Biking is one of most popular forms in adventure tours, which is good for health, and also really exciting. Biking tours are pretty flexible, because they can be applied for many kinds of tour, such as city tours, countryside tours, mountain tours, and for both short-day as well as long-day trips.

However, depending on characteristics of terrain and road, with different kinds of tour, you may use different kinds of bike. This post will supply you some fundamental information about kinds of bicycles usually used on tours so that you can choose right bikes for your trips.

ROAD BIKE Do you like to ride fast as lightning? There is a perfect bike for you – the Road Bike. With a lightweight construction, the main thing the Road Bike built for is speed.

Frame: The frame is very light and slender. Thus, the Road Bike cannot withstand too long with heavy loads on bumpy road. The frames is usually made of aluminum, carbon or titanium. It has a narrow seat.

Gears: The Road Bikes usually use derailleur gears. However, single-speed and fixed-gear varieties exist.

Tires: The tires are so strong that they could hold a bomb squad. They are less than an inch wide, high-pressure (>=100 psi) and smooth to decrease rolling resistance. Tire casings are thin to decrease weight and friction, so the speed will be higher.

Brakes: The Road Bike has caliper brakes. The brakes are sensitive to small changes. They do not have a lot of braking power.

Pedals: The pedals have a lot of grip in case of rain or anything slippery. If it is a rainy day the Road Bike has better traction than any other bike.

Handle bars: Most Road Bikes have drop bars. The drop bars come in many different shapes. They allows you to have many different positions with your hands.

Saddles: Saddle is designed so that rider’s head bend toward.

Tip: The Road Bike is suitable for riding on asphalt paved road, narrow road with high speed. It has an advantage of high speed, but cannot be fast at rugged trails. So it can be used for a common race or riding around in the park. On tours, it is appropriate to city tours and paved-road tours, but just roads less vehicles and impediments. The Road Bike can be suitable for some Vietnam biking tours like biking in Mekong delta, Hoian countryside, or cycling around West Lake – Hanoi, for instance.

MOUNTAIN BIKE – MTB

In the 1980s, Mountain Bikes were beginning to become popular. The reason is because people can ride Mountain Bikes on most things. They are typically ridden on dirt roads, mountain trails, tire roads, logging roads and other unpaved environments. These types of terrain commonly include rocky, washouts, ruts, loose sand, loose gravel, roots, and steep grades (both inclines and declines). By contrast, they can be also ridden on street roads and other smooth surfaces. People liked this idea of riding on practically anything and that is why it became popular.

Mountain Bikes can handle very well. Using Mountain Bikes, you will be less anxious about the flat tire problem, pothole fall and riding on rough roads.

However, because of heavy weight and large wheels, riders using Mountain Bikes will consume a lot of energies. This bike is not speed bike so the time travel by Mountain Bikes will be longer. Its sitting posture is also not comfortable like of Road Bike. On a Mountain Bikes, you will sit at high posture. However, this bike is a reasonable choice for ones who get back pain, rather than bent posture on Road Bike.

Frame: Mountain Bikes have sturdy frames. The frames can be made of titanium, carbon-fiber, or other materials.

Gears: A gear is system of 21 speeds.

Tires: Wide, knobby tires to ride over rough terrain

Wheels: A wheel size of 26 inches

Brakes: Most new Mountain Bikes use disc brakes. They offer much improved stopping power.

Handle bars: Flat handlebars

Suspension: Front and rear suspensions

Tip: The Mountain Bike is appropriate for trips on mountainous areas, like biking in northern Vietnam (Ha Giang, Sa Pa – Lao Cai, Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, etc).

TOURING BIKE

Touring Bike is longer than other normal bikes to capable of carrying heavy load and a lot of things. This bike has characteristics: light, smooth, fast and robust. Tires are designed to be able move on not very much flat roads.

Touring Bike has a special feature which suits for long-day tours: comfort. Long wheelbase is for ride comfort and to avoid pedal-to-luggage conflicts. Frame materials favor flexibility over rigidity. Heavy duty wheels is for load capacity.

Frame: Touring Bike has long, stable and stiff frames, with numerous attachments for luggage racks, fenders (mudguards), lights, high capacity water bottles, tools and spare parts. The typical frame and fork are made of steel (CroMo). Aluminum and titanium are also sometimes used.

Wheels: Strong wheels is to withstand heavy loads on rough terrain. Touring Bike has double-wall rims with usually 36, spokes, laced 3 or 4-cross. Wheels are often 26-inch (ISO 559) in preference over 700C (ISO 622).

Gears: Wide-ratio derailleur gears, with low gear. The gear has a triple chain ring similar to Mountain Bike, whereas most Road Bike has only two chain rings.

Brakes: Touring Bike usually has linear-pull brakes or cantilever brakes.

Handle bar: The bike has drop handle bar.

Tip: Touring Bike is modified to handle bicycle touring. This bicycle can use for Vietnam north to south biking tours.

HYBRID BIKE (CITY BIKE)

If you like a nice, easy ride, this lightweight bike is perfect for you. A Hybrid is a combination of Mountain Bike, Touring Bike and Road Bike. It was made for tour that most roads are short and flat. Hybrid Bike can move faster than Mountain Bike and offer a more comfortable sitting posture than Road Bike. Stability, comfort and ease are things a Hybrid Bike offers you.

Frame: The frame is made of lightweight steel and aluminum. It was made for comfortable upright riding. Hybrid Bikes often have places to mount racks and bags for transporting belongings, much like a Touring Bike.

Gears: The Hybrid has a fair amount of gears, because it is a combination. It has no ultra-low gears like the Mountain Bike because you are not supposed to ride it on heavy, rugged terrain.

Tires: The Hybrid has fairly big tires, bigger than most Mountain Bikes. The tires are pumped as much as they can and are definitely high pressure. Hybrids employ the lighter weight and smooth tires of Road Bikes, allowing for greater speed and less exertion.

Brakes: The brakes are very sensitive and efficient. You can stop all of a sudden and not skid very much.

Wheels: Thinner wheels of Road Bike.

Handle bars: Flat and straight with an upright sitting posture. The handlebars are very upright which is very similar to the frame. They also have great traction and grip.

Tip: Hybrid is a great choice for high-speed riding on cities. It is also perfect choice for countryside Vietnam tours, for example, Hanoi outskirt biking tours, and for routes that just has some rough sections, like Mai Chau biking tours.

BMX BIKE

 

If you do not like to ride on streets and sidewalks, but love to have bike races on dirt roads, do lots of tricks, and try some stunts, then a BMX Bike is the perfect bike for you. A BMX Bike looks similar to a motorcycle, but it is made for racing, stunts and tricks; therefore, they do not have as many parts and they are very light.

Frames: The frame is like a triangle. It has extra pieces to connect the tubes together so the bike can take heavier hits.

Gears: The bike has only one fixed gear, so it is light.

Tires: BMX Bikes have tires with very good traction so they can turn better.

Brakes: The bike has three different kinds of brakes: a rear wheel brake, front wheel, and coaster brakes.

Wheels: A BMX Bike has tiny twenty-inch wheels. This makes the bike astonishingly lightweight.

Pedals: The pedals are made of an alloy, a mixture of metals, so they will be very light.

Handle bars: The bike has high braced handlebars that slant to the back.

Tips: This bike is absolutely suitable for adventure trips in forests, mountains, passes and unpaved roads, like biking tours in the northeast, the central highland or the mountainous areas of the centre of Vietnam; but should be on short-day trips.