Finding the best bike to buy online can be a challenge for customers. Where most other products are now effectively sold over the internet, bikes haven't quite made the leap. Here are some of the reasons why:
- It's nice to test ride a bike. Each bike will respond differently to your body, and being that you are essentially “wearing” your bike (your whole body is connected to it), fit and feel is very important.
- Bikes are hard to put together. In a bike shop, a trained mechanic can assemble and tune every bike. It takes time to get comfortable with the basics of how a bike works, and not everybody has the tools needed to keep it in good working order.
- There are a lot of options. Trained bike mechanics can help you select the right bike and explain the technical terms associated with biking in general. Bike stores have staff that can answer questions and help customers make decisions.
As it currently stands, there aren’t a lot of great resources that help customers navigate the online bike market. Which is why we’re writing this blog post.
At Detroit Bikes, we've spent the last five years thinking about the easiest way to get bikes into peoples’ hands. There are a lot of benefits to bike shops, but there can be drawbacks too, and some customers want to get a bike straight from the source.
The first thing we wanted to do was provide a pump with every bike. A pump is an essential part of bike maintenance and everyone should have a good one—it just makes cycling that much easier and more fun.
Next, we had to look at how a bike is packaged. Every one of our competitors ships their bikes from Asia, already packaged. Because these bike travel long distances and typically end up in the hands of bike mechanics, they aren't usually very customer-friendly.
Our domestic shipping means we can ship the bike nearly fully assembled, right out of the box.
We’ve also tried to take some of the technical jargon out of the bike-buying process. Not every customer wants to hear a bike tech launch into a conversation about component group sets. At Detroit Bikes, we don't think that's the best approach to selling someone a bike anyway—we do the work of selecting high-quality, made-to-last bike parts for you. When you’re just starting out in cycling, all you should have to worry about is finding a trustworthy brand that makes good products at a price point you’re comfortable with.
The Best Places to Buy Bikes Online:
1. Detroit Bikes. Our mission is to make the bike-owning experience as fun and enjoyable as possible. We produce design-conscious bikes at an affordable price point, and take the technical jargon out of the bike-buying process. Our bikes are lightweight, reliable, easy to assemble, and made for city living. We produce our signature U.S. Chromoly bikes in our 50,000-square-foot Detroit factory, where we also offer OEM manufacturing and high-volume bike assembly services to a variety of customers.
2. Public. California-based Public was inspired by the streets of Amsterdam, which are teeming with bikes instead of cars. Founder Rob Forbes loved that the bike scene in Europe didn’t involve special clothing or technical gear, and set out to create the functional and stylish American version of these “Dutch bikes.”
3. Linus. Linus Bikes hail from Venice, California and were born out of the simple mission to create beautiful bikes at an affordable price point. The hope is that Linus Bikes will help create more bike-centric cities and towns.
4. Brooklyn Bicycle Co. Inspired by the streets of Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bicycle Co. builds bikes for vivid lives. Their products are built for style, comfort, and durability, and come at an “affordable price point for real people.”
5. Felt. California-based Felt Bicycles has been around since 1991. Born out of a desire to be “the most innovative cycling company on the planet,” Felt aims to “help each rider ascend to a world championship victory, surpass a personal record, or achieve a perfect ride on the parcours of their liking.”
6. Pure Cycles. Pure Cycles was founded with the simple mission of getting more people on bikes. They produce simple, affordable, aesthetically-pleasing bikes made for anyone and everyone.
