Categorising Bikes
The Caterorgories
This book offers you a gudie to first time buyers of a bike and what they have to offer, giving you a chance to see what bike you may wish to buy before making a decision. It cotains characterisitcs, what they can be used for and specific qualities to the bikes.
Utility Bikes Mountain Bikes Racing Bikes Touring Bikes Hybrid Bikes BMX Bikes
Utility Bikes A utility bike is designed for a form transportation, as opposed to bikes which are primarily designed for recreation and competition, such as touring bicycles, racing bikes, and mountain bikes. The vast majority of bikes can be found in the developing world, and are they are utility bikes. As such utility bicycles are the most common form of bicycle globally.
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1 Curved back handle bars.
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3 Space to carry objects.
Upright riding position for comfort.
5 Handle bars above riding
4 Heavy frames.
position.
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Strong durable tires.
Mountain Bikes A mountain bike or mountain bicycle is a bicycle created for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes are typically ridden on single track trails, fire roads, logging roads, and other unpaved environments. These types of terrain commonly include rocks, washouts, ruts, loose sand, loose gravel, roots, and steep grades. Mountain bikes are built to handle this terrain and the obstacles that are found in it like logs, vertical drop offs, and smaller boulders.
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1 Suspension for comfort over 3 ‘Teeth’ in pedals for bumps and rocks.
extra grip.
2 Longer thinner saddle to Increase move-ability.
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5 Disk breaks.
4 Strong but light frame.
7 Finer derailleur for more exact shifting.
6 Thick tires to prevent punctures.
8 Easy to use gears to climb
and descend different terrain easily.
Racing bicycles A racing bicycle, also known as a road bike, is a bicycle designed for competitive road cycling, a sport governed by according to the rules of the Union Cyclist Internationale (UCI). The UCI rules were altered in 1934 to exclude recumbent bicycles. The most important characteristics about a racing bicycle are its weight and stiffness which determine the efficiency at which the power from a rider’s pedal strokes can be transferred to the drivetrain and subsequently to its wheels. To this effect racing bicycles may sacrifice comfort for speed.
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1 No suspension.
3 Extremely light frame to enhance speed.
2 Thin tires for speed.
5 Lightweight alloys.
4 Easy shift gears for extra speed.
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7 Dropdown handle bars.
6 Everything has been made aerodynamically for extra speed.
8 Higher seat than handle bars for better aerodynamics.
Touring bicycles A touring bicycle is a bicycle designed or modified to handle bicycle touring. To make the bikes sufficiently robust, comfortable and capable of carrying heavy loads, special features may include a long wheelbase (for ride comfort and to avoid pedal-toluggage conflicts), frame materials that favor flexibility over rigidity (for ride comfort), heavy duty wheels (for load capacity), and multiple mounting points (for luggage racks, fenders, and bottle cages).
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Hybrid bicycles Hybrid bicycles blend characteristics from more specialized road bikes, touring bikes and mountain bikes. The resulting “hybrid� is a general-purpose bike that can tolerate a wide range of riding conditions and applications. Their stability, comfort and ease of use make them popular with beginning cyclists, casual riders, commuters, and children.
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BMX bicycles Bicycle motocross or BMX is cycle sport on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general on- or off-road recreation. BMX began when young cyclists appropriated motocross tracks for fun, racing and stunts, eventually evolving specialized BMX bikes and competitions.
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