Our Bikes
Oak Ridge Bicycle Center has seen the fortunes of many bicycle brands rise and fall during our 40+ year history. The industry is full of brand names that were at one time respected manufacturers offering cutting edge technology, but are now merely logos, flags, and stickers on off-the-shelf bikes from the lowest bidder among Asian factories. Most of the innovative brand names in the bicycle world have not survived intact into the 21st century.
Come by the Oak Ridge Bicycle Center and take a look. Bring your questions to us, and we’ll steer you in the right direction, and make sure that you ride away on the perfect bicycle for you.
Below are the categories available from the Oak Ridge Bicycle Center.
Road Bikes
The sports car of the bike world, fast and nimble, 125+ PSI tires, exotic materials, high performance all the way, with nothing to add weight or slow it down. If you want to ride fast, this is your baby. The modern road bikes are not like the sport-tourers of the old days.
MOUNTAIN BIKES
If road bikes are sports cars, mountain bikes are AWD trucks. People have always ridden them on streets and greenways, even though the wider tires are less efficient than the narrower tires used on other bike types. But if you want the option to ride off road even a little, this may be your best option, 26”, 29”, 27.5” tires. Confused? We’ll try to help. If dirt, mud, rocks and logs are your thing, this is your bike.
HYBRID BIKES
In the 90’s, the new -at the time- hybrid was marketed as on and off road, good for either. Unfortunately, that wasn’t really true. They were slow compared to a real road bike and not tough enough to really ride much in the dirt. They were and are street bikes. In recent years, hybrids have morphed into comfort bikes w/700c wheels. We always told people in the old days that one bike wouldn’t do everything well, so don’t expect to win races on a hybrid, and don’t jump off cliffs and hop over rocks on one, either. It maybe your ideal street bike, though. A very comfortable choice.
COMFORT BIKES
This is a great category for a lot of our customers. You’ll sit upright on a cushy seat, and your arms will be relaxed. Aptly named comfort bikes, won’t be the fastest thing on the greenway, but with suspension forks and seat posts, adjustable stems and a wide range of gears, you may be the happiest and most comfortable. Many of our comfort bike riders won’t ride anything else, and tingling hands, aching necks, and sore butts are a thing of the past.
FITNESS BIKES
The category name fitness doesn’t define these bikes very well. Think of them as a leaner, meaner, lighter and faster hybrid. No extra cushy creature comforts, but a good bike to add racks and bags and ride to work or bomb around the city. These are the fastest bikes in the store that aren’t conventional road bikes. We like ‘em.
DUAL SPORT
Another version of the hybrid that looks and feels like a skinnier tired 29er mountain bike, because well, that’s what it is. Faster than a fat tire, but some off-road would be suitable. A category becoming more popular all the time.
OTHER
Let’s see, what have we not covered yet. Beach bikes, cruisers, single speeds, flatfoot, etc. Hills are the reason that not many of these are sold in this area. Not very efficient, often heavier that other bikes, too many have found out too late that these bikes don’t like to ride uphill. They are often gorgeous retro looking bikes, but really belong at the beach, or in flat country. Comfortable during parking lot test rides, but we always see folks struggling with them on the greenways. Probably not your best choice here in East Tennessee.