Bicycles have a long and fascinating history.
They started out as something of a novelty in nineteenth-century Europe when Baron Karl von Drais assembled his “velocipede” contraption. Bicycles have remained a popular method of personal transportation ever since.
Cycling even has its own premier racing event in the Tour de France, which attracts top-level cyclists from around the world. The truth is, bicycles have never been more popular, and the bikes themselves—from mountain bikes to diamond-studded Harleys—have never been more sophisticated.
That’s why we’ve assembled this list of the top bicycle brands in 2022 for the discriminating cyclist. If you want the best bikes in the world, these are the brands for you.
1. Kona Bikes
Kona is without question one of the top bicycle brands in the world.
It was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1988, and it retains the same owners to the present day. If widespread market reach distinguishes the best bike brands, then Kona is certainly among the top ten bicycles with distribution in over 60 countries.
Kona brand bikes are constructed from a wide range of materials, including aluminum, steel, carbon fiber, and titanium. And given the mountainous terrain of British Columbia, it’s no wonder that Kona developed a series of mountain bikes renowned for their performance and durability.
2. Trek Bikes
Trek Bicycle Corporation began its life in Waterloo, Wisconsin, way back in 1976.
Since then, the company has become one of the top bike brands in the world. It’s even more remarkable since it all started in a simple barn, and the company’s guiding ethos was to make quality bikes in the United States.
Trek produces something for everyone. It has a wide range of bike styles, including bikes designed for men, women, and children; it also manufactures electric mountain bikes for the more adventurous.
And it’s not just Trek: the company has a number of good bike brands under its umbrella. These include Electra, DreamBikes, LeMond Racing Cycles, Diamant Bikes, and more.
3. Cannondale Bikes
Cannondale is another US-based bicycle brand that hails from the glorious decade of the 1970s.
The company began as a crazy idea over a glass of beer and originally produced bike accessories and gear, as well as the legendary “Bugger,” a bike-towed trailer that was the first of its kind in the world.
In 1983, the company branched out by producing its first bike. In 1997, Cannondale created a stir when one of its bikes, with an aluminum frame, was used in the Tour de France. With its innovative, revolutionary machines, Cannondale has made a name for itself as one of the top bicycle brands in the world.
4. Scott Bikes
Ed Scott, the founder, and inventor behind our next brand, was a ski racer and innovative engineer from Sun Valley, Idaho.
His namesake company was created in 1958 when Ed Scott invented an aluminum ski pole that changed skiing forever. In the following decades, the company expanded its market, taking in motocross and cycling. In 1978, the company moved to Fribourg, Switzerland, and switched its name from Scott USA to Scott Sports.
Nowadays, Scott Sports manufactures a remarkable array of innovative, full-suspension mountain bikes, securing its place among the very best bicycle brands.
5. Orbea Bikes
Orbea is much older than the other companies on this list.
The Spanish bicycle brand actually started out as a rifle company—in 1840! It wasn’t until nearly a century later that it began manufacturing bicycles. This was in the 1930s, during the Spanish Civil War when the company employed many thousands of people. Some thirty years later, these employees purchased Orbea and transformed it into a cooperative.
The company’s fortunes waxed, and it expanded to produce recreational bikes in addition to the racing and road bikes it specialized in before. Today, Orbea has made a name for itself with its wide range of bicycles, including mountain bikes and e-bikes.
6. Merida Bikes
Merida is based in Taiwan, and it has risen to become one of the top bike brands through its established track record of producing quality bicycles.
Merida was officially founded by Ike Tseng in 1988, but its inception dates back to an idea he had many years earlier, in 1972. While visiting the United States, Ike Tseng found a note in a bike repair shop declaring that it wouldn’t repair any bikes from Taiwan. The reason given was that the quality of Taiwanese bikes was too poor.
Ike Tseng set out to change that perception, and decades later, his company achieved the distinction of being one of the top bicycle brands in the world.
7. Giant
The excellence of Taiwanese bicycle brands doesn’t stop with Merida.
Giant is considered to be the world’s largest bike manufacturer. It was founded in 1972, the same year as Ike Tseng’s American epiphany, and it started out making equipment and parts for other companies.
In 1977, the company secured a manufacturing contract from Schwinn—then the premiere bike company in the world. Since then, Giant has gone from one success to another, with a dedication to innovation and craftsmanship that has won the company many loyal fans and customers.
Giant has retained its massive share of the market through the production of high-quality, affordable bikes. These include everything from electric mountain bikes and road cruisers to cyclocross and kids’ bikes.
Read also: Top 3-Wheel Motorcycles on the Market
The Top Bicycle Brands in the World
There’s really nothing else like riding a bike from one of the world’s top bicycle brands.
These are the best bike brands—the ones that have made history and won races the world over. So if you’re shopping around for a new bike, these are the companies you need to research.
For more advice on top brands and luxury items, contact us today or subscribe to our blog to have updates sent to your inbox.
Featured image source: Konaworld.com
