Your bike will be with you for a long time, so it’s important to pick the one that is able to best meet your needs. But first, you have to determine what your needs are. How long will you be biking? Are you just biking occasionally or planning a larger trip? What terrain will you be facing? Perhaps you are going on a Bike Tour Vacations’ trip. In that case, the Great Lakes area has its own needs which you should be cognizant of. While you ponder the nature of your trip, we’ll let you know which bikes go with what rider, which setting and more. Kind of like a choose your own adventure!
In terms of buying a bike, there are more bicycle-related inquiries you will want to think about. What have you ridden with before? What have your friends ridden with? Get a perception of the brands and other people’s experiences with them. This will help you have a more informed decision when getting down to buy. So what different kinds of bikes are there? Well, let’s get into it.
Road bikes are some of the most popular bikes on the market. They are generally ridden on, you guessed it, roads. They can go very fast on smoother surfaces like streets, but should not be ridden in all-terrain settings. As far as what they look like, they have skinny tires and a parallel handlebar and bike seat. They are usually light, especially when being used for road-racing. Some people will take these bad boys slightly off road, such as on paved trails. But primarily, they are not the best choice and will prove unstable on trails/off-road settings. Also good to know about road bikes is that they should not carry very heavy loads.
Mountain bikes are pretty much the opposite of road bikes. They are for trails and other off-road riding. Their bodies are made and crafted specifically for off-road travel and durability. They have flat handlebars, usually, and a low gear range that you may use when pedaling up steep trails (you will want the least amount of resistance for this task). One element that is central to a mountain bike is the suspension. These are also often referred to as shock absorbers. They can come on the front or back. Those bikes with front shock absorbers are called hardtails, bikes with shock absorbers on both the front and the back are commonly referred to as full-suspension bikes or duallies. Mountain bikes that don’t have shock absorbers are called rigid.
There are many other, more specific types of bikes, including hybrid bikes that contain elements of both of the bikes we just mentioned, but mountain and road bikes are the read bread and butter of the activity. If you are interested in learning more about the joy of biking, check out our other blogs, or sign up for one of our renowned Bike Tour Vacations’ trips today.

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