Bike vs. Cycle — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Maham Liaqat — Updated on May 16, 2024
Bike is a colloquial term for a bicycle or motorcycle, while cycle is a broader term that includes any vehicle with wheels that one can pedal, like bicycles and tricycles.
Difference Between Bike and Cycle
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Key Differences
Bike typically refers to a bicycle, a two-wheeled vehicle powered by pedaling, or a motorcycle, a motor-powered two-wheeled vehicle. Cycle is a more general term encompassing any pedal-powered vehicle, including bicycles, tricycles, and unicycles.
A bike is often used in casual conversation and is commonly associated with both recreational and commuting activities. Cycle, however, is a more formal term used in technical and broader contexts, encompassing a wider range of pedal-powered vehicles.
In sports and fitness contexts, bike usually denotes bicycles used for racing, mountain biking, or commuting. On the other hand, cycle can refer to various types of cycling activities, including using stationary cycles for indoor training.
The term bike is widely recognized and used in both everyday language and specific subcultures like motorcycling and cycling enthusiasts. Whereas cycle might be used in academic, technical, or formal discussions, highlighting the broader category of vehicles it covers.
Comparison Chart
Definition
Typically a bicycle or motorcycle
Any pedal-powered vehicle, including bicycles
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Common Usage
Casual and recreational contexts
Formal and technical contexts
Scope
Narrow, often specific to bicycles or motorcycles
Broad, includes bicycles, tricycles, unicycles
Sports Context
Refers to bicycles used in various sports
Encompasses different types of cycling activities
Language Context
Informal and everyday language
Formal and academic discussions
Compare with Definitions
Bike
A pedal-powered two-wheeled vehicle (bicycle).
She rode her bike to the park.
Cycle
Used in technical and formal contexts.
The study focused on the benefits of different cycles.
Bike
Informal term for a bicycle.
Let's go for a bike ride.
Cycle
Refers to different types of cycling activities.
Indoor cycle classes are very popular.
Bike
Used in cycling sports contexts.
The bike race was thrilling.
Cycle
An interval of time during which a characteristic, often regularly repeated event or sequence of events occurs
Sunspots increase and decrease in intensity in an 11-year cycle.
Bike
Commonly associated with both recreation and commuting.
He commutes to work on his bike every day.
Cycle
A single complete execution of a periodically repeated phenomenon
A year constitutes a cycle of the seasons.
Bike
A bicycle or motorcycle
I'm going by bike
My friends and I would ride our bikes
A bike ride
Cycle
A periodically repeated sequence of events
The cycle of birth, growth, and death.
A cycle of reprisal and retaliation.
Bike
A nest or swarm of bees, wasps, or hornets
They swarmed over him like a bike of wasps
Cycle
The orbit of a celestial body.
Bike
Ride a bicycle or motorcycle
Danny bikes to the park and back every day
Cycle
A long period of time; an age.
Bike
A bicycle.
Cycle
The aggregate of traditional poems or stories organized around a central theme or hero
The Arthurian cycle.
Bike
A motorcycle.
Cycle
A series of poems or songs on the same theme
Schubert's song cycles.
Bike
A motorbike.
Cycle
A bicycle, motorcycle, or similar vehicle.
Bike
To ride a bike.
Cycle
(Botany) A circular or whorled arrangement of flower parts such as those of petals or sepals.
Bike
Clipping of bicycle
Cycle
(Baseball) The achievement of hitting a single, double, triple, and home run in a single game.
Bike
Clipping of motorbike
Cycle
To occur in or pass through a cycle.
Bike
Ellipsis of village bike
Cycle
To move in or as if in a cycle.
Bike
A hive of bees, or a nest of wasps, hornets, or ants.
Cycle
To ride a bicycle, motorcycle, or similar vehicle.
Bike
A crowd of people.
Cycle
To use in or put through a cycle
Cycled the heavily soiled laundry twice.
Cycling the recruits through eight weeks of basic training.
Bike
(intransitive) To ride a bike.
I biked so much yesterday that I'm very sore today.
Cycle
An interval of space or time in which one set of events or phenomena is completed.
The cycle of the seasons, or of the year
Bike
(intransitive) To travel by bike.
It was such a nice day I decided to bike to the store, though it's far enough I usually take my car.
Cycle
A complete rotation of anything.
Bike
(transitive) To transport by bicycle.
I biked them the letters.
Cycle
A process that returns to its beginning and then repeats itself in the same sequence.
Electoral cycle
Menstrual cycle
News cycle
Bike
A nest of wild bees, wasps, or ants; a swarm.
Cycle
The members of the sequence formed by such a process.
Bike
A motor vehicle with two wheels and a strong frame
Cycle
(music) In musical set theory, an interval cycle is the set of pitch classes resulting from repeatedly applying the same interval class to the starting pitch class.
The interval cycle C4 consists of the pitch classes 0, 4 and 8; when starting on E, it is realised as the pitches E, G# and C.
Bike
A wheeled vehicle that has two wheels and is moved by foot pedals
Cycle
A series of poems, songs or other works of art, typically longer than a trilogy.
The "Ring of the Nibelung" is a cycle of four operas by Richard Wagner.
Bike
Ride a bicycle
Cycle
A programme on a washing machine, dishwasher, or other such device.
Put the washing in on a warm cycle.
The spin cycle
Bike
A motor-powered two-wheeled vehicle (motorcycle).
He loves riding his bike on weekends.
Cycle
A pedal-powered vehicle, such as a unicycle, bicycle, or tricycle, or a motorized vehicle that has either two or three wheels.
Cycle
(baseball) A single, a double, a triple, and a home run hit by the same player in the same game.
Jones hit for the cycle in the game.
Cycle
(graph theory) A closed walk or path, with or without repeated vertices allowed.
Cycle
A chain whose boundary is zero.
Cycle
An imaginary circle or orbit in the heavens; one of the celestial spheres.
Cycle
An age; a long period of time.
Cycle
An orderly list for a given time; a calendar.
Cycle
(botany) One entire round in a circle or a spire.
Cycle
(weaponry) A discharge of a taser.
Cycle
(aviation) One take-off and landing of an aircraft, referring to a pressurisation cycle which places stresses on the fuselage.
Cycle
To ride a bicycle or other cycle.
Cycle
To go through a cycle or to put through a cycle.
Cycle
(electronics) To turn power off and back on
Avoid cycling the device unnecessarily.
Cycle
(ice hockey) To maintain a team's possession of the puck in the offensive zone by handling and passing the puck in a loop from the boards near the goal up the side boards and passing to back to the boards near the goal
They have their cycling game going tonight.
Cycle
An imaginary circle or orbit in the heavens; one of the celestial spheres.
Cycle
An interval of time in which a certain succession of events or phenomena is completed, and then returns again and again, uniformly and continually in the same order; a periodical space of time marked by the recurrence of something peculiar; as, the cycle of the seasons, or of the year.
Wages . . . bear a full proportion . . . to the medium of provision during the last bad cycle of twenty years.
Cycle
An age; a long period of time.
Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay.
Cycle
An orderly list for a given time; a calendar.
We . . . present our gardeners with a complete cycle of what is requisite to be done throughout every month of the year.
Cycle
The circle of subjects connected with the exploits of the hero or heroes of some particular period which have served as a popular theme for poetry, as the legend of Arthur and the knights of the Round Table, and that of Charlemagne and his paladins.
Cycle
One entire round in a circle or a spire; as, a cycle or set of leaves.
Cycle
A bicycle or tricycle, or other light velocipede.
Cycle
A motorcycle.
Cycle
A series of operations in which heat is imparted to (or taken away from) a working substance which by its expansion gives up a part of its internal energy in the form of mechanical work (or being compressed increases its internal energy) and is again brought back to its original state.
Cycle
A complete positive and negative, or forward and reverse, action of any periodic process, such as a vibration, an electric field oscillation, or a current alternation; one period.
Cycle
To pass through a cycle{2} of changes; to recur in cycles.
Cycle
To ride a bicycle, tricycle, or other form of cycle.
Cycle
To cause to pass through a cycle{2}.
Cycle
An interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs;
The neverending cycle of the seasons
Cycle
A series of poems or songs on the same theme;
Schubert's song cycles
Cycle
A periodically repeated sequence of events;
A cycle of reprisal and retaliation
Cycle
The unit of frequency; one Hertz has a periodic interval of one second
Cycle
A single complete execution of a periodically repeated phenomenon;
A year constitutes a cycle of the seasons
Cycle
A wheeled vehicle that has two wheels and is moved by foot pedals
Cycle
Cause to go through a recurring sequence;
Cycle thge laundry in this washing program
Cycle
Pass through a cycle;
This machine automatically cycles
Cycle
Ride a motorcycle
Cycle
Ride a bicycle
Cycle
Recur in repeating sequences
Cycle
Any pedal-powered vehicle, including bicycles.
He learned to ride a cycle when he was five.
Cycle
A broader term encompassing various types of pedal vehicles.
The children enjoyed riding their cycles in the park.
Cycle
Includes bicycles, tricycles, and unicycles.
She prefers a tricycle for better balance.
Common Curiosities
Which term is more common in everyday language?
Bike is more common in everyday language.
Can bike refer to a motorcycle?
Yes, bike can refer to both bicycles and motorcycles.
Does cycle only refer to bicycles?
No, cycle includes bicycles, tricycles, and unicycles.
What is the main difference between a bike and a cycle?
Bike usually refers to bicycles or motorcycles, while cycle is a broader term that includes any pedal-powered vehicle.
Are tricycles included under bike?
Typically, no. Bike generally refers to two-wheeled vehicles.
Does cycle include stationary bikes?
Yes, cycle can refer to stationary bikes used in indoor training.
Does bike refer to pedal-powered vehicles only?
No, bike can also refer to motor-powered two-wheeled vehicles.
Is cycle a more formal term than bike?
Yes, cycle is often used in more formal or technical contexts.
Are the terms bike and cycle interchangeable?
In some contexts, they can be used interchangeably, but cycle is broader and more formal.
Can bike be used in sports contexts?
Yes, bike is often used in sports contexts, especially cycling sports.
Is cycle used in academic discussions?
Yes, cycle is used in academic and technical discussions.
Can the term cycle refer to a cycling activity?
Yes, cycle can refer to different types of cycling activities.
Is bike a colloquial term?
Yes, bike is a more colloquial and casual term.
Do cyclists use the term bike or cycle more frequently?
Cyclists often use both terms, but bike is more common in casual conversation.
Is bike used to refer to children's pedal vehicles?
Yes, bike can refer to children's bicycles.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Maham Liaqat