There are many brands of bicycles but below is a summary of the most popular bicycle makers with their most popular bike styles and niche. The list is arranged by popularity.
| Bike Maker | Bicycle Types | Main Type | Price Range | Company Info | ||||
| Trek | Road, Mountain, Town | Excels in Multiple Categories | $400 – $12K | Currently the most popular bicycle brand. Makes bikes in every category. Trek is the bike of choice for many pro riders in the mountain and road categories. | ||||
| Schwinn | Leisure, Family Bicycles | Cruiser | $60 – $2,500 | Schwinn makes bikes in most categories but specializes in leisure bicycles. Founded in 1895, Schwinn became the dominant manufacturer of American bicycles through most of the 20th century. | ||||
| Specialized | Road, Mountain, Commuter, Kids | Mountain | $400 – $12K | Claim to be first mass produced mountain bike. Has expanded into all the other categories including road, racing, hybrid, and touring. | ||||
| GT | Mountain, Road, BMX | Mountain | $150 – $4K | The nation’s leading supplier of bicycle motocross “BMX,” bicycles and one of the nation’s biggest sellers of adult mountain bikes, as well as over 4,500 different parts and accessories. The company designs, manufactures, and markets 143 mid- to premium-priced bicycle models. | ||||
| Mongoose | BMX, Downhill, Free ride, All Mountain, Hardtail, Dirt Jump, Commuter | BMX | $80 – $2,300 | A spin-off of BMX Products, Mongoose focuses on mountain, downhill, and free-style riding. It is now a brand of Pacific Cycle. | ||||
| Raleigh | Road, Mountain, Hybrid, Performance Hybrid, Comfort, Cruiser, Women | Road, Hybrid | $130 – $1,500 | Originating in Great Britain, Raleigh has long been considered a USA company. Raleigh’s most popular bike type is road. However, they now produce bicycles in almost every category. | ||||
| Diamondback | Full Suspension, Mountain Hardtail, Road, Hybrid, Performance Hybrid, Dual Sport, Comfort, Cruiser, BMX | Full Suspension, Mountain Hardtail | $120 – $1,500 | A division of Raleigh, Diamondback’s emphasis has been mountain bikes but it currently makes a full range of cycles in almost every category. | ||||
| Electra | Cruiser, Comfort, Hybrid | Cruiser Bicycles | $200 – $300 | The company focused on cruiser bikes when they were founded in 1993. They offer a wide range of modern cruiser bicycles and are credited with re-popularizing the bikes. Electra bikes stress comport rather than speed. | ||||
| Fuji | Road, Mountain, Comfort | Road | $200 – $5K | Fuji was at one time the most popular bicycle brand mainly focused on road bikes. After changes in market demand they began to produce other types of bicycles, such as mountain bikes. | ||||
| Bianchi | Road, Racing, Comfort, Track, Mountain, Comfort / Cruiser | Racing | $200 – $12K | An Italian company with an exclusive division in the USA, Bianchi excels at road and race bicycles. | ||||
| Huffy | Children’s bikes, Scooters, Women’s bikes, Comfort, Cruiser, Tricycles | Child | $35 – $200 | Huffy is a low end consumer brand of marginal quality. They made their first bicycle in 1892. By 2006, Huffy had sold more than 100 million bicycles. They mostly sell children’s bicycles. | ||||
| Scott Sports | Mountain, Road, Hybrid, Women’s, Junior’s, Mountain Frames, Road Frames, Clothing | Mountain | $300 – $6K | They focus mainly on Mountain bikes and ski equipment, but also make road, hybrid, and women’s bicycles. They try to stay ahead with cutting edge technology such as the lightest weight bike frames. | ||||
| Cannondale | Road, Mountain, Recreation/Urban, Women’s, Headshok Forks | Mountain | $500 – $10K (Most in $1,500 – $2,500 range) | > Cannondale pioneered light weight Bicycle frames using Aluminium and Carbon. They began manufacturing aluminum racing and touring frames in 1983, with mountain bike frames added later. |
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| Jamis | Mountain Full Suspension and Hardtail, Women’s, Road/Triathlon, Street/Commuting, Bike Path/Comfort |
Comfort/ Cruiser | $200 – $9,000 | Jamis, based in Florida, introduced the Earth Cruiser, a beach cruiser, in 1979. They later expanded into road racing and mountain bikes. The off-road Dragon and on-road Eclipse were the first American-made production bikes to have Reynolds 853 tubing on their frames. | ||||
| Sun Bicycles | Adult Trike, Bike Path, Comfort, Cruiser, Recumbent, Tandem, Trailers, Unicycles | Tricycles, Recumbent | Under $200 for kids bikes to $2K for recumbent tricycles. | Sun has carved a niche selling alternative bicycles, tricycles, recumbent, and trailers. Sun Bicycles’ HT-3 Hand-Trike is designed to get persons with disabilities out riding. It features a hand powered, 3-Speed Shimano drive train. | ||||
| Gary Fisher | Mountain, Road, Commuter | Mountain | $500 – $6K | The Gary Fisher line (Gary Fisher Collection) of bicycles is a brand owned and manufactured by Trek Bicycles. The brand honors and is managed by famous mountain bike developer and rider, Gary Fisher. | ||||
| RedLine | BMX Race, Freestyle, Cyclocross, MTB, Commute, Fitness | BMX | Up to $600 | Redline has a long history being associated with BMX racing. Later, they expanded into mountain bikes. They are often referred to as the original BMX bicycle manufacturer. | ||||
| Kona | Dual Suspension, Hardtail, Mountain, MTB, 29er, Cyclocross, Road, Women’s, Kid’s | Mountain | $400 – $6,400 | Kona primarily focuses on mountain bikes and all its variants. However, they also offer bicycles in other categories such as Road, Women’s, and Kid’s. | ||||
| Iron Horse | Mountain | Mountain | $70 – $2,600 | Currently, their new bicycles are only sold in Europe. However, their used bicycles can be found in classified ads and auction sites in the USA. | ||||
| Rocky Mountain | Mountain, Road, Women’s | Mountain | $1,600 – $5,700 | Rocky Mountain Bicycles’ main concentration is on Mountain bikes. They sell 29 different mountain bike models and 9 frames. | ||||
| Litespeed | Frames, Road, Mountain, Women’s, Tandem, Custom | Frames | $2,000 – $38K | Litespeed specializes in light weight Titanium frame assemblies using the latest welding techniques. They mostly sell bicycle frames to other brands, who then put their own names on the bikes. They do, however, offer Road, Mountain, and Women’s bikes with the Litespeed name. | ||||
| Marin | Mountain (Full Suspension and Hardtail), Road, , Kids, Cyclocross, Street, Path | Mountain | $200 – $4,500 | This San Francisco Bay Area bike maker primarily focuses on mountain bikes that can handle the rigors of the Tamapias Hill in the North Bay. Recently, they have expanded to offer bicycles in most popular categories. | ||||
| Terry Precision Cycling | Performance, Fitness, Hybrid, Custom | Bikes, clothing, and saddles for Women | $35 – $6K | the company specializes in bicycles and clothing for women but has grown to make offerings for everyone. They are big on customer satisfaction. | ||||
| Haro Bikes | BMX, MTB/ Asphalt | BMX | $200 – $700 | Haro bicycles specializes in small BMX bikes for stunt riding. They have expanded into mountain and road bikes with BMX themes. | ||||
| Lamond | Road Racing Bikes, Stationary Bikes | Stationary Bikes | $300 – $1K | Started by racer Greg Lamond. They specialized in road racing bicycles but currently sell only stationary bikes and coaching services. The bikes can still be found in the secondary marketplace. | ||||
| Surly Bikes | Mountain, Trail, Bicycle Messenger, Single-Speed, Long-Tail, Frames, Bicycle Trailers | Bicycle Frames | $800 – $2K | They offer frames and bikes in 7 different categories: cyclocross, fixed-gear, touring, 29er hardtail, utility, road, and all terrain. Their all terrain bike is unique in that it has fork and rear triangle wide enough to accept 4″ wide tires. |
I thought of a product that I would actually want to buy that would ensure I was seen on the road.
Avid bicyclers hit the road during all kinds of weather, especially if
the bike is their primary form of transportation. She says
that such formula as “eat less, exercise more” is
extremely harmful for health.
Statements with bicycles will include something such as “10 year warranty.” This means that the frame and fork are covered for 10 years against manufacturer defects.
Other parts on the bike will usually be covered for a specified time but not 10 years. This is usually two to three 3 years.
Tires, chains, cassettes, bottom brackets, and other consumables are covered by warranty, but normal wear and tear and operator error is not covered. A manufacturer defect has to be evident.
Cycling is widely regarded as a very effective and efficient mode of transportation[5] optimal for short to moderate distances. Bicycles provide numerous benefits by comparison with motor vehicles, including the sustained physical exercise necessarily involved in cycling, that cycling involves a reduced consumption of fossil fuels, less air or noise pollution, much reduced traffic congestion, easier parking, greater maneuverability, and access to both roads and paths…`