What defines a "road bike"
05-06-09, 02:26 PM
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What defines a "road bike"
What makes a bike a road bike and not something else?
What are the defining characteristics?
Discuss...
What are the defining characteristics?
Discuss...
05-06-09, 02:28 PM
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05-06-09, 02:30 PM
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I'd say drop bars are one of the primary characteristics.
05-06-09, 02:31 PM
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it used to be clearer when what we would accept as "road bikes" were called "racers". that would distinguish from the hybrids/comfort bikes.
05-06-09, 02:32 PM
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Drop bars, 650's or 700c, relatively light weight.....
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05-06-09, 02:33 PM
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Drop bars
700c
Multiple gears in the front and back
700c
Multiple gears in the front and back
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05-06-09, 02:34 PM
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Road bikes are a carefully crafted blend of technology, self loathing and disdain for your fellow man.
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05-06-09, 02:34 PM
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but put a drop bar on a mountain bike doesn't make it a road bike.
i was at an lbs and the owner showed me a nice looking colnago on the work stand that he was in the process of replacing the drop bars and campy shifters with flat bars and different gears and brakes. is that still a road bike?
i was at an lbs and the owner showed me a nice looking colnago on the work stand that he was in the process of replacing the drop bars and campy shifters with flat bars and different gears and brakes. is that still a road bike?
05-06-09, 02:35 PM
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Bored today ??
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05-06-09, 02:36 PM
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05-06-09, 02:38 PM
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Why not? Cause it has shocks? Disc brakes? Tires wider than 23c?
If we agree drop bars are necessary, what else makes a road bike a road bike.
edit: Reading umd's post below, I'd say a road bike is a bike with drop bars that was designed to primarily be be ridden on roads. This differentiates it from a cross bike which has drop bars, but is designed to be ridden in various conditions.
If we agree drop bars are necessary, what else makes a road bike a road bike.
edit: Reading umd's post below, I'd say a road bike is a bike with drop bars that was designed to primarily be be ridden on roads. This differentiates it from a cross bike which has drop bars, but is designed to be ridden in various conditions.
05-06-09, 02:38 PM
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Do you believe that is sufficient to differentiate between other types of bicycles? Many mountain bikes are ridden on the road and never "in the mountains". To use other vehicles for an analogy, a "sports car" is always a sports car regardless of whether it is used "for sport" and a Hummer, Jeep, or other 4x4 is an "off road vehicle" regardless of whether or not they ever go "off road".
My question is, is it the inherent nature of the bike that defines it, or is it the transient nature of it's use that defines it?
My question is, is it the inherent nature of the bike that defines it, or is it the transient nature of it's use that defines it?
05-06-09, 02:41 PM
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05-06-09, 02:41 PM
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Inherent nature over transient nature. Otherwise we'd call foldies, fixies, classics, motorcycles, tricycles, recumbents, unicycles, etc, ad nauseum... "road bikes". They can be ridden on the road, after all. And when I ride my "road bike" on a MUP, does it then become a "multiuse path bike"? I hope to god not. 
Nice topic, btw. ha
Nice topic, btw. ha
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05-06-09, 02:41 PM
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Hard to say exactly. There was a time when there was a road frame configuration, touring frame configuration and off road configuration. Road frames featured a "tighter" frame with less clearance between tires and fork as well as at the point where the tire is closest to the seat tube. Touring frames had a longer frame assembly, better balanced for front and rear paniers, etc.
Nowadays, the distictions have been blurred with "entry level" frames, hybris and the like. I would say handlebar type and general geometry type would make the distinction although you can probably see lots of exceptions to the rule.
Nowadays, the distictions have been blurred with "entry level" frames, hybris and the like. I would say handlebar type and general geometry type would make the distinction although you can probably see lots of exceptions to the rule.
05-06-09, 02:42 PM
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but put a drop bar on a mountain bike doesn't make it a road bike.
i was at an lbs and the owner showed me a nice looking colnago on the work stand that he was in the process of replacing the drop bars and campy shifters with flat bars and different gears and brakes. is that still a road bike?
i was at an lbs and the owner showed me a nice looking colnago on the work stand that he was in the process of replacing the drop bars and campy shifters with flat bars and different gears and brakes. is that still a road bike?
05-06-09, 02:43 PM
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Alright, so wait ... I can ride my mountain bike NOT in the mountains. My world was just flipped upside down...
Oh and a hummer == worthless piece of GM trash. (Jeeps are going that way too, sad day)
Oh and a hummer == worthless piece of GM trash. (Jeeps are going that way too, sad day)
05-06-09, 02:44 PM
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05-06-09, 02:44 PM
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