Bike Category

What are Bike Insights Categories?

Bike Insights relies heavily on the categorization of bikes in order to power our analytics. By categorizing bikes based on their geometry, specs, fit, and intended usage, we can help contextualize a bike’s attributes with the help of trend analysis and modeling. Bike categories may be submitted by users and are subject to periodical reclassification by Bike Insights.

There is no universally agreed-upon taxonomy in the bike industry. What one brand considers a Gravel bike might be called an Endurance bike by another brand. As bike designs evolve, our concept of what constitutes a certain category can change over time.

Bike Insights has put tremendous effort into thoughtfully curating categories using supervised machine learning. In simple terms, this is an ongoing process whereby we maintain a profile for each category that quantifies the typical ranges for its most critical defining attributes. We then assess whether bikes match their assigned category or are candidates for reclassification. This cycle allows our concept of a bike category to evolve over time. Occasionally, we will make changes to this taxonomy, such as combining categories that have considerable overlap or splitting up one category into two when we identify a practical delineation.