Hybrid / Light Trail Recommendations

[paulmon]

I'm looking at getting a hybrid bike for fitness training. One of the routes I plan to do is a 25 mile canal path and the other is a road route. The spilt between the two is likely to be 75% road 25% canal path. Rather than get a full blown hybrid I'm considering getting something with front suspension to help with the off road routes.

I already have a full sus bike for the proper off roading so I dont need anything focused at climbing/descents. My budget is around £800. I've been to look at few bikes and at the moment I'm drawn to the Boardman team or the team R as they seem to offer good VFM.

Is there anything else worth a look?

Cheers
Paul

[Jimbo.]

Don't worry about the canal path, nor the suspension. A cyclocross bike (or even a road bike with good clearances, provided the canal path isn't too crappy!) will be fine for what you describe. Will be faster on the road, too

£800? Genesis Day One Cross:
http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/cross/day-01/d...

Singlespeed, mind.

[MadDad]

Yup, ^ what he said!

Don't go for suspension on a canal path, unless it is full of HUGE holes and ruts, and berms, and jumps, and short sections of downhill, the extra weight will just be a pain in the ass - you will lose a whole world of effort if you need to get out of the saddle on a climb on the road. To me front sus on a hybrid is little more than a manufacturers gimmick!

I would suggest a Cyclocross for a mix of road and gentle XC, especially if you are buying the bike for fitness!

I pick my Cannondale CAADX up tomorrow and cannot wait! This evening I did a quick 32 mile local loop taking in about 70% road, 30% towpath and 10% XC single track on my Giant Trance. Nice ride, but on the road it was hard work, on the towpath it was over-engineered, but on the 10% XC it was great, however on the XC bit I probably only used 20% of its capabilities. I averaged 14.6 mph, and almost every peddle stroke took a fair amount of effort.

I will do the same route again next week on the CAADX and fully expect to raise the average by a good couple of MPH due to the % of road and towpath, the short bit of XC should force me to improve my technical skills!

BTW, I had a hybrid for a few years, sold it last autumn. It was a great bike when I needed something to hack to the shops and back on, or ride to the park with the kids but beyond that it didn't get too much use. On the road I found the position a bit uncomfortable for long periods in the saddle, off road it was twitchy and quite a harsh ride.

[Watchman]

I wouldn't ride our canal paths with narrow/dropped bars. Way too slippery when wet. I'd want to be "heads up".

http://www.whytebikes.com/2012/bike_page.php?ModNo...

[paulmon]

MadDad said:

Yup, ^ what he said!

Don't go for suspension on a canal path, unless it is full of HUGE holes and ruts, and berms, and jumps, and short sections of downhill, the extra weight will just be a pain in the ass - you will lose a whole world of effort if you need to get out of the saddle on a climb on the road. To me front sus on a hybrid is little more than a manufacturers gimmick!

I would suggest a Cyclocross for a mix of road and gentle XC, especially if you are buying the bike for fitness!

I pick my Cannondale CAADX up tomorrow and cannot wait! This evening I did a quick 32 mile local loop taking in about 70% road, 30% towpath and 10% XC single track on my Giant Trance. Nice ride, but on the road it was hard work, on the towpath it was over-engineered, but on the 10% XC it was great, however on the XC bit I probably only used 20% of its capabilities. I averaged 14.6 mph, and almost every peddle stroke took a fair amount of effort.

I will do the same route again next week on the CAADX and fully expect to raise the average by a good couple of MPH due to the % of road and towpath, the short bit of XC should force me to improve my technical skills!

BTW, I had a hybrid for a few years, sold it last autumn. It was a great bike when I needed something to hack to the shops and back on, or ride to the park with the kids but beyond that it didn't get too much use. On the road I found the position a bit uncomfortable for long periods in the saddle, off road it was twitchy and quite a harsh ride.

Thanks for the info, some good points made. I'd need to take a XC bike out for a good ride to be sure I could get used to the riding position.

Watchman said:

I wouldn't ride our canal paths with narrow/dropped bars. Way too slippery when wet. I'd want to be "heads up".

This is a concern to be honest.

P

Edited by paulmon on Saturday 3rd March 08:00

[Engineer1]

Round here there is tow path and tow path, one section is beautiful compacted easy rolling surface the other type is bricks and rocks at random angles sticking out. I assume the OP knows their route and knows if it is the nice easy riding tow path or if it is the horrid rocky track.

[Jimbo.]

Watchman said:

I wouldn't ride our canal paths with narrow/dropped bars. Way too slippery when wet. I'd want to be "heads up".

http://www.whytebikes.com/2012/bike_page.php?ModNo...

Mud and crappy terrain not an issue on a CX bike with drops!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWGnM_1ViZA

[Roman]

Many cross bikes these days are actually quite high at the front and the bars are pretty wide too - maybe worth the OP trying one like the CAAD X (or Boardman) to see how he likes it IMO.

Otherwise I'd recommend a rigid hybrid with 700c wheels (Boardman, C'dale Bad Boy etc) fitted with good folding 32-35c 'cross' tyres for greater speed and better ride over 26".

[mickrick]

From the giving cyclists a bad rep thread.... after I said I rode a hybrid

AbarthChris said:

This marks you out as someone who's opinion isn't valid enough to be shared.

Personally I have a Specialized Crossroads Sport. Very happy with it, and it wasn't over the top pricewise. I think I paid around €500 IIRC.

[Watchman]

Jimbo. said:

Mud and crappy terrain not an issue on a CX bike with drops!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWGnM_1ViZA

Their path is a whole lot wider than our canal path. I stand by my assertion that I would want wider bars and a head-up riding position.

[Watchman]

mickrick said:

From the giving cyclists a bad rep thread.... after I said I rode a hybrid

AbarthChris said:

This marks you out as someone who's opinion isn't valid enough to be shared.

Personally I have a Specialized Crossroads Sport. Very happy with it, and it wasn't over the top pricewise. I think I paid around €500 IIRC.

Don't worry about the ignorant. Some people think their choice is the only valid choice.

Hybrids suffer from too wide a definition, and that the cheaper ones are pretty rubbish. I've had two hybrids, both rigid forked. It was the flat handlbars and 700c wheels I was after, but I wanted to use them only on the roads. More recently I have switched to about 35% unpaved trails and had I not already had the rigid hybrid, I might have bought one with a lightweight air fork. Instead I bought a hardtail. I still think I might be better off selling them all and buying something like that Whyte (above).

[WarrenG]

I have the 2008 version of this;



Which is an aluminium, hard tail, with the front shocks that lockout, with a rather handy remote operation lever fixed to the handlebars, to give the road sections complete feel, 700c 35 wheels tyre combo, and for me, I liked the discs option, not for everyone on a hybrid I know.
The handlebar stem is angle adjustable, and if you wanted to fit narrower bars, or drops, the geometry is similar to an old touring frame of days gone by.
All in I think it was 300 quid, which is probably more a consequence of Dawes not being so fashionable rather than it being cheap as such.

[paulmon]

I have spent the weekend looking at the options. I couldn't get to grips with a drop bar setup offered by the Cyclo Cross bikes and the pure hybrids look like they would only cope with good surfaces. So I have finally decided on the Boardman HT Team R which I feel offers a good compromise and excellent VFM. My only concern was the gearing so I may replace the front 42/27 chain set with a 50/34 but I'll get a good few miles on it first before doing this.

Cheers
P

[anonymous-user]

paulmon said:

My only concern was the gearing so I may replace the front 42/27 chain set with a 50/34 but I'll get a good few miles on it first before doing this.

changing the rear casette will be far easier and a lot cheaper but you really shouldnt need to.

its a 2x10 mountain bike not a road bike, the whole point of 2x10 is the cassette should have enough range to mirror whatever ratios a 3x10 triple chainset at the front would have on a mountain bike but comparing it to a road bike ratio is pointless, what you have in the boardman is a very good off road bike which will hold its own on a lot more difficult terrain than "light trail"

You wont ever need a 50t chainring off road and a 34t inner ring will make climbing pretty hard even with a 32t cassette. as an example, the smallest ratio on my mountain bike is 24/32 or 0.75. Changing to a 34/32 would give you a ratio of 1.06 which would make climbing off road pretty tough and make maintaing traction really difficult.

If on the Boardman you spend more time in the 42t ring compared to the smaller ring, and find yourself spinning out, consider a cassette with an 11t sprocket or even a 10t. that at least gives you a ratio of 4.2 which is comparable to a 50/12 which is basically what you would have with a 50/34 chainset as they often come with an 11/12t final sprocket...

However, given you already have an FS, why do you need a HT if its just road and towpaths? i think you are missing an opportunity and a cx bike or a flat bar hybrid (with a better gear ratio) would be far more suitable, as well as extending the riding options you have. surely if you are riding off road you would take the FS and riding a HT on the road is horrible and slow.

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 5th March 10:33

[paulmon]

pablo]aulmon said:

My only concern was the gearing so I may replace the front 42/27 chain set with a 50/34 but I'll get a good few miles on it first before doing this.

[quote]

changing the rear casette will be far easier and a lot cheaper but you really shouldnt need to. its a 2x10 mountain bike not a road bike, the whole point of 2x10 is the cassette should have enough range to mirror whatever ratios a 3x10 triple chainset at the front would have on a mountain bike but comparing it to a road bike ratio is pointless, what you have in the boardman is a very good off road bike which will hold its own on a lot more difficult terrain than "light trail"

You wont ever need a 50t chainring off road and a 34t inner ring will make climbing pretty hard even with a 32t cassette. as an example, the smallest ratio on my mountain bike is 24/32 or 0.75
changing to a 34/32 would give you a ratio of 1.06 which would make climbing off road pretty tough and make maintaing traction really difficult.

If on the Boardman you spend more time in the 42t ring compared to the smaller ring, and find yourself spinning out, consider a cassette with an 11t sprocket or even a 10t. that at least gives you a ratio of 4.2 which is comparable to a 50/12 which is basically what you would have with a 50/34 chainset as they often come with an 11/12t final sprocket...

the only solution is to hit the rough stuff. its what the bike was desigend for!!!

I have one of these for the rough stuff. The Boardman will be used for light trails/road.

[anonymous-user]

then buy a bike more suitable for light trails and road work... a flat bar hybrid seems the way to go, something like the Giant Rapid would easily cope with light trails, i used my Boardman road bike on bridlepaths and all sorts of loose surface paths, it was a hoot and i didnt even put the wheel out of true.

[clonmult]

paulmon said:

I have spent the weekend looking at the options. I couldn't get to grips with a drop bar setup offered by the Cyclo Cross bikes and the pure hybrids look like they would only cope with good surfaces. So I have finally decided on the Boardman HT Team R which I feel offers a good compromise and excellent VFM. My only concern was the gearing so I may replace the front 42/27 chain set with a 50/34 but I'll get a good few miles on it first before doing this.

Cheers
P

Good choice - looks similar to what I went for a few weeks back - Specialized Crosstrail Sport Disc.

With the added bonus of my now having two sets of wheels, one on-road, the other suited to more offroad use. Huge fun.