Buying A Bicycle

What factors should I consider when buying a bicycle?

First of all, if you come to the store at Bikeattack, I ask you, "What is the Purpose? What do you want to use the bicycle for? What do you want to do?" Those are the type of questions I ask. And from then on, the second ones are, "What type of initial investment?" or, "How much do you want to spend?" This way I can put you in a category, so I can hit the money, the value that you want to spend, so you're a happy cyclist. Those are the questions I usually ask, so this way you have the correct bicycles for the use.

When should I get my child their first bicycle?

My child just saw a bike and that was it. She just wanted to have it. For me, when the child starts walking to the level when they are really running, that's the time you throw them into bicycling. Their bones are growing, their bones are strong; it's time for them to go for a nice bike ride. Most kids learn to cycle between 4 and 7 years old.

What are 'road bikes'?

A road bike is a super-lightweight bicycle. It weighs approximately fifteen pounds. A road bicycle is fast, agile, and quick. This is the bike to have if you want to really enjoy a very lightweight bicycle. Easy to carry, just awesome to ride.

What are 'fitness bikes'?

Fitness bikes are basically like a road bike, except they have a more upright positions. The majority of our customers have road bikes, but they don't want that stretched top tube - they want to be in a more upright position; that's a fitness bike. The majority of our customers want a fitness bike with a 700c rim, and it's the same as the Tour de France bikes, but it has a comfortable seat and a comfortable handlebar position and stand position - to me, that's a fitness bike.

What are 'comfort bikes'?

A comfort bike is the same as the fitness bike. Many focus on the comfort of bicycles these day, but you want the speed of a road bike of various gears. Comfortable bikes are bicycles you can ride comfortably, with a nice seat and an upright position.

What is a 'beach cruiser'?

A beach cruiser is my favorite bicycle. A beach cruiser is a 26-inch tire balloon type bicycle. It has a fat seat, fat tires, is really cushy, and the handlebars are upright. A beach cruiser makes you really comfortable, puts you in an upright position, and allows you to just enjoy the beach.

What is a 'performance road bike'?

A performance road bike has super-lightweight wheels; either it's a carbon-fiber frame or it's a titanium frame. It's really light. That's the type of bike that you see on TV that Lance Armstrong uses. That's the type of road bike. It has 10 speeds in the back, and it has 2 speeds in the front. That is a performance road bike, and its' 700 Cs - really fast with thin tires.

What is a 'mountain bike'?

A mountain bike is a 26-inch bicycle, which you can ride on dirt up in the mountains, not like the Tour de France bike that Lance Armstrong uses. You can ride this on dirt, really rocky sections, really steep sections, single-track, and fire road. You can't do that on a road bike or racing bike. Mountain bikes are the type of bikes that you can use to climb on mountains, comfortably and safely, when you're out in the woods with no cars.

What is a 'rigid bike'?

A bicycle with no suspension is a rigid bike, pretty much; a rigid bike is a bicycle without suspension.

What is a 'full suspension' bike?

A full suspension bike is a bike with a front shock and a rigid frame. But then you have a full suspension bicycle with a front shock and a rear suspension frame.

What is a 'freeride' mountain bike?

That word freeride, a couple of guys from Canada named it - guys that are into mountain bicycling. A freeride has a granny gear, which is the smallest cog in the front of the crank. You can climb anything but it's heavy. It's got seven inches of travel to six inches of travel and it's safe to go down the hill, and it's like you have a motorcycle bike under you.

What is a 'downhill' mountain bike?

It's like downhill skiing, pretty much, except it's a bicycle. It's the same thing as downhill skiing, a downhill mountain bike - a race against time, the same, almost, if you go to Durango. A downhill mountain bike has 9 inches of travel at the front, and 9 or 10 inches of travel front or back. It's like having a motorcycle - lots of travel.

What is a 'single speed' mountain bike?

Single speed mountain bike is like a mountain bike with 6-inch rims, a single sprocket in the front, a single cassette in the back, 13 or 14. You only have one speed but you have knobby tires, so you can go up a mountain at the same speed. But then we have another type of single speed, which is a road bike single speed, which is a single fixed gear. This type of bike, right now, is very hot, especially these days; kids love it. But the majority of our customers are switching off from fixed gear to free gear so they can coast.

What are the two types of 'full suspension'?

You have a full suspension that has four inches of travel, which is front suspension four inches, and back suspension with four inches. That's more for cross-country, going up and going down, for someone who wants something light-weight. It basically weighs between 24 pounds and 30 pounds.

What is a 'freeride' or 'all-mountain' bike?

You can ride to the mountains, going up, but you're going to carry a weight of 32 to 40 pounds. Those are the all-mountain bicycles that we sell. These types of bike-types have 7 inches of travel in the back, and 6 inches to 7 inches of front suspension, of course with a lock-out. Those are the types of bikes that are freeride all-mountain bike.

What is a 'full-suspension downhill' mountain bike?

Full suspension downhill mountain bikes consist of an almost motorcycle suspension, which has nine inches to ten inches of travel in the rear, and also for the front, it consist of eight inches of travel to ten inches of travel, just like a motorcycle. Downhill mountain bikes are what they use in motocross.

What are the different types of bicycle brakes?

The difference between handbrakes, foot brakes and disc brakes are: for disc brakes there are two types - the ones that are cable actuated brakes, which are from manufactures Hayes or Avid, but they also make hydraulic brakes which are used similarly to motorcycles and cars. You also have another type of brake, which are hand brakes, which are cantilever brakes, and you have V brakes, which are cable actuated. Of course, you also have the old style, the coaster brake, which are in the hub and to stop you have to kick the pedal backwards. These are coaster brakes.

Should I buy secondhand bikes?

With second hand bikes, I don't what know what the other individual did to that bicycle. I don't know what happened. My advice is that second hand bikes are a no-no.

Why not just buy a cheap bike at a discount retailer?

That's a terrible mistake for consumers, especially if you buy a bicycle from big superstores. First of all, service is a factor. Safety is another factor - they just want to push you products that are not safe, with cheap service. The majority of all the bikes that are from the big superstores, we always fix them. You end up spending more to repair it than using it. Buyers need to come in for service, and that to me is not safe and it's not fair for consumers of bicycles.