City bikes
City bikes have many or all of the following features that distinguish them from road, MTB, tour, cross, hybrid, comfort, cruiser, and “commuter” bike categories:
- Handlebars neither straight nor dropped, but sweeping rearward to support a comfortably upright posture with wrists at a natural, inward-facing angle.
- Relaxed seat tube angles to remove stress from hands and arms, and to make it easy to place a foot down at stops while remaining seated
- High volume, smooth tires for comfort, low rolling resistance, and grip on urban pavement
- Cargo racks
- Kickstands, for stability in loading cargo, children
- Platform pedals
- Full fenders as a component, not an accessory, for plain-clothes friendliness and lower maintenance
- Guarded or encased chains, also for plain-clothes friendliness and lower maintenance
- Integrated (generator) lighting, front and rear, for safety and peace of mind
- Built-in locks. See the theme? Never need to change clothes, hunt for lights, clips, locks, etc. to go by bike.
- Internal hub gearing for cleanly low maintenance and the ability to change gears while stopped
- A bell
- No mechanical suspension
- No low-spoke-count wheels
- No exotic materials
- No aerodynamic anything
