road bike

noun

variants or less commonly road bicycle

plural road bikes also road bicycles

: a bicycle that is designed for riding on level pavement and that has a light-weight frame (as of aluminum, steel, or carbon fiber), smooth narrow tires, and usually downward-curving handlebars

In road bikes, simplicity equals speed, and speed is the reason we like riding on pavement in the first place.

—Bob Howells and John Lehrer

Road bikes have increasingly lighter frames and skinny tires and improved aerodynamics.

—Tom Frady

compare mountain bike

Word History

First Known Use

1892, in the meaning defined above