenging to get up hills.

Utility Bikes

Bakfiets, Xtracycle, Trailers

Utility bike features

• Cargo, cargo, cargo!
• The hauling ability you might need to live a car free (or car-reduced) lifestyle!

Riding suited for utility bikes

• Groceries, errands
• Taking kids to school
• Home renovations
• Small apartment moves

Niche Bikes

Recumbent

• Recumbents are recognizable primarily by their unique riding positions. Instead of sitting in a saddle, you recline in a padded seat. This position increases comfort for many riders, and significantly improves aerodynamics over conventional bikes. 

Tricycle

• Adult tricycles with gears are available from most bike shops. These are good choices for people looking take up active transportation with balance or comfort issues on conventional bikes. Adult trikes can also provide significant cargo storage.

Tandem

• Bicycles built for two aren't just for beachside rides at sunset! With their strong wheels and good load carrying possibilities, tandems can be great for recreational excursions and long-distance touring. They're also quite fast: two riders provide twice the power of a conventional bike, without the weight of actually pushing two bikes.
  

Fixed Gear / Track Bikes

• Before freewheels, riders couldn't coast on their bikes. With the pedals or chain connected directly to the wheel, the pedals turn along with the wheel. Stopping and going down hills could be tricky (think of a child's tricycle, or a Penny Farthing)! These bikes are still used in velodrome racing because of the power, efficiency and simplicity of direct drive and the bike's sharp frame geometry. Fixed gear bikes ("fixies") have seen a renaissance in recent years as urban bikes.
  

Cyclocross

• Cyclocross is a "cross" between road and mountain riding, where purpose-built road bike frames are outfitted with knobby tires for offroad riding. Cross riding is growing in popularity, and race courses are an unconventional mix of multiple terrains and artificial obstacles. 
  

Triathalon / Time-Trial

•  TT bikes are the ultra aerodynamic offspring of road bikes. Because of rules governing bike geometry for professional racing, these bikes are not allowed in the "peloton". They are, however, used in triathalons and time trial races. Unique features include the aerobars handlbars, solid disc wheels, and other aerodynamic tweaks to the frame.
  

BMX

• Popular in the 80s and 90s as stunt bikes, BMXs have unique features that make them suited to performing tricks. Small, strong frames with big handlebars are made to endure the abuse of stunt work.
  

Trials

• The evolution of BMX created trials bikes. "Trials" are a type of riding where the cyclist performs jumping and balancing tricks without putting their feet down. Larger than the BMX bike, trials bikes are distinguished primarily by lack of saddle or seatpost (or very low saddle position), squished frame geometry, powerful disc brakes, and wide, strong wheels.
  

Freeride

• Freeride bikes are overbuilt mountain bike frames, for a style of riding best describe as gravity-assisted mountain biking. Enormous, strong frames with full suspension, powerful brakes and high pedal clearance allow riders speedily descend through rocky and forested terrain.