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Your Guide to Buying a Bike
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More and more people are making the decision to buy a bike. Riding a bike provides great exercise, a traffic-free mode of transportation and, potentially, a lot of fun. Figuring out which bike to buy, however, can be a daunting task. With so many different types of bikes on the market, your options are nearly limitless.
This guide will help you explore those options and find the perfect bike for your needs.
Where Do You Plan to Ride?
The most important thing to consider when buying a bike is how exactly you plan to use it. There are so many different types of bikes, all geared toward different purposes. Thinking about your purpose is naturally the first step to figuring out which bike is best for you.
Will you mainly be commuting to work on sidewalks? Or will you be riding on unpaved roads or trails? How far will you ride? Here are a few of the most common types of bikes.
Road Bicycle
Also called a racing bike or a 10-speed, these bikes are specifically designed for riding on paved surfaces. With thin tires and lightweight frames, road bikes offer speed and efficiency. If you want to ride mainly for exercise and plan to stay on the asphalt, a road bike is your best option.
City or Commuter Bicycle
A city bike is for people who want to commute to and from work, go from dorm-room to campus, run errands, all with ease and comfort. These bikes typically have fewer gears than a road bike and larger tires, but they can still be fast, depending on the model. If your commute is long, you'll want to look for a bike with a more aggressive handlebar position, meaning that the bars are flat and set lower than the saddle, allowing for more speed. If you're just wanting something to cruise through the city on, you'll want a bike geared more toward comfort, with a more upright position, fewer gears and possibly a front-basket or rear-rack.
Mountain Bike
These bikes are durable and rugged, with flat handlebars for control and wide tires for traction. If you're an outdoorsman and plan on riding trails or dirt-roads in the countryside, this is the type of bike you need. A more sophisticated suspension protects you against bumps and jolts, a wider range of gears allows you take on hills and a strong set of brakes keeps you safe.
Gravel Bikes
Also called an adventure bike, these are perhaps the most versatile. This is the bike for you if plan to do some serious journeying. With drop-down handlebars, these look similar to road bikes but are a lot different. They're still lightweight, and they're still fast, but they have clearance for significantly larger tires, allowing for off-road use. They also come with a ton of accessory mounts. Disc-brakes are standard for these bikes, as is a wide gear range. Consider this bike if you plan on going on all-day adventures and want something that can handle whatever you throw at it.
Hybrids
What if you're unsure of what kind of riding you'll be doing? Or what if you plan to do a little of everything? Well then, a hybrid bicycle might be right for you. These bikes are usually a mix between a road bike and a mountain bike. Although if you're thinking this is the best of both worlds, you'd be wrong. These bikes are good for general use and aren't limited to one purpose, but they excel at nothing.
How to Buy
Now that you have a better idea of which type of bike best suits your needs, how do you find which specific model you want, and how do you buy it? Well, you have two options: Buy online or go into a bike shop.
Online stores offer the biggest selection and usually have cheaper prices, but assembly can be a real pain. The biggest con of buying a bike online is not being able to take it out for a test ride.
If you go into a store, on the other hand, you can ask a ton of questions and make sure the bike is actually comfortable for you. One good option is to search the Internet for that perfect bike, and then call into local bike stores to make sure they have it. You can then go in and ask all the additional questions you might have in person, as well as take it out onto the road before you commit.
Budget
The cheapest quality bikes on the market usually cost between $300 and $500. There are plenty of cheaper bikes, but they are often low quality. If this price range is out of your budget, consider buying used, or just setting some time aside to save your money. You won't regret it.
When you get into the $500 to $1,000 range, you'll get higher quality front suspensions, disc brakes and lighter frames and wheels, while $1,000 to $2,000 bikes offer carbon frames, truly great suspensions and even lighter wheels and tires. Some bikes get even more expensive, the best of them coming in well over the $10,000 mark, but these bikes are for experts who already know exactly what they're looking for.
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