there are loads of different types of bikes out there you got speedy boys chunky boys skinny boys tall boys jumpy boys there's even a type of bike that you lay down to ride so in this video i'm going to explain the difference between each and every single one so the bicycle is a vehicle with two wheels held in a frame one behind the other propelled by pedals and steered by handlebars but first up let's have a quick history lesson about who actually invented the bicycle it's a little bit more complicated than you probably first thought but it was 1817 when a german baron named carl von driss created the first two world contraption but that didn't look like the kind of bike that we're familiar with today you have to go to the 1860s when different french inventors develop prototypes which resemble bikes that we're much more familiar with today these used pedals attached to the front wheels and they were the first machines to be so called bicycles but they're also known as bone shakers thanks to their awful shaky ride to add stability inventor eugene mayer and james starley later introduced an oversized front wheel which also had the pedals attached to it and these became known as penny farthings and they were all the rage in the 1870s and the 1880s while the penny farther helped bring bicycle into the mainstream his crazy high saddle meant that it was actually pretty dangerous to ride but it was in 1885 when john kemp starley the nephew of inventor james starley developed what would be known as the safety bicycle it featured equal size wheels and was propelled via a chain connected to the rear wheel further on developments in brakes and tires helped establish the format for what we know today as the modern bicycle without the way what are the types of bikes that we're actually likely to see or maybe even buy and ride let's work our way through the list and we'll kick things off with the road bike it feels slightly wrong starting anywhere else but this is the type of bike which is fitted with drop handlebars large 700c wheels and skinny tyres and is designed for blasting along on smooth surfaces at high speeds constructed from steel aluminium carbon titanium magnesium and even wood they use a wide range of gears to enable riders to tackle steep climbs but also blast along those fast downhill sections the gears are changed via a combined shift and brake lever on the handlebar modern road bikes are designed to be lightweight and aerodynamic most will use two chainrings at the front and between 8 and 12 gears on the rear next up is bmx this is an abbreviation for bicycle motorcross i mean how cool is that it's a fast smaller type of bike typically fitted with 20 or 24 inch wheels one gear and a high-rise handlebar their construction is simple and robust with most being made from chrome molly or aluminium they're designed to allow riders to accelerate as fast as possible but not travel great distances or at high speeds a bike that is designed for high speed off-road is a cyclocross bike this evolved from a road bike when road cyclists wanted to race off-road in the winter months and they eventually grew tired of fitting skinny little knobbly tyres onto their road bikes it was in the 1960s when we saw the first dedicated sun across bike and they look very similar to road bikes but have frame clearance for wider tyres geometry designed to make them nimble through the tight corners gearing suitable for slower speeds and they're generally more robust than your typical road bike in recent years we've seen one by chain rings and disc brakes become the norm following on from here gravel bikes next a sensitive subject with some people saying they're nothing more than a mountain bike from the 90s although i disagree a gravel bike is an evolution of the cyclocross bike and the first on our list to have suspension as an option designed for a more diverse mix of terrain and the more adventurous riders typically gravel bikes will have disc brakes use tyres up to 50 millimeters wide and either 700c or the slightly smaller 650b wheels gravel bikes can range from those designed for ultra fast rides on a mixer road or off-road or those designed to take you places you never thought were accessible by bike and allow you to carry all of the equipment you could possibly need including your kitchen sink [Music] folding bikes are great for people who want to get from a to b and they're short on space ideal for those commutes maybe which involve the car the bus or the train your folding bike will have a hinge section to divide the frame in half yeah it would also have fold-in handlebars and other elements or section of bike which fold up to make an incredibly compact unit designed mostly for roads or smooth gravel paths they tend to be fitted with a fairly slick tyre most folding bikes will use a 20 inch wheel one single gear or an internal geared half and have a flat handlebar and they're not really designed to be ridden at great speeds or across great distances talking of great speeds that leads us to the time drawback which is almost the fastest bike on our list it shares many of the same components as a road bike but it uses a more extreme frame design and handlebars that places the rider's arms together and out in front of them this is all to reduce the aerodynamic drag and improve the rider's speed most time trial bikes will have a smooth disc wheel in the rear and a deep section front wheel to help reduce aerodynamic drag as great as they are for going fast they can be uncomfortable and not as stable as other types of bikes especially when you're trying to maneuver around twisty corners [Music] the mtb is next on our list short for mountain bike now that's not the kind of bike that we normally see here over on gcn tech normally that's reserved for the guys and girls over on gmbn tech now mountain bikes they fall into loads of different subcategories you've got hardtail full sus downhill all mountains enduro trail cross country even something called down country i mean what the is that these bikes feature big chunky boy tires with aggressive tread and suspension to soak up all of the bumps you've got disc brakes flat handlebars and a more slack or relaxed geometry to ensure they're stable when you're shredding the local trousers all of this though comes at the price of speed hybrid bikes as their name suggests is a mix of two different types of bike you've got the mountain bike and the road bike don't worry though it's not just the mountain if i would drop handlebars that would be ridiculous it'd basically just be a gravel bike anyway where were we the hybrid bike is effectively a road bike just fitted with a flat handlebar ideal for people who want to ride on the roads but don't quite want that racy position of a road bike it shares many of the components of a road bike and this type of bike is great for short or long rides when all out speed isn't your main concern next is the recumbent a type of bicycle that places the rider in a low laid back and reclined position where the rider is supported by their back butt cheeks most recumbents have an aerodynamic advantage over other types of bike the reclined legs forward position presents a small frontal area that cuts through the wind like a wire through cheese as hank once said recumbents share many of the components of other bikes but are built around a special frame they're available in a wide range of configurations including long to short wheelbase large or small wheels and those with aero fairings or fully encapsulated for the ultimate aero in fact a fully fed aero recumbent holds the current world speed record for a bicycle touring bikes these are designed for comfort endurance and carrying luggage to the untrained eye a touring bike can look much like a road bike but they have heavier frames that can withstand tough roads and a wide range of gears to cope with a wide range of gradients they also have loads of mounting points for accessories such as water bottles racks bags lights mud guards or fenders basically anything you can think of wide tyres and the geometry help improve the comfort over long rides but at the sacrifice of speed e-bikes a pretty easy type of bike to understand take any other configuration of a bike add in a pedal assist motor bingo you've got yourself an e-bike e-bikes are regulated in different ways around the world and here in the uk you're limited to 250 watts of assistance at speeds of up to 25 kilometers an hour you can usually spot an e-bike pretty easily as i've got a large down tube to house the battery and the motor is down the cranks or often fitted into the rear hub [Music] and then last but certainly not least is the track bike you've got a platform very similar to that of the road bike but with some pretty crucial differences we've got no brakes just one gear and you can't stop pedaling track bikes are designed to be aerodynamic and stiff to cope with the forces put through them when being ridden around a velodrome at high speed they use wheels that look similar to those used on a time trial bike and sometimes they'll even have a disc wheel fitted in the front as well as the rear designed for short intense efforts on silky smooth velodrome surfaces the track bike doesn't really take comfort or practicality into consideration it's a bike purely focused on speeds and those that have seen track racing or know exactly what i mean that was one hell of a list i hope you enjoyed this video and seeing lots of different bike styles out there and i'm keen to know if it's made you consider if there's a styler bike out there that suits your style of riding better so let me know in the comment section down below and why not let me know which type of bike is your favorite and if you want to see more cool bike techs like this covering all sorts of aspects of cycling then click on that subscribe button and hit the bell icon to make sure you 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