Guides
How to Choose a Bike: Size, Type and Riding Style
Bike types, sizing, budgets and what to check before you buy.
Before you look at brands or prices, two decisions matter more than any component: the type of bike and the size. A great road bike is a bad buy if your rides are on dirt roads, and a frame one size too big leaves you stretched out no matter how you swap the stem and saddle.
These guides help you get both right. We start with sizing: how to measure your inseam at home with a book and a wall, which size fits your height for each type of bike, and what to do if you're between two sizes. We also explain stack and reach, the two geometry numbers that really tell you whether a frame fits, better than the size on the sticker.
Then we go through the types of bikes, from road to electric, with the tire width, weight and best use of each, and compare gravel vs. road with numbers: how much faster one is than the other, and when a single bike can do it all.
If you want a straight recommendation, the Which Bike Should I Buy? quiz gives you one in seven questions, and the bike size calculator fine-tunes the frame. For kids, see our kids' bike size guide.
Guides on this topic
What Size Bike Do I Need? How to Find Your Size and Measure Your Inseam
At 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) you're a size M on road, gravel, mountain and city bikes. To fine-tune, measure your inseam: multiplied by 0.665, it gives the classic road frame size in centimeters (a 32 in, or 81.3 cm, inseam × 0.665 = 54.1).
Types of Bikes: What Each One Is For and Which to Choose
If you ride on pavement, get a road bike; if you mix pavement and dirt roads, gravel; for trails, a mountain bike; for getting around town, a city bike, hybrid or e-bike. Pick for the riding you do 80% of the time.
Gravel vs Road Bike: Real Differences and Which One Fits You
At 200 W on flat pavement, a gravel bike is 0.3 to 1.5 mph (0.5 to 2.5 km/h) slower than a road bike, mostly because you sit more upright. In exchange, its 40-50 mm tires open up dirt roads.
Carbon vs. Aluminum Bike: The Real Differences and Which One Is Right for You
A carbon frame weighs about 0.9 lb (400 g) less than its aluminum equivalent, but the complete bike can weigh almost the same: in a test by Tour magazine, 17.2 lb vs. 17.6 lb (7.8 vs. 8.0 kg). At entry-level prices, aluminum usually gets you better components for the same money.
How to buy a used bike without getting burned
Run the serial number through Bike Index and 529 Garage, ask for the original receipt, and check the frame, chain, wheels, fork and brakes before you pay. As a price guide, e-bike reseller Upway says e-bikes lose 30-50% of their value in the first year and 10-20% a year after that.
Save your bike once, use it everywhere
In My Bike you enter your measurements, wheels and drivetrain. From there we give you your tire pressure, saddle height, gearing and chain length, plus a shop sheet you can print.