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Bikes Buying Guide

Bikes come in a wide variety of designs to handle everything from a light workout to an arduous cross-country tour. To find out which types offer the best performance for different riders’ needs, Consumer Reports’ testers took to the streets and hills and pedaled away.

Brands

You can compare bikes by brand. These profiles will help you learn about a manufacturer and what it offers (Listed below in alphabetical order).

Cannondale  |  Diamondback  |  Fuji  |  Giant  |  Jamis  |  Klein  |  LeMond  |  Mongoose  |  Raleigh  |  Schwinn  |  Specialized  |  Trek

Cannondale

Owned by Dorel Industries, Cannondale is headquartered in Bethel, Conn. It designs and produces a wide range of bicycles at its factory in Bedford, Pa. Its product lines include fitness, mountain, road, specialty, urban, and women's bikes. Available at specialty bike shops and independent dealers.

 

Diamondback

Diamondback has been making bikes for more than 30 years. Product lines include BMX, comfort, cruisers, fitness, mountain, women's, and youth bikes. Available at Diamondback bicycle dealers nationwide. Prices range from $225 to $380 for comfort bikes, $385 to $760 for fitness bikes, and $220 to $3,050 for mountain bikes.

 

Fuji

Founded in 1899 in Japan, Fuji also makes bikes in the U.S. from its headquarters in Philadelphia. Its product line includes BMX, children's, lifestyle, mountain, road, and women's bikes. Sold at specialty bike stores and independent dealers, the bikes range in price from $240 to $3,400 for mountain bikes to $470 to $6,340 for road bikes.

 

Giant

Giant Bicycles' headquarters is in Taiwan, with its U.S. operations based in Newbury Park, Calif. Giant offers bicycles under the following categories: BMX, children's, fitness, hybrid, lifestyle, mountain, road, and women's bikes. Available at specialty bike shops, the bikes range in price from $300 to $600 for comfort bikes, $400 to $1,000 for fitness bikes, $250 to $600 for mountain bikes, and $500 to $7,000 for road bikes.

 

Jamis

Jamis is an American company based in Northvale, N.J. Its product lines include comfort, cross country, road, trail (mountain), women's, and youth bikes. Available at specialty dealers, the bikes range in price from $250 to $375 for comfort bikes to $550 to $6,500 for road bikes.

 

Klein

Klein is based in Waterloo, Wis., and makes mountain and road bikes mostly for the export market. Klein bikes are only available domestically in a few independently owned bike shops in a limited number of states. Prices range from $1,540 to $2,750 for mountain bikes to $1,980 to $4,180 for road bikes.

 

LeMond

LeMond Bikes was started by Greg LeMond, who in 1986 was the first American to win the prestigious Tour de France. The company has been making bikes for more than 20 years. LeMond offers cross, road racing, track, and women's bikes. Prices range from $769 to $1,769.

 

Mongoose

Made by Pacific Cycle, which is owned by Dorel Industries, Mongoose has been around since 1974. Its line of bikes includes BMX, comfort, hybrid, mountain, and road bikes. Available in specialty bike shops, sporting goods stores, and mass-market stores, the bikes range in price from $300 to $350 for comfort bikes, $280 to $800 for mountain bikes, and $2,700 for its road-bike model.

 

Raleigh

Raleigh, which has its headquarters in Kent, Wash., is one arm of the same corporation that makes Diamondback bikes. Raleigh product lines include comfort/tandem, cruiser, hybrid, performance hybrid (fitness), mountain, road, track, and youth bikes. Available at Raleigh dealers nationwide, the bikes range in price from $275 to $690 for comfort bikes, $520 to $1,550 for fitness bikes, $275 to $1,325 for mountain bikes, and $520 to $2,725 for road bikes.

 

Schwinn

Schwinn is another Pacific Cycle brand. Schwinn offers an extensive line of bikes, including BMX, children's, comfort, cruisers, mountain, and road models. Available at leading mass-market retailers and sporting goods stores, bikes range in price from $250 to $1,000 for comfort bikes, $390 to $600 for mountain bikes, and $570 to $4,300 for road bikes.

 

Specialized

Specialized is based in Morgan Hill, Calif. It offers BMX, children's, mountain, road, street (fitness, comfort), and women's bikes. They are available at specialty bike shops and independent dealers. Prices range from $360 to $470 for comfort bikes, $590 to $2,050 for fitness bikes, $360 to $5,500 for mountain bikes, and $750 to $7,400 for road bikes.

 

Trek

The Trek Bicycles Corp., based in Waterloo, Wis., has been making bikes since 1976. Its product line includes chidren's, mountain, road, urban, and women's bikes. Available at specialty bike shops and independent dealers, bikes range in price from $330 to $6,050 for mountain bikes to $520 to $8,250 for road bikes.

 
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