There’s a bike out there to match any riding style these days. There are bikes made for the road, the trail, the beach, the city. Bikes for fitness, for racing, for commuting or for tooling around. And there are bikes, called hybrids, that can do a mix of all these things.

Here’s an overview of the different types of bicycles to help you match your needs with the right bike:

Road bikes
The lightweight versions are made primarily for distance and speed riding. Great for charity rides, for racing, touring. Specialty road bikes are made for the specialist in track (or velodrome), triathlon and cyclocross.

Mountain bikes
The more heavy-duty of these come with fat, knobby tires. They are basically the equivalent of off-road vehicles—built tough and durable for riding on hard-core trails, over rocks and logs, through streams, you name it. There are basically two types:

1. Dual Suspension or full suspension bikes help turn the trail into a road ride. Or, as the textbooks say: “Front and rear suspension absorbs opposing energy so you can maintain your trajectory.” Great for gnarly off-road riding.
2. Traditional mountain bikes are called Hardtails. These bikes have front suspension but a rigid rear end. These bikes, still equipped with heavy-duty components and knobby tires, are fast, efficient and nimble. Best used on off-road trails without too many nooks and crannies.

Hybrids
Because there are many versions of a hybrid bike, we’ve decided that a car analogy would help shed light on different models and usage. So, if a pure road bike (ex: Fuji’s Supreme carbon bike) is like a Viper, and a dual suspension mountain bike (ex: Fuji’s Outland RC) is like a Hummer, then the following hybrid bikes fit somewhere in between: