Features: lightweight frame, narrow tires, dropped handlebars, and high gear ratios (i.e. the ratios are set to favor those that help you go really fast, if of course your legs and lungs are up to it).

Buy a road bike, if: you want to ride fast and efficiently on paved roads while commuting, competing, or playing.

Do not buy a road bike, if: you want to get off paved roads. Narrow tires mean you will not really be able to ride a road bike on anything other than asphalt. Also, icy roads can be a major obstacle for road bikes.

Klein was a bicycle company founded by Gary Klein that pioneered the use of large diameter aluminum alloy tubing for greater stiffness and lighter weight. In 1995, the company was purchased by Trek Bicycle Corporation, and Klein’s original factory in Chehalis, Washington closed in 2002 when production moved to Trek’s headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin. General distribution in the United States ceased in 2007 and in the rest of the world in 2009.