Road bike
Road bikes, referred to as “road bikes”. Road bicycles, mountain bicycles and recreational bicycles constitute the three major categories of bicycles. Road cycling in China started late, with the mountain bike market taking the top spot. However, with the popularization of road cycling, the market continues to expand. When road bicycles are used as bicycles, they refer to bicycles used on road pavements (or artificially hardened roads, or gravel roads), which can be used in road bicycle competitions. In order to achieve high-speed riding, the body weight is lighter and the wind resistance is small. When used as a sports event, it refers to a road cycling race.
Vehicle characteristics
1. The tires are narrower than ordinary bicycle tires, and the tire pressure can reach more than 100-200psi (pounds per square inch), so the rolling resistance during driving is much smaller than that of mountain bikes.
2. The gear ratio between the crankset and the flywheel (that is, the gear ratio) is very large, and the gear ratio of general road bicycles can reach 53:11 or even higher.
3. Today’s road bicycles widely use new materials, such as titanium alloy, carbon fiber, high-grade aluminum alloy materials, etc., so the weight of road bicycles is very light, which can reach 5kg or less, but the IAAF stipulates that the participating cars shall not be less than 6.8 kg.
4. The tires are generally made of very hard materials, which are easy for athletes to exert force. This is very different from mountain bikes. Because road bikes are all riding on roads with better road conditions, there is no need to think too much about absorbing vibrations like the latter.
Due to the above characteristics, in the case of the same rider, the speed of riding a road bicycle is much faster than riding an ordinary bicycle.