Disclosed herein are microcantilevers having structural shapes that are less sensitive to turbulence and drift effects yet provide greater deflections due to analyte concentration. The structural shapes include a C-shaped microcantilever, an E-shaped microcantilever, an L-shaped microcantilever, a double microcantilever, a slit microcantilever, a tapered microcantilever, and a triangular microcantilever. The microcantilevers may be piezoresistive microcantilevers. Also disclosed are microsensors, microfluidic devices, and biochips that comprise the microcantilevers as well as methods of using the microcantilevers to detect analytes in a fluid sample.