Bonjes 'flat bar road bike'

[col]

If its used on the road,its a road bike,no matter what its makeup,isnt it?

 

[alecstilleyedye]

oh, and what do you call a lightweight diamond frame before you put the handlebars on?

 

[Alan Frame]

oh, and what do you call a lightweight diamond frame before you put the handlebars on?

A quasi-bike ?

 

[zimzum42]

So a bike without drop bars is not a road bike.

Is a sentence containing an apostrophe mistake a proper sentence, whether it's a thread title or not?

 

[PrettyboyTim]

Yes. In as much as it would fail the scrutineers inspection at a UCI sanctioned event.

Since when have the UCI (whoever they are*) been the gatekeepers of 'bikehood'?

Some bikes don't require any handlebars at all:

* Yeah, okay, I've googled it now...

 

[Dayvo]

What if I went touring on a road bike?
Or if I went racing on a tourer?

Sorry; just playing the Devil's advocate!

 

[twowheelsgood]

Why did the terms "racer" or "racing bike" go out of fashion?

It seems a much better description of a light, high performance bike with drop-bars and competitive potential than "road bike" to me. I assume this is what mickle really means.

A tourer is surely a road bike, as is a flat bar bike (Trek make a range that are literally identical to their drop-bar equivalents save the bars and levers) as are many "commuter orientated hybrids" (like a Marin Alp). Basically anything that has little or no offroad potential.

 

[HLaB]

Why did the terms "racer" or "racing bike" go out of fashion?

It seems a much better description of a light, high performance bike with drop-bars and competitive potential than "road bike" to me. I assume this is what mickle really means.

A tourer is surely a road bike, as is a flat bar bike (Trek make a range that are literally identical to their drop-bar equivalents save the bars and levers) as are many "commuter orientated hybrids" (like a Marin Alp). Basically anything that has little or no offroad potential.

I don't know but when I told my mum a few years back I was thinking about getting a "racing bike" she nearly had kittens. A year later I told her I was buying a "road bike" and there was no problem.

 

[snorri]

By whom, exactly?

Sorry Mickle, unless you can come up with some actual references, it's just your opinion.

I agree with User482 - if the bike is designed purely for road use, that makes it a road bike. Of course, If I had my way, we'd go back to calling them 'racers', which makes more sense to me...

You talk good sense PrettyboyTim

 

[rjeffroy]

A race bike is simply a bike used for racing. Since you can race a road bike, or a mountain bike, or a TT bike it is not a very useful term.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

racer was generally a term for the ubiquitous 5/6/10/12 speed dropped handlebar iron framed bikes from the 70s that died a death when cheapo mountain bikes came out (think raleigh olympus and the like).

 

[gbb]

By whom, exactly?

Sorry Mickle, unless you can come up with some actual references, it's just your opinion.

I agree with User482 - if the bike is designed purely for road use, that makes it a road bike. Of course, If I had my way, we'd go back to calling them 'racers', which makes more sense to me...[/QUOTE]


Perhaps you're showing some age there Tim

They were always racers to me...(being a boy of the 70s )

Everyones split into two camps now...the knowledgeable ones...(us !!! ) who call them roadbikes.
Then theres the rest of the general public...'oh you've got a racer'....'errr no, its a roadbike'.

I still like to think of them as racers, guess i always will

 

[gbb]

A race bike is simply a bike used for racing. Since you can race a road bike, or a mountain bike, or a TT bike it is not a very useful term.

Of course youre right rj...but wrong as well.
Prior to the 90s (roughly)...any drop bar bike was a racer (to the general public at least).
I always had racing bikes, since the 70s...i never heard them called anything else till the 90s.

Language and fashion changes....now theyre roadbikes.

Which perfectly illustrates this post.
To me a flatbar roadbike is perfectly understandable and acceptable. Ive seen them called that in shops and mags.
A shift in fashion / language. Its happening all the time.

 

[Steve Austin]

A flat barred bike with 700cc wheels and skinny tyres is a Hybrid, BUT put some thick tyres on it and it becomes a 29er

 

[Peyote]

A flat barred bike with 700cc wheels and skinny tyres is a Hybrid, BUT put some thick tyres on it and it becomes a 29er

It's all getting a bit confusing now...

... and there's always someone who has to take it to far, I present Treks 69er!

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/id39568.html

Or even the full suss, fully geared option!

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/id39442.html