The
bike industry has been changing road bikes over the last decade to
better suit the different styles of riding that exist. We have been
hearing all sorts of new terms for them but we haven't really had those
all explained in one easy place. That's what this write-up is about.
Road
This
is what started them all... Its a fast bike with minimal tire
clearance, lower handlebar position, caliper style brakes and is the
lightest of the bunch. Most of them will come with 23mm tires but can
fit 25mm tires. They are great for road-only, longer rides, intense
paced riding, group rides. The customers that are looking at these are
looking for the lightest and fastest bikes out there.
Cyclocross
These
are closely bread from road bikes, the first ones where road bike with
different brake mounts installed for canti brakes with mud clearance in a
time when road bikes where steel and had more tire room (the 60s-70s).
They changed into their own style of bike in the 90s because road bikes
no longer had clearance for the tires and the style of racing grew.
Now the differences are ability to fit at least a 32mm tire, disk or
canti brakes, higher bb height (for tight off-road cornering). Many
have fender and rack mounts to make them more versatile but they do
generally have a pretty aggressive road fit and pretty quick handling,
often the same as a road bike.
Touring
These
bikes have been around for a long long time. They resemble a
cyclocross bike however they have many geometry differences. Mainly
they are designed for going in a straight line for a long distance so
their chainstays are much longer (also gives more heal clearance for panniers), the headtubes are usually a slacker angle, a lower bb height
and the handle bar height is higher, often as high as the saddle. They
have all the rack and fender mounts (front and rear) and have a bit
stiffer frame for the added weight of touring.
Randonneur
This
is a bike that has also been around for a while (some call it a
light-touring). The simplest way to describe them is a touring bike
with lighter tubing for a better ride quality. The fashion for these
have been to add shiny fenders and a front rack/bag. Its name comes
from a style of racing/riding that is a long distance over one or two
days that is fully self supported
Endurance
This
is a bike that branches out from a road bike. It's designed to have a
higher handlebar height, more tire clearance (28mm-32mm) and a little
bit more predictable handling (slacker angles). Most of the road bikes
we sell are this style. They have gone a few steps further with some
brands and include disk brakes and even more tire clearance
(32mm-38mm). These are very well balanced bike and work very well for
many people, they are getting a little ambiguous in that some are coming
with rack/fender mounts for even more utility and can resemble
cyclocross bikes.
Gravel
These where
born from the gravel races that all the kids are doing these days. They
look very similar to a cyclocross bike however they have a few small
but important differences. The main ones being longer chainstays and a
shorter bb height (back to road bike height with light touring chainstay
lengths). These are important in that they make the bike much more
stable for high speed gravel descents. They also have more tire
clearance which can be crucial for gravel, lessening the
deflection caused by the rocks that make up gravel roads.
Adventure
This
is the most ambiguous term we have for the bike market right now. It
can mean any of the above plus many different mtn bikes and even a few
fatbikes. It was brought into the market by Salsa cycles to describe
their style or riding but has expanded to other companies or simply a
way of describing how a bike is used. The key features are having more
durable wheels, more predictable handling, and lots of room for stuff on
the bike, but not necessarily using racks. Because they are used off
road/gravel quite a bit people prefer to have frame bags, handlebar bags
and large seatbags. These bags tend to be lighter and easier to handle
in off-road situations, they also bounce around a lot less.
c/o David Meyer | Sales, Service, Fit Tech, Worker-Owner
The Hub Bike Co-op
david at thehubbikecoop dot biz
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