Reccomend me a hybrid

[ED209]

budget upto about 400 quid, to me used mainly for cycle track commutes and a little bit of road work.

[bikemonster]

Don't get a hybrid. If you absolutely must have a mixed purpose bike, get a cyclo-cross bike, otherwise decide whether you want a road bike first or a mountain bike, and buy accordingly.

[Burrow01]

bikemonster said:

Don't get a hybrid. If you absolutely must have a mixed purpose bike, get a cyclo-cross bike, otherwise decide whether you want a road bike first or a mountain bike, and buy accordingly.

I see this advice a lot on PH, but don't really understand why a CX bike would be preferable to a Hybrid - particularly at the OP's price point
What would be the advantage of a CX over a Hybrid?

[ED209]

bikemonster said:

Don't get a hybrid. If you absolutely must have a mixed purpose bike, get a cyclo-cross bike, otherwise decide whether you want a road bike first or a mountain bike, and buy accordingly.

I have a mountain bike already thanks a trance x4. I have loan of a road bike and i dont like the instability and the drop bars.

A hybrid is therefore what i need.

[Justayellowbadge]

It's 499, but the Boardman is a nice bit of kit.

[SlimJ]

I have the Boardman Team Hybrid, suits me perfectly as I'm not comfortable with drop bars at the moment, great for commuting and I seem to average speeds around 25-30km/h at the moment on my ride to and from work (no doubt this would be quicker on a full road bike).

May be able to pick up one on eBay for a good price.

[AmiableChimp]

Ridgeback Velocity - http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/ridgeback...

Comes in at 1p under your budget.

I have a 2010 model and it's a great bike for the money, looks quite nice as well.

[bikemonster]

Burrow01 said:

I see this advice a lot on PH, but don't really understand why a CX bike would be preferable to a Hybrid - particularly at the OP's price point
What would be the advantage of a CX over a Hybrid?

A cx is really just a slightly beefier road bike with more relaxed geometry. It should be able to deal with the odd fire trail or tow path while not being as heavy as a hybrid.

Plus cx bikes are cool!

[Gizmoish]

bikemonster said:

A cx is really just a slightly beefier road bike with more relaxed geometry. It should be able to deal with the odd fire trail or tow path while not being as heavy as a hybrid.

Plus cx bikes are cool!

...this week.

[bikemonster]

Gizmoish said:

bikemonster said:

A cx is really just a slightly beefier road bike with more relaxed geometry. It should be able to deal with the odd fire trail or tow path while not being as heavy as a hybrid.

Plus cx bikes are cool!

...this week.

<shrug> I've always liked them. I love the fact that they are currently trendy 'cause it means that when I'm ready to buy one I'll be able to pick one up for peanuts as the next hot thing arrives.

My tip for next hot thing: Unicycles with internal hub gears and disc brakes. You heard it hear first.

[Watchman]

There's hybrids and there's hybrids.

The Boardman Urban Mountain Bike sounds ideal for what you want. Mountain bike geometry with hydraulic brakes, fat but slick tyres, and a rigid fork (lighter). It's £200 more than your budget but it wouldn't be PH unless someone tried to stretch your budget.



Or, at *only* £100 more than your budget, the Boardman hybrid range should offer you a slightly lighter bike with "faster" wheels on the road (narrower) but sacrificing hydraulic discs for mechanical discs.



There are front-sus hybrids too which might give you more of the "mix" you want but to ensure you get one that's relatively light and has the component mix geared towards speed, you need to pay a bit more still. Something like the Whyte Malvern at £665 but we're going waaaaay past your budget there.

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



Have a look at the Specialized range - the Sirrus range starts at £370 for a rigid fork type:



... and the crosstrail for a front-sus:



Neither has discs at the low-end though. Most people wouldn't care but I do.

[Sambafi]

How about one of the Revolution Courier range from the Edinburgh Bike Co-op?

[bga]

Sambafi said:

How about one of the Revolution Courier range from the Edinburgh Bike Co-op?

I had a Revolution Race for a while and it was a great bike. If you can live with a single chainring then I would hight recommend.

[oyster]

Watchman said:

Neither has discs at the low-end though. Most people wouldn't care but I do.

Apart from the geeky gadget angle, why would you ever need discs on a hybrid?

The v-brakes on my hybrid stop me within yards, even from 20mph+ and the only time they can't is because the tyres lose adhesion. It's certainly not because the brakes lack power.

[Gizmoish]

Whatever you get - and that post above is a really good one for the 'different types of hybrid' - get 700C wheels. They're much faster. 26" wheels are only better if you're pootling around a forest at 2mph knee-deep in mud or fighting through tree-roots. IMO

/Scott Sportster, 700C wheels, 'fast MTB' frame, road-ish gears, front suspension.

Cable discs are fine in terms of stopping, but they're exactly as vulnerable as hydraulic discs to getting filled up with sh!t.

[Watchman]

oyster said:

Watchman said:

Neither has discs at the low-end though. Most people wouldn't care but I do.

Apart from the geeky gadget angle, why would you ever need discs on a hybrid?

The v-brakes on my hybrid stop me within yards, even from 20mph+ and the only time they can't is because the tyres lose adhesion. It's certainly not because the brakes lack power.

Brakes on bikes or cars are rarely spec'd (shouldn't be) simply as whether they can skid to a stop. Most often it's about repeatability and feel.

Since switching to discs when I chose my own hybrid, I have come to appreciate the feel aspect and confidence they inspire. I'd never go back. Having said that, both my hybrid and MTB have hydraulic discs. The mechanical discs I have tried in the past weren't even comparible.

You ask specifically about a hybrid too which I'm confused about. I use mine 98% on the road - it has narrow (28mm) slicks, and no suspension. On the road it probably has great coefficient of friction between tyres and road than my fat-tyred MTB does on the loose, and therefore can benefit from a braking system that offers a greater ability to stop - that despite what I said above about repeatability and feel.

But here's an interesting thing (to me) - in the thread about Neilski cycling around the world, he was asked whether an upgrade to discs might have been worthwhile but explains how his LBS believes discs cannot suffer the constant requirement that a long downhill demands. I have never thought about that but I admit that it probably makes a lot of sense.

[Carlton Banks]

Cannondale badboy!

[Burrow01]

Watchman said:

oyster said:

Watchman said:

Neither has discs at the low-end though. Most people wouldn't care but I do.

Apart from the geeky gadget angle, why would you ever need discs on a hybrid?

The v-brakes on my hybrid stop me within yards, even from 20mph+ and the only time they can't is because the tyres lose adhesion. It's certainly not because the brakes lack power.

But here's an interesting thing (to me) - in the thread about Neilski cycling around the world, he was asked whether an upgrade to discs might have been worthwhile but explains how his LBS believes discs cannot suffer the constant requirement that a long downhill demands. I have never thought about that but I admit that it probably makes a lot of sense.

Interesting, I've always thought that one of the main advantages of disks over hub brakes would be heat disipation which would keep the braking ability stable on long decents hence their use on downhill bikes

[ED209]

Thinking about getting this, what do you all think?

Trek dont publish weights but i take it wont be a heavy weight?


http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/73-fx-dis...

[Comfortably Dumb]

ED209 said:

I have a mountain bike already thanks a trance x4. I have loan of a road bike and i dont like the instability and the drop bars.

A hybrid is therefore what i need.

How many miles have you done on the road bike? Has it been setup for you and have you ridden any other road bikes?

I ask because I felt very similar about my road bike for the first few rides but with experience comes confidence.

In my first couple of weeks i maybe spent half a mile on the drops and felt incredibly uncomfortable out of the saddle. 4 months, 1000 + miles later I'm now happily able stand up and sprint whilst on the drops.

Basically the bike wasn't ever the problem.

ETA: I also have a Kona Dew Duluxe Hybrid that bought thinking that a road bike wasn't right for me it was a mistake.

Edited by Comfortably Dumb on Wednesday 25th July 13:41