Meet Your New Car

With today’s insane oil prices, everyone is feeling to pain as they fill up their cars. Even though our gas prices are still low compared to many countries in Europe, some paying eight dollars a gallon, we struggle to get by. Many people are trying to trade in their gas guzzling SUVs for small cars, motorcycles, and mopeds. But there is an even greener alternative to these. Introducing the bicycle. The bike is small, simple, light, and is the most efficient machine on earth. Most adults only own bikes for weekend or evening riding, if they use it at all. But more and more are using them for commuting to and from work and on errands.

Distance does play a role on if you can ride your bike. A riding in good condition on a commuter bike should be able to average at least 10 MPH on a good road, if not more. You have to have a good quality bike in order for this to work.

Getting a Bike

If you do not have a bike, or yours is not very good quality, you will need to buy one. You should go to a bike shop with a good reputation and get them to properly size a bike for you. When you choose the style of bike, you should get one that matches your needs. A typical road bike has very thin tires which are easy to slip with, and hard in heavy traffic. The handle bars also required you to stay in an aerodynamic shape, which can hurt in some cases. Mountain Bikes are decent, but the tires are wide and knobby, which slow you down considerable and use more energy. The frames are also heavy, but will also stand up to abuse and hard riding. Mountain bikes are best if you have a commute more that a few miles, but you should get smoother tires to save much time and effort. A third type is cruiser. This bike is generally made for commuting. Cruiser tires are wider than road tires and have some tread, but not as much as mountain bikes. A bike shop technician should be able to help you decide. You should definitely not go to a warehouse with China made bikes if you want your new bike to hold up well. These bikes will almost definitely turn you away from using a bike in your commute. These places have employees throw bikes together as fast as they can, so they are not test driven or adjusted properly. They also will not be able to help you if the bike breaks. They are also hard to repair, as the parts are disposable and replacements will not fit readily. These places are, however, generally good to get some of your accessories.