Best bicycles for the city: rating and choice

Today, the use of bicycles instead of public transport is rapidly becoming the top trend in cities. It is not difficult to understand people who choose this method of transportation: they keep themselves in shape, do not suffer in crowded public transport, do not stand in traffic jams - in short, they move fast enough and strictly in the direction in which they need, and even free of charge.

If you want personal transport to be comfortable precisely in urban conditions and last as long as possible, you should know how to choose it correctly.

A city bike is not an abstraction, but an official term, suitable as a contrast to, for example, a mountain bike. The set of transport characteristics for the city seems ideal - it is an easy, fast, convenient, compact (weighing up to 10 kg) accessory. It is not difficult to define a city bike visually - first of all, it has a high landing with a straight back - the rider sits on it in the same way as on a chair. A high seat is convenient from the point of view that thanks to this you can go slowly, conveniently viewing the windows and generally assessing the situation.

Sitting upright, the rider does not tire his hands at all, but the load on the spine with a pelvis increases. To offset this effect, at least partially, manufacturers equip the design additional damping springs.

Another fundamental point is the absence of the upper bar of the frame as such or its relatively low landing. In urban conditions, a trip can consist of numerous segments of several hundred meters, and in such a situation, the convenience of landing and disembarkation provided by such a position of the upper bar is very appreciated. In addition, urban roads usually have a flat surface without protruding relief features, so there are no shock loads on the frame, which means that the reinforcing upper bar is not really needed.

Third, which is also clearly visible - protection on all the main nodes. The chain is protected by a special pad, the same protects the wheels. From the outside, such a solution may seem like a whim of the designer, but in fact the solution is purely practical - the bicycle should be constantly ready for spontaneous, unplanned trips, because the wear mechanisms are reliably protected from any unforeseen damage. Citibike does not fail, you do not need to take care of it - just sat down and went.

In addition, other accessories, such as a signal, headlights and even turn signals, can be added for comfortable movement in heavy traffic conditions.

Considering that in the conditions of the city you often have to stop at the same traffic lights, and even to avoid accidents, many modern city bikes are actually on three wheels, although the two rear ones are not much spaced in space so that vehicles can slip into the narrowest gap.

When purchasing a product, many inexperienced users prefer not to delve into the characteristics, but simply trust the brand of the manufacturer. In principle, this is logical, because evaluating durability and reliability in advance will not work in any other way. However, any rating would be too subjective, so we just look at popular brands without distributing prizes and without insisting that all the best are in our field of vision.

• Merida. Taiwan is usually associated with good electronics, but this country also does well with bicycles. The brand is good at least for its recognition, caused by the width of the assortment - here are road models, and walking models, and the same city ones. The price range is also diverse - from relatively inexpensive, but a decent level of bicycles to a decent mid-price segment.

• Felt. The American brand is among the tops in terms of production of bicycle equipment - the company has mastered the production of high-quality bicycles not lower than the average price category, its products are recognizable all over the world. In many ways, the brand name is made thanks to sports models, but its city bikes are amazing.

• Fischer. Germany simply does not know how to make any product poorly, and German bicycles are known far beyond its borders due to the highest quality and impressive reliability. Such a unit is not very cheap, but it will not fail.

• Schwinn. The American brand for the production of bicycles has existed for more than 120 years, and this is an indicator of professionalism if the company has remained afloat all this time.

Sometimes consumers are not ready to make an independent choice and will be sincerely grateful if they are offered a choice of several popular product models. As in the above situation with brands, we do not pretend to mention all the excellent models of bicycles - the opinion of each cyclist may differ from ours. For the same reason, we did not allocate places in the ranking, but simply highlighted several fresh models in demand.

• Forward Valencia 1.0. Perhaps the best solution from among the inexpensive.Contrary to some Anglo-Spanish name, this representative is not even of China, but of Russia. For the purchase, count on 9 thousand rubles, however, for people of high or at least average height, it will not work.

• Schwinn suburban women. A good example of a stylish ladies bike in vintage design ideas. For connoisseurs, one brand name will be real music in the ears, because Marilyn Monroe and Angelina Jolie did not hesitate to ride on the company's products.

• Giant Roam 0 Disc. Taiwanese transport of this model, many experts consider one of the best in terms of technical equipment. In principle, this is not so much a city bike as a full-fledged hybrid, which means that you can travel outside the city as well - it will withstand many different tests. The price bites (about 75 thousand rubles), but the only drawback is not the cost, but the lack of choice for the color of the frame.

• Merida Crossway 100. An ideal option for those who are looking for something in between - they understand that you can’t save a lot on personal transport, want to get decent equipment and at the same time do not consider it necessary to overpay for the name of a promoted brand.

• Shulz Krabi Coaster. Another bike, the name of which you will never guess that it is domestic. The good thing is that it folds to a compact size in just 20 seconds, but the negligence that allowed the manufacturer to abandon the steering wheel height regulation is somewhat surprising.

• Desna 2200. The Russian-made unit has minimal depreciation, therefore it is not suitable for off-road and will take on itself no more than 70 kg. With apparent shortcomings, there are advantages, for example, a simple folding scheme and a cost of 7 thousand rubles. An additional bonus is the abundance of colorful colors for every taste.

All these brands and tops are the opinion of the majority, but you, understanding the characteristics of a bicycle, can choose the ideal model specifically for yourself, without focusing on the crowd point. The first criterion that you need to pay attention to is the frame. The design without the upper pipe is called female, because it is extremely easy to sit on it even in a skirt, but today it is more reasonable to choose it by the logic that the landing is not complicated even in winter clothes.

Wherein for the sake of sufficient rigidity, manufacturers have to heavily weight a single pipe - so much so that the trapezoidal "male" frame with two pipes would be even lighter.

Pay attention to the frame material. Aluminum is considered exemplary in terms of combination of price and quality. Such a bike weighs a little, but at the same time it is durable and corrosion resistant. The steel frame also has good performance, but still inferior to aluminum, but it belongs to the category of budget decisions. Carbon as the main material is good for its extreme lightness., but it’s just not possible to choose a cheap carbon fiber frame, and such a bicycle is not suitable for the park - it is not too reliable and is afraid of heavy loads.

Depreciation is of two types: rigid and hardtail. The first option is good for smooth city roads, this is the best solution to facilitate the vehicle, and the absence of extra springs positively affects the cost. If a typical route includes disgusting Russian roads, an adult will be right to take a more expensive and heavy hardtail - the built-in shock-absorbing fork will have to be serviced periodically, but it will save the fifth point from sudden shocks.

It is very important to adequately choose the type of seat. It may seem illogical to some, but soft seats are an option for short trips, and for long journeys, hard seats are needed, and not vice versa. With prolonged driving, soft sitting provokes a constriction of blood vessels and numbness of the buttocks. Wheel diameters are generally recommended at 26-28 inches. The large diameter allows you to overcome minor elevations without much effort and discomfort, while too large wheels adversely affect the weight of the vehicle and its compactness.

If the city does not have a significant difference in elevation, you do not need a gearbox - you can get by with a one-speed bike, which will be both simpler, easier, and elementary cheaper. With an abundance of ups and downs shifting speeds will be very appropriate, and a small overpayment will fully pay off.

In the city it is important to be able not only to drive fast, but also to brake sharply. Drum brakes allow you to stop by pedaling in the opposite direction, but such braking may be too stretched, and if the chain has also flown, you can be sure that your brake is not working right now. For this reason rim brakes are in great demand, the control of which is displayed on the steering wheel in the form of a lever.

Having pressed the lever, you squeeze the rim of the wheel, and it slows down due to the friction force. - It is both efficient and easy to repair. Please note that rim braking is especially effective when there are brakes on both wheels, if there is only one, let it be rear.

See how to choose the perfect bike for the city in the next video.