Bikes are governed what you want from them. Looking for a bike to suit our needs we have a wide choice of styles from pursuit road racers, adventure cruisers, city commuters, African roasters and standard commuter mountain bikes too competition mountain bikes. Personal luggage carrying demands specialized cargo carrying capacity.
Buying new, second hand, or just do it yourself (DIY) renovating getting old bikes ruining smoothly again or used as donor spare parts keeping you own bike running smoothly, there is a range of sizes.
Today's bike on the market offer short legged teenagers to lanky adult designs. Woman's commuters and the latest electric trends are available at any dealership. Electrics are fast becoming popular with urban commuters living in centers built on hills and personal leisure.
Electrics are defined by typical ladies step thought frame designs. Sports bikes are mountain bike styling top bars commonly slopping toward the seat post giving low profile sleekness. These come as bare bones short wheel base and mudguard less to most people a mountain bike commonly a standard comuter type. Manufacture trends turning then into sports designs is a clear example appealing to the young.
African roasters and custom kids bikes such as BMX and kids leisure cruiser designs throughout the ages. Sporty long wheelbase are cargo carrying capacity designs. Looking for vintage bikes the most popular are the unusual and rare one off designs that are very rare.
For those who constantly carry a lot of gear on the back wheel demand one of the most important details to be aware of is the rear wheel drop out design. Traditional racing and commuter maintain bike drop out slots are steeply angled. If you are loading your bike like a donkey they have weight bearing issues.
Do it yourself (DIY) mechanics experience a rear wheel problem after disturbing the wheel when it is necessary to remove such as fixing a flat replacing back into the bike. It is a mistake to rely on the tightening of the wheel nuts holding the axial aligned. with these dropp out designs
Resetting the alignment of the wheel is critical with these type of drop outs. We generate a considerable amount of side to side peddling wobble forces flexing the drop out slot transferred to the axial. The axial is often twising out of alignment even when we assure ourselves the wheel nuts should hold the axial straight in place.
The wheel gradually slips to one side in time as we ride often by the drive side specially when pulling hard. A sign is breaking spokes, wrapping rim and tire wear problems not to mention ride handling that feels less than smooth as it should be. The wheel is millimeters off center.
To most cyclists though their bike is just a method of getting from A to B where traditional racing and mountain bikes carrying nothing but a back pack is all they need and prefer where their stress on the rear wheel is less of a problem.
Once the rear wheel has been disturbed and replaced for any reason the traditional angle rear wheel drop slot designs loaded like a donkey results in a considerable amount of constant maintenance headache on the back wheel. There is a constant adjustment and modifying rear wheel repair compensation for the low mileage out of the bike. Peddling forces are constantly pulling the axle off set out of alignment dispute our self assurances tight wheel nuts should hold the axial fast. This also applies to loading of front wheels too.
A recent development are n shape drops outs that has none of these issues ideal for those who expect a lot hauling children or using a bike as a shopping hauler to personal gear. These are in the realm of cargo carrying capacity frames specially electrics. The n shape drop out holds the axial fast in place. The axial can't twist out of alignement. Because the axial can't slip n rear wheel drop bike frames get trouble free maintenance for high mileage.
The latest trends are long sports designs special purpose saddle bags and high profile stance complete with mudguards. Shopping for intended purpose whether carrying luggage, city commuting or bare bones sports bike frame check out the rear wheel drop out. If intending use like a donkey always check for the n shape rear wheel drop out. All electric bikes are this type to support the heavy electrical equipment.
The n shape prevents peddling twisting sliding. This design has become increasing common on sexier low slung and short wheelbase sports mountain bike frames often expressed as hybrids because they can be used as is sports to back packer luggage carrying tourist bike in the same bike. They are classed in the adventure bike category.
So long as any sports bike frame is a n shape drop out design you can fit carrier and saddle bags. These bikes come in the bare bones with no mudguards and carrier. Mudguards, carriers and saddle bags are optional extras.
An important detail about electric bikes electric motors and batteries are to heavy loads for traditional rim brakes. Electric bikes come with disc either mechanical cable or hydraulic. For the DIY maintenance and replacement pad are a challenge and expensive and adjustment time consuming and fiddly.
Choosing frame comfort is determined on the size and design. If too short or to long handle bar reach or to high or to short we feel it in the riding performance and handling comfort in our thighs. Our knees feel to bunched up or to stretched effecting our peddling comfort. Look for length of the handle bar reach when seated as well hight.
Relative to bike restorers and do it yourself repairers common tape measures are ideal reference tool. Typically one side is metric and the flipside side in handy inches. Tape measures tell us an inch is near enough to 2 and a half centimeters. (or 25 millimeters if you like). Flip sides tell us 39 and a half inches equals a meter.
Tape measures illustrate bike size is in the tip to tip of any (diameter) of the tire telling us straight away the bike's size that used to be commonly British imperil inches. Today imperial inches is dropped in favor of international standardization favoring the standardized metric system. Tape measures read older bike tires from child's 12 inches (a foot), 15, 18, 24, 26, 27, and even 28 imperial inches across.
Flip sides gives the metric equalivalent. These various sizes are catered for all sorts of physical physiques from short legged boys and teens, to lanky athletes. You'll find tire size written anywhere on the tire wall close to the tire pressure.
700c types are the default adult metric bike size used today. 26 inch equalivalent are older bikes tires. They may look the same size as a 700c but comparing them 700c's are slightly smaller than the 26 inches. To give an idea of size 75cm (or 750mm according to tape measures imperial inches equalivalent over 7 inches across) dead on three quarter meter.
The x marking is by the width of the tire decimal point in inches or centimeters. Tape measures will read skinny racing tires less than a couple of inches to about 20 to 30mm across and mountain bike tires up to 4cm wide. Mountain bike widths can be as wide as much 60mm (6cm). Measuring the inside diameter measures the diameter of the tire telling you the diameter of the rim. But the overall tip to tip of tires includes whole wheel size. We have a choice of tire widths. Choosing a bike observe the details of the tire width that appeals to you the most.
Bikes come in allsorts of gearing range from standard external gearing including Internal 3-speed hub single sprocket drives. Rare vintage back peddling breaking systems built into the hub rarer still with gears found with these back wheels. But it it's common rear wheels external clusters of 5, 6, 7, and even 8 sprockets either double or triple front chain wheel churning sets.
A bit of arithmetic on the number of front chain wheel churnings and rear gear sprockets tells us the speed of any bike. For example lets take a double front chain wheel set with 5 rear sprockets. In this case two 5's is a 10 speed bike. If 6 rear sprockets two 6's is a 12 speed bike. If 7 rear sprockets, two 7's are 14 and so on. If 8 sprockets two 8's is a 16 speed.
What about 3 front chain wheel set? Same multiplication factor. In this case three, 5's, three, 6's, three, 7's or 3 threes, to three 8's, make 15, 21, and 32 speed bikes respectively. Just one glance at the front chain wheel set and rear sprockets give the relative speed of every bike. The relative speed is on the gear lever indicator.
Notice the law of arithmetic allows us five 2's, six, 2's, seven, 2's and eight, 2's, and three 5's, three 6's, three 7's and three, 8's respectively. We are dividing the known speed of the bike by the number of rear sprockets. For example given 10 speed we dived 10 by 5 rear gives us the 2 front chain wheels. Also the known speed divided the the number off front chain wheels. A 32 speed fro example divided 32 speed divided by the 3 front Chain wheel sprockets gives us 8 rear sprockets respectively. Arithmetic can't lie you know.
With bicycle gearing there is no such thing as fractions remaining. Any sum that has no fractions remaining is called composites. It is impossible to have any fractions over. If we check the common children times table we find in the times table three, 5's and if we look in the times 5 table we find the same sum as five, 3's. It applies to every speed rating. We can 18 divide 3 equals 6 and 18 divide 600 equals 3 resistively, Mathematics can't lie you know. Bicycle gearing range makes ideal composites perfect constants. They don't come any better than that.
Studying wheel geometry is equally symmetrical. We can use new bikes (at lest good or new wheels) all bikes are suspended by the spokes supporting the whole bike and rider on their wheel hubs. If we study the spoke arrangement on the hub flanges we will observe alternating in and out spoke heads round the entire circumference of the hub flange. One in. The next one out. The next one in. The next one out, pattern all round the hub flange. Counting the total is one side pans out the same same number the opposite side the total number of spokes of the whole wheel.
For example counting 18 one side doubled is a total of 32 spokes. A total of 32 spokes divided in half equals 18 spoke holes each side of the hub.
Using a new bike as a model we will observe how the spoke heads are perfectly flushed all the way round each hub flange spoke holes. New bikes are the best way to determine what spoke heads of any bike should be. Flushed spoke heads are firmly in place. If not the left to right peddling forces of our peddling twisting forces to twist/bend right at the head snapping right at this point a common cause of nuisance braking spoke problems.
New bike wheels show how tight and flush spoke heads in the hub flange and under and over overlapping every spoke is what spokes of all bikes should be is what makes bike wheels so strong. The in and over each spoke pattern is symmetrical rolling that they support each other one at a time from flexing as the wheel rolls round.
Noting carefully the way spokes cross each spoke head. New bike wheels tell us the way the spoke cross every head should be with any bike wheel. Next you will note each spoke crosses in a entangled over and under each other each. Road pursuit racing bikes cross including the spoke head only 1 or 2 spokes. It is common 3 cross. Some times with added strength for cargo carrying capacity wheels a total of 40 spokes 4 cross wheels.
Note with new bike wheel if you trace a in spoke head of a spoke to the rim tracing the spoke to the rim counting 5 along tracing back down will be a correspond in or next in spoke head. The same pattern applies to the outward heads. This pattern repeats systematically every five spokes along in the rim in a perfect symmetrical pattern.
