Video:What Is a Road Bike?

Transcript:What Is a Road Bike?

Hi, I'm Bob Copeland with Bike Source in Denver, Colorado and BikeSourceOnline.com. Today, I'm going to talk to you about what a road bike is.

Who Uses Road Bikes?

There are a lot of different styles of bikes out there, so I'm going to bring out a very popular name in the cycling world, Lance Armstrong. All these professional cyclists like Lance Armstrong; they're the ones who make road bikes popular. When you see those guys, think road bikes. Also, all these charity rides that we have around the nation. All those thousands of people who are doing rides like Bike MS. Most of the time, they're going to be out on road bikes.

Features of Road Bikes

I'll point out some major features of road bikes. They have skinny tires, drop handlebars, which offer us varied amount of positions. We also have fairly aerodynamic and lightweight frames. Those are really important features of what makes a road bike. These bikes are really efficient. They are made to be on the pavement for as long as possible. So it's important that when you're on your road bike, you're going to be as comfortable as possible.

Things to Look for in a Road Bike

Some of the major points that road bikes have include saddles that are designed to keep your butt on here as long as possible. These bikes aren't typically the ones where you're going to be standing up on those pedals very long unless you’re trying to get up those hills. Road bikes can be made of all sorts of different materials. This particular type of bike I'm holding is made out of carbon fiber. It’s one of the lightest materials out there. But they use really cool materials – exotic, if I may say so – as titanium, chromoly, aluminum, all sorts of phenomenal materials. They’re all still going to have those real skinny tires, drop handlebars, and lightweight frames to be efficient riding beasts. That is what makes a road bike.

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