Difference Between Bike and Bicycle

Bike vs Bicycle

If you are a kid, bike means bicycle to you and when you are a grown up man, the same bike becomes a motorcycle to you. Amazing, isn’t it? But that’s how things stand as far as word bike is concerned. The word bike comes from Bi (meaning two) and kuklos (meaning circles). So a vehicle having two wheels is called a bike. In this sense even mopeds and scooters classify as a bike. The similarities between a bike and a bicycle end here as there are many differences that will be talked in this article.

Bike, as is the tradition, can refer to a bicycle, or a vehicle containing two wheels. All over the world, kids, as they learn how to ride a bicycle are excited as they get a vehicle that can take them around at all places by just peddling with their legs. They call their bicycle bike, and there is nothing wrong in this nomenclature. However, though there are more cycles than motorcycles in the world, bike refers more to a motorcycle than a bicycle, which is not fair to the kids around the world, as they dearly love to call their bicycles bike.

A bike is then, according to the fad, a motorcycle that is powered by an engine, and does not require any manpower. On the other hand, a bicycle has no engine and needs to be propelled forward with the help of manpower. So all motorcycles are bikes, but not all bikes are motorcycles as they also contain bicycles.

In brief: Difference Between Bike and Bicycle • Bike is a general word used to describe all vehicles having two wheels though it originated with bicycles which were invented first. • Bike today includes engine powered motorcycles while bicycles are propelled by the man riding them using his legs.