|
Specialty
- City/Urban Bikes
 City
and Urban Bikes
Many different types of bicycles are used as transportation
through urban areas. From loaded and heavy commuter rigs to stripped
down single speeds, everyone has their own ideas about what makes
a great city bike. In general though, there are a few features that
many city bikes seem to share:
Durability: The bike needs to be able to hold up to the variable
and often harsh environment that is "The City".
Comfort:
The city bike is the one you use for getting to work or going to
the grocery store or restaurants. This bike should be a pleasure
to cruise around on.
Ease
of Maintenance: Since you will probably ride this bike more
than any other bike you own, you will have to perform more maintenance
on it. Internal hubs, fenders, and single speed drivetrains all
work to keep the bike cleaner and easier to maintain.
Something
else to consider is the bike's appeal to thieves. If you have to
lock the bike outside for long periods of time, you may want to
make the bike as unattractive as possible. Paint, stickers, and
electrical tape all go a long way to making your bike less attractive
to thieves. Remember that the appearance if your bike has nothing
to do with how well it rides.
In choosing a city bike, each individual must weigh these and other
factors to find a bike that best suits their needs. That said, here
are a few types of bikes that people find useful for city riding:
Touring or Commuting Bikes: Designed with relaxed geometry
for an upright, comfortable position and provisions to mount racks
and fenders, these bikes are the ultimate for hauling your stuff
across town or across the country in all types of weather and a
wide variety of road conditions.
Flat Bar Road Bikes: Similar in design to Recreational Road
Bikes, these have flat, mountain bike style handlebars which put
the rider in an upright and comfortable position. Like the recreational
road bike, these are a little faster and lighter than their touring
cousins, but they aren't quite as flexible in their usability.
Internal Hub Bikes: Most designs for bikes with internal
hubs are similar to mountain bikes or hybrids but with a major exception,
all of the shifting takes place within the rear hub. From the outside,
the bike looks like a single speed. But inside the rear hub, an
entire universe of gears and sprockets provides you with three,
seven, or even fourteen speeds to choose from. These bikes are fairly
simple to maintain since the hub is sealed and requires little periodic
maintenance. These bikes also allow you to shift gears while standing
still or coasting (in fact these are the only times when you should
shift an internal hub bike).
Single
Speed and Fixed Gear Bikes: The ultimate in simplicity. One
gear, no shifters and no derailleurs. Single speed riders never
have to worry about what gear they should be in because they are
always in the wrong one (a little humor but mostly true). Because
they have the ability to slow themselves down by applying back pressure
to the pedals, fixed gear riders can even forgo one or both brakes
(depending on the rider's skill, vanity, and/or quality of health
insurance). Single speed and fixed gear bikes take the form of anything
from 35lb beach cruisers to 15lb track racing machines.
Everything Else: Any bike that you ride in the city is, ipso
facto, a city bike. If it gets you there safely, comfortably, and
on time, then it's the city bike
HOME |
