Many different means of evaluating a bike make purchasing a new one difficult. Finding their next bike is hard for even those folks who are paid to ride. The fact of the matter is that getting a bike involves many different choices. Evaluate the safety, comfort, and use of the future bike. You also need to see how the bike looks, and how frequently you’ll ride and the location of those rides. All the existing options make it hard to make a choice; this choice is made more difficult by all the emerging technologies. It’s easy to just use our criteria to pick the best bike for you.
You want to first and foremost, ensure that you are able to come to a stop on your bicycle, and the key to that is selecting a bicycle that allows you to rest your feet flat on the ground, when you are sitting on the seat. There are experts who state that this isn't a good way to choose a bike, however. They state the best way to choose a bike is to leave a few inches between your feet and the ground so you can have a more comfortable ride. You will likely find that the seat will rest too near the crossbar, if, when you sit on the seat, your knees are bent with your feet flat on the ground, which is an indication that the seat needs to be raised. Also, if you find that your knees are bent when sitting on the bike, your knees are going to come up too high when you are pedaling your bike.
You should always make sure to give the bike a test run before committing to buying it, though. You should never buy something you haven't tried out for at least a few minutes. This makes perfect sense because you know you'd never buy a car without test driving it first.
So why wouldn't this apply to buying a bicycle? You really need to be sure to test it if you plan to spend a good bit on the bicycle or if you are going to be spending a lot of time you can find out more riding it. You need to make sure the bike is going to 'fit' you. This doesn't only mean physically fit you, this also means one that easily fits your riding styles. You wouldn't want to spend your hard earned money on something that isn't comfortable, would you?
Be certain to leave adequate room between yourself and your bikes crossbar. When you choose your bike, adjust the seat up a few inches from the crossbar and then sit on the bike. Sit on it and make sure you can rest your feet flat to the ground. Each type of bike requires different clearances. For example a touring bike will require around an inch. However for a mountain bike you will need 3" between the crossbar and yourself.
How well you fit physically with your bike is what is most important. When deciding upon using a bike for transportation you need to keep this in mind. Comfort and saftey are the two most important aspects of riding a bike.