Road or Hybrid Bike

acanning

Dear All

I’m not sure whether I’ve posted this in the correct forum so apologies if I’ve got it wrong!

I’m new to cycling and want to buy a bike for mainly road use but would like to occasionally head off the beaten track down pathways and through woods etc. I won’t be covering huge distances although one of my mates wants us to enter a London to Paris event so I may have to start training!

However, I’m not sure what kind of bike would suit me best. I’ve had a look at a Specialized Sirrus but it seems to have very thin tyres which might be okay for the road but not so good when I venture off road. Can the tyres be changed and would the wheels be strong enough? Also, the roads around us aren’t great (typical British B roads) so I’m wondering whether something like the Sirrus would be suitable anyway.

Would I be better with a Hybrid type bike such as a Merlin Malt or possibly a Scott Sportster P1 which looks nice in the pictures! These appear to look tougher but what would they be like on the road?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks

redddraggon

IMO a cross bike would be better than a hybrid for light off roading. Better on and off the road than a hybrid.

tarpaullynn

Reddragon may well be right but cross cycles are fairly expensive in comparison to hybrids. You mention the Specialized Sirrus, you are correct this does have very thin road type tyres but have you looked at the Globe and Globe Sport, both by the same manufacturer, I've had a Specialized Crossroads for a good few years now and it suits me for road, cycle tracks and light off road riding. Have a look at some websites, Edinburgh Cycle Co-op and Wheelies direct are 2 that I look at regular, see what you fancy and pop into your local cycle shop and have a look around. Edinburgh Cycle Co-op have some own brand hybrids at very good prices and seem fairly well specced.

acanning

Hi

Many thanks for the replies.

You mention the Globe but isn’t that along the same lines as the Sportster and Merlin I mentioned or is there another class of bike I’m not aware of? I’ve not ridden any of these and will be making my way to a dealer to give them a go so perhaps time will tell.

Regards

pw1brown

You're lucky now to have a really wide range of "hybrids" to choose from, ranging from flat bar road bikes at one end to slick-tyred mountain bikes at the other. My one piece of advice to you is to try out as many models as you can before buying. Most bike shops should let you have a test ride, provided it's dry outside.

tarpaullynn

The Specialized Globe I mentioned has 700x42c tyres whereas the Sirrus you mention has 700x28c tyres, as you said they are very thin, there are a few different versions of the Globe, starting with the 'basic' Globe up to the much higher specced and priced Globe Pro. The thicker tyres are more suited to gravel tracks then the narrow road type tyres.

As pw1brown says though get out and have a look at what's on offer.