If you are thinking about purchasing a bike in the near future, or wondering about how to do basic bike maintenance yourself, check out these bike tips:

There are three primary characteristics to consider when looking for a new bike: Function, fit, and price.

Function –

The function that you desire from your bike is the first and most important thing that you need to decide when choosing a bike. Function will also determine to some degree the price and fit of the bike you get. Different types of bikes will have different levels of quality at different prices. For example, you could get a highly functional cruiser or hybrid for only $200, but you might not even be able to find a road bike for a mere $200.

Function can also determine fit in that the intensity of riding you will be doing may change how you want to sit on the bike. The bike Lance Armstrong rode in the Tour de France might have significantly different geometry than the bike you buy when you retire and decide to do a little road touring.

The first two questions you must ask yourself in deciding what kind of function you want out of your bike are 1) What type of terrain do I want to ride on? And 2) What intensity do I want to ride at? Here are some examples of how you might answer these questions, and what bike would best suit you in each case:

Mixed terrain (but not too rough)/Low intensity –

You don't really see yourself doing any racing or getting out for longer, harder rides on the weekends. You might be looking for a mode of transportation for short errands, or perhaps a leisure time activity that could be pleasurable more than painful. You like the fact that riding has fitness benefits, but you aren't necessarily concerned with getting results fast. If this is you, then you are a great candidate for either a cruiser or a hybrid.

Hybrids are a cross between the modern mountain bike and your old school Schwinn 10 speed. The frame is built more like a mountain bike's, and the tires are thinner – like a road bike's – but knobby and tough like a moutain bike's. The body positioning is usually more upright, which is more comfortable and easier on folks with bad backs. Hybrids give you a broad range of gears. All this adds up to a bike that has close to road bike performance on the roads, but can handle traveling on gravel or dirt paths/roads (provided they aren't too gnarly), and is much more comfortable.

Cruisers have some similar characteristics in that they have tough frames and mixed tires – though in this case the mix is that they are generally fatter slick tires. Cruisers are made primarily for city riding, though they can handle riding over rough paths or bumps and cracks that a road bike would struggle with. However, cruisers usually only have one fixed gear. That means that going on flats and downhills will be fine, though you won't be able to go too fast, but uphills might be quite difficult because there is no way to decrease the resistance. The key word with cruisers is leisure. If you are looking for a bike to kick back and ride around the neighborhood, or down to the park or the beach – and you don't really care if it takes a few extra minutes 'cause you like the outdoors – well, then a cruiser might be a good choice.

Off-road trails, fire-roads, unknown/Any intensity –

If you want to ride off road, you should be looking at mountain bikes. And by off-road, I do not at all mean riding on paved or cinder bike trails that are almost like riding on roads. I'm talking about winding and uneven trails that have big rocks in the middle of them and that switchback up and down steep hillsides, plunging through streams – or taking you over systems of narrow bridges. Or even if your desires are a bit more simple – you want to ride up the emergency access road at the local state park, but the road is too gnarly for your road bike; you don't have to be an expert mountain biker to get a mountain bike.

There are a couple different types of mountain bikes, and probably the greatest range in quality of all kinds of bikes is found in the off-road type.. You can get a decent mountain bike for quite cheap – under a $100 if you buy it used – but you could also spend $10,000 putting together your dream bike. Almost all mountain bikes come with suspension or shocks of some sort. Suspension on a bike is meant to take the edge off of large bumps, making it easier to steer through rocky terrain much like the shock-absorbers on a truck (besides saving your arse from some extra pounding).

Many mountain bikes these days are full suspension bikes, which means that they have independent suspension for both the front and back wheels. Hardtail mountain bikes either have only front suspension or no suspension at all. The benefit of a full suspension bike is a smoother and more controlled ride; there are two main drawbacks. Full suspension bikes are heavier than hardtails, and the independent movement of the back wheel makes peddling slightly less efficient, especially on uphills. So if you plan on riding up a lot of big hills, you may want to consider a hardtail so that you don't have the blow of hauling extra weight uphill coupled with the strike of inefficient peddling.

Road riding/mid – high intensity –

If you only want to do road riding, you should get a road bike. And if you do other kinds of riding, but you want to get more serious about road riding/road racing, then it might be time to save some money and buy a road bike to supplement your other ride(s). That way you can keep an off-road cycle as well as a superslick superfast road machine.

The benefits of riding a road bike are a great amount of speed and increased efficiency while riding on smooth surfaces. They are light weight and have thin tires made for decreased rolling resistance. A properly fit road bike will get you leaning over your handlebars in an aerodynamic position, a position that will help you peddle hard and yet keep you spinning circles instead of squares.

These are just a few examples of the possible combinations of things that you might want to do with your bike and what bikes might do well in each of those circumstances. There are a couple of other sorts of bikes that deserve mention. Recumbents have seen a great rise in popularity in recent years. These bikes are especially good for folks with bad backs or other injuries. They are not, however, that good for people looking for high intensity riding. Handcycles, which are cranked with the arms instead of the legs, are used by para and quadraplegics as well as amputees and folks with other mobility problems. Handcycles can be used for leisure as well as for competitive racing.

Fit –

Getting a well-fitting bike might be the key to making sure that you enjoy it for time to come. Going for a long ride on a bike that doesn't really fit can be miserable. Your muscles end up working much harder, and you are more likely to have other problems – like chafing. Here are a few pointers to help you get a good fitting bike.

The size that a bike is listed under can be deceiving. There are a bunch of numbers that you come across when you purchase a bike. The number that is usually considered to be the size of a bike is typically between 12 and 22 inches - or the equivalent in centimeters for road bikes. This measurement is, on most bikes, the length of the seat tube. This number is the one that will tell you how tall the bike is, without even looking. Of course each individual brand and bike has a slightly different fit.

The other important numbers to consider in choosing a ride are the wheel diameter and the top tube length. Typical mountain bike tubes/tires are 26"diameter, while road bike's are 27", also known as 700cc. Some mountain bikes can be found ith 24 inch wheels and some raod bikes can come with 650cc wheels, however, unless you are planning on specializing in riding on extreme terrain or in triathlons, we suggest that you stick with what's normal. The top tube length determines how long the bike will be – how long the "cockpit", so to speak, will be. How long you want your bike will depend on three things: 1) how long your trunk is; 2) how hard you want to ride; and 3) how flexible you are. In each of these, answers to the positive end will mean that you want a longer top tube. Inversely, if you have a short trunk, don't want to ride hard, and/or aren't flexible, you will probably looking for a shorter top tube for a more upright riding position.

Price –

The amount of money that you are willing to spend on a bike will also obviously affect the bike that you select for yourself. This is so obvious that I will say very little about it.

But I will say this: If you are serious about riding, you should not buy a bike at Wal-Mart. I admit that there are occasionally decent bicycles at Sam's Club, but if you are paying under $150 for a new bike, you would probably be doing better buying that bike used. Which brings up a great point: There are a couple of great ways to get used bikes. Ebay, of course, is one way, but people often want more than their bike is really worth. A better way is to get rental bikes when they are sold at the end of a season. Even though rental bikes take a beating, they are professionally maintained while they are taking that beating, and thus they are usually actually in better shape than they look.

With bikes, as with everything, you get what you pay for – though at the top of the line in bikes, things can get exponentially more expensive as much because they are rare and rarely built as they are exponentially better components. Getting a decent road bike will be more expensive than getting a decent mountain bike because less people buy road bikes these days. (The day of the 10 speed is past, sadly...)

There are three main areas that you should do some upkeep on yourself: Wheels, brakes, and drivetrain.

Wheels –

Now, there are some areas of wheel maintenance that you won't be able to do at first – even seasoned riders won't always true their own wheels, for example. Truing refers to adjusting the spoke tension so that the rim of the wheel always stays perfectly straight. However, you can easily keep your axels well lubricated, your tubes well inflated, and your tires free of thorns and other problems.

Learn how to fix a bike tube. Seriously. If you want to ride bikes, you should have to know how to fix a tube. If you ride a bike for enough cumulative time, you will get a flat tire at some point. To change a bike tube, you will need tire levers and either a new tube or a patch kit. That's all you need. Ask an experienced bikesman or bikeswoman to show you how to do it, and then never again ask someone else to do it for you and never again use it as an excuse to not get out and ride.

Everytime you fix a tube, check and make sure there are no thorns or nails or other sharp things on the inside of your tire and your rim. If your tire begins to wear so thin that you can see the kevlar, or so that you fear that there might start to be cracks in the material, order new tires. It you do get a significant crack or gash in your tube, you will probably find that whenever you pump the tube up to pressure, it begins to seep out of the crack and eventually bursts, leaving you in need of another tube fix.

Brakes –

Brake maintenance is fairly easy. Check to make sure your brakes are working every once in a while. It is ok to have a little layer of rubber on your rim – actually your brakes will grip best if there is a little rubber - but if the rubber is so thick that it leaves black all over your fingers, you may want to clean your rim. Also check your brake pads – some will have a line indicating the amount of wear they can take before they need to be replaced. They will probably wear unevenly and need occasional adjustment. Remember that the front end of the pads should toe in slightly and make contact with the rim first.

Check your brake cables to make sure that they aren't frayed or loose in any way. You can easily tighten your own brakes – you should have them so that the wheel spins freely but so that even a light touch of the brake lever will begin to brake.

Drivetrain –

The drivetrain is easily the most daunting and complicated part of a bike to maintain. Drivetrain refers to the system by which your peddling is transferred from the crankset (the part which your legs actually turn) to the back wheel by means of the chain and the rear gears. Most drivetrains have a number of gears both on the crankset (called chain rings) and attached to the rear wheel (the gears are called the freewheel). These are useful because they allow the rider to "gear down" going up hills, making the resistance much less for each turn.

There are a few things that you can do take care of your drivetrain. Keep your drivetrain well lubricated. There are a lot of different lubricants for bicycles. There are wax lubricants and oil lubricants and teflon lubricants – those are probably the best all around lubricants. Lubing up the moving parts ensures a longer life because it reduces friction and protects against rust. Occasionally it might be necessary to remove all of the old dirty lubricant that has built up on the drivetrain. This can be done using a towel and some soapy water. There are products that you can buy which are specially formulated for removing lubricant; unless you are independently wealthy I suggest that you don't spend much money on them. (One quick note: Bicycle lubricants are intended for use on bicycles and bicycle components, not for medical use of any sort.)

The other important part of drivetrain maintenance is adjusting the derailleurs. Having properly adjusted derailleurs is an important part of enjoying bike riding, besides cutting down on friction and thereby increasing the longevity of the parts. Some amateur bike mechanics find derailleur adjustment to be too fickle and frustrating and so they choose to find experts to do it for them. Newer derailleurs are much easier to adjust. Sometimes they even have nobs to twist that adjust the amount of tension on the cable, thus allowing you to adjust without getting out the needle nose pliers and adjustable wrench.

Go get 'em!

Bike riding is a great way to get some exercise, get around (as in, transportation), and get happy (that is to say it can be a good leisure activity). Now you are ready to find the right bike for you and keep it in optimal riding condition. See you out there.