A racing bicycle, also known as a road bike, is a bicycle designed for competitive road cycling, a sport governed by according to the rules of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The UCI rules were altered in 1934 to exclude recumbent bicycles.
The most important characteristics about a racing bicycle are its weight and stiffness which determine the efficiency at which the power from a rider's pedal strokes can be transferred to the drive-train and subsequently to its wheels. To this effect racing bicycles may sacrifice comfort for speed. The drop handlebars are positioned lower than the saddle in order to put the rider in a more aerodynamic posture. The front and back wheels are close together so the bicycle has quick handling. The derailleur gear ratios are closely spaced so that the rider can pedal at his or her optimum cadence. Other racing bicycles, especially those used in time trialling, prioritize aerodynamics over comfort.
Read more about Racing Bicycle: Distinction Between Racing Bicycles and Others, Frame, Racing Wheels and Tires, Racing Components, Other Uses, UCI Rules, Racing Bicycles For Non-competitive Use
Famous quotes containing the words racing and/or bicycle:
“Upscale people are fixated with food simply because they are now able to eat so much of it without getting fat, and the reason they don’t get fat is that they maintain a profligate level of calorie expenditure. The very same people whose evenings begin with melted goat’s cheese ... get up at dawn to run, break for a mid-morning aerobics class, and watch the evening news while racing on a stationary bicycle.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“I well recall my horror when I heard for the first time, of a journalist who had laid in a pair of what were then called bicycle pants and taken to golf; it was as if I had encountered a studhorse with his hair done up in frizzes, and pink bowknots peeking out of them. It seemed, in some vague way, ignominious, and even a bit indelicate.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)