A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A bicycle rider is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
A bicycle frame is the main component of a bicycle, onto which wheels and other components are fitted. The modern and most common frame design for an upright bicycle is based on the safety bicycle, and consists of two triangles: a main triangle and a paired rear triangle. This is known as the diamond frame. Frames are required to be strong, stiff and light, which they do by combining different materials and shapes.
The Cannondale Bicycle Corporation is an American division of Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings that supplies bicycles. Its headquarters are in Wilton, Connecticut, with engineering offices in Freiburg, Germany. Frames are manufactured in Taiwan. Bikes are assembled in Taiwan, as well as in the USA and in The Netherlands for the local markets.
Trek Bicycle Corporation is a bicycle and cycling product manufacturer and distributor under brand names Trek, Electra Bicycle Company, Bontrager, and Diamant Bikes. The company has previously manufactured bikes under the Gary Fisher, LeMond Racing Cycles, Klein, and Villiger Bikes brand names. With its headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin, Trek bicycles are marketed through 1,700 independently owned bicycle shops across North America, subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, South Africa, as well as distributors in 90 countries worldwide. Nearly all Trek bicycles are manufactured outside the United States, in countries including the Netherlands, Germany, Taiwan, and China.
Cicli Pinarello S.p.A. is an Italian bicycle manufacturer based in Treviso, Italy. Founded in 1953, it supplies mostly handmade bicycles for the road, track, E-bikes(NYTRO), mountain bikes and cyclo-cross. The company also produces an in-house component brand – MOST.
A racing bicycle, also known as a road bike is a bicycle designed for competitive road cycling, a sport governed by and according to the rules of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).
A tall bike is an unusually tall bicycle often constructed by hobbyists from spare parts. Typically, two conventional bicycle frames are connected, by welding, brazing, or other means, one atop the other. The drive train is reconfigured to connect to the upper set of pedals, and the controls are moved to the upper handlebar area.
Colnago Ernesto & C. S.r.l. or Colnago is a manufacturer of high quality road-racing bicycles founded by Ernesto Colnago near Milano in Cambiago, Italy. It remained a family-controlled firm until May 4, 2020, when it was announced that the UAE-based investment company, Chimera Investments LLC, had acquired a majority of the Colnago shares from Ernesto Colnago, although the headquarters will remain located in Italy after the acquisition. Instead of following his family's farming business, Ernesto Colnago chose to work in the cycle trade, and was apprenticed first to Gloria Bicycles at the age of 13, and subsequently taking up road racing. After a bad crash ended his racing career, he began subcontracting for Gloria, and opened his own shop in 1954, building his first frames the same year. While building frames, he remained much in demand as a racing mechanic. He was second mechanic on the Nivea team Giro d'Italia under Faliero Masi in 1955, eventually being employed as head mechanic for the Molteni team of Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx in 1963.
Dawes Cycles is a bicycle manufacturer based in Castle Bromwich, England. Dawes produces a range of bikes including road, mountain bikes and tandems, but is best known for touring bikes, specifically the Galaxy and the Super Galaxy model lines.
Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd. is a Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer, recognized as the world's largest bicycle designer and manufacturer. Giant has manufacturing facilities in Taiwan, the Netherlands, China,and Hungary. They have future plans for Vietnam to be the fifth location.
Independent Fabrication (IF) is a bicycle company located in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. IF fabricates bicycle frames from steel, titanium and carbon fiber. Independent Fabrication has twice won the Bicycling Magazine "Dream Bike of the Year" with its carbon-tubed, titanium-lugged XS road frame. Independent Fabrication was founded by and is owned by its employees. In 2005, the company took part in a CNN television program called The TurnAround. The show paired a growing business with a mentor from a more successful company. Independent Fabrication was paired with Jeff Swartz, chief executive of Timberland.
GT Bicycles is an American company that designs and manufactures BMX, mountain, and road bicycles. GT is a division of the Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings, which also markets Cannondale, Schwinn, Mongoose, IronHorse, DYNO, and RoadMaster bicycle brands; all manufactured in Asia.
Vitus is a British direct-to-consumer bicycle brand owned by Wiggle Ltd and is known for its range of medium to high-end road and mountain bikes. The brand has gained popularity for its innovative design and use of lightweight materials. Vitus bicycles have been ridden by numerous professional athletes and have achieved success in various cycling disciplines.
Merlin Metalworks, Inc. was a pioneer in titanium bicycle design and construction. Merlin introduced the first titanium alloy mountain bike, oversized tubesets, s-bend chain and seat stays for mountain bikes. For road bikes, Merlin commercialized the first titanium butted tubing and many other innovations.
Bilenky Cycle Works is an American handmade bicycle manufacturer located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Seven Cycles is an American bicycle designer and manufacturer based in Watertown, Massachusetts. Seven, a bespoke bicycle brand, was founded by Robert Vandermark in early 1997. Vandermark was the former head of research and development at Merlin Metalworks. Although Seven Cycles was founded to build high-end titanium and steel frames, in 1998 Seven began also building titanium-carbon frames and in 2002 began also building full carbon frames. All Seven brand bikes are handmade in their Watertown factory. Seven also manufactures custom titanium stems and mountain bike handlebars, carbon fiber road forks, aluminum handlebars, stems, and seat posts.
Velocite Bikes is a Taiwanese manufacturer of racing bicycle, mountain bike frames, bicycle wheels and other bicycle components. Notable collaboration partners include the National Cheng Kung University, National Center for High-Performance Computing, Oxeon and Acer Inc. Velocite specializes in carbon fiber composite products, but also manufactures bicycle frames and components using aluminium alloys. Its core bicycle frame models include the road bike frames "Magnus", "Geos", "Selene" and mountain bike frames "Flux", and "Flux Alloy". The firm is also one of the few manufacturers of full carbon road tubeless wheels, the "Velocite RT50". The firm have been sponsoring the UK based Matrix Fitness Racing Academy women's cycling team since 2012.
Volae is a brand of recumbent bicycles manufactured by Volae which is based in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, United States. Rolf Garthus founded the company in 2003. All models are built in the United States - a range of steel-framed bicycles are built by Waterford Precision Cycles, of Waterford Wisconsin, and the carbon fiber frames are built by Calfee Design in La Selva Beach California. Purchasing is done through the Hostel Shoppe in Stevens Point.
Markus Storck is a German bicycle designer and developer, known for creating the lightest racing bike fork in the world, made of carbon fiber, and the first ever carbon fiber bicycle crank. He is the managing director and founder of Storck Bicycle, designer, and innovator, and his current developments hold the world record lightness and stiffness to weight ratios.
