Which Hybrid?

Mr Enta
Mr Enta Posts: 3
edited March 2008 in Road beginners
Hi all,

Been looking on this forum for a while now for general advice and ideas.

I am about to buy my first bike since my teens ( I am now 26) and was looking for some advice.

My budget is around £400 and I have narrowed my choice down to three black / gun metal grey bikes:

Trek Soho 1.0, Giant Escape M1 and the Merida S'presso 300 D. Each bike would be £400.

Looking at the spec, the Merida probaby edges it, although the Trek has some Bontrager components, which I have been told are alot better than Shimano.

Does anyone have any experience of the above bikes?

Which one would be the best to go for?

And finally.......

Does anyone have any other ideas on different hybrid bikes in this price range?

Thanks in advance, and welcome from a new member.

Comments

  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    Are you sure you want a hybrid? They aren't very good, get a proper road bike :wink:
    I like bikes...

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  • Nuggs
    Nuggs Posts: 1,804
    redddraggon wrote:
    Are you sure you want a hybrid? They aren't very good, get a proper road bike :wink:
    Agreed! :)

    However, if you must pursue this route, have a look at the Specialized Sirrus.
  • feel
    feel Posts: 800
    boardman comp? but interested to know why are you against drop handlebars.
    We are born with the dead:
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  • bigjim
    bigjim Posts: 780
    Just reading Greece on my Wheels by Edward Enfield. He is happily riding across Greece on a Raleigh Pursuit Hybrid. I quote "It is such a good machine that although you can pay vast amounts more for other bicycles there is very little extra that they can possibly do". I ride 80s racing bikes and there is a bitch of a hill nearby that I just cannot conquer without dismounting. Tried it on a mates cheap hybrid and sailed up the damn thing. So maybe. Depends on what you want.

    Jim :)
    Nothing to prove. http://adenough1.blogspot.co.uk/
  • Mr Enta
    Mr Enta Posts: 3
    I'm really looking for a bike to cut about town on so I think a racer would be a bit too much like a real bike.

    I live in Glasgow, and with the rain we get I have a feeling that racer tires would slide all over the place. Although I'm sure changing the tires would be no real hassle.

    I haven't really hear many negative things said about hybids, especially if the purpose is mainly commuting / town riding.
  • arranandy
    arranandy Posts: 688
    Mr Enta wrote:
    I'm really looking for a bike to cut about town on so I think a racer would be a bit too much like a real bike.

    I live in Glasgow, and with the rain we get I have a feeling that racer tires would slide all over the place. Although I'm sure changing the tires would be no real hassle.

    I haven't really hear many negative things said about hybids, especially if the purpose is mainly commuting / town riding.

    I have a Trek 7.3FX hybrid which I use as my commuter bike. Its a good bike and is well up to the commuting task - I commute from Motherwell to Glasgow east end 2/3 times a week. I changed the tyres to Continental Sport Contacts as the original Bontranger tyres seemed to be quite suscepitble to p**ctures.
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  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    bigjim wrote:
    I ride 80s racing bikes and there is a ***** of a hill nearby that I just cannot conquer without dismounting. Tried it on a mates cheap hybrid and sailed up the damn thing.

    That's just a case of gearing. If you have the same gearing on a road bike as on the hybrid (ie If you can't climb get a triple) it should be easier on the road bike.
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  • meagain
    meagain Posts: 2,331
    Nowt wrong with so called hybrids - mainly used as a term of disparagement by those who think that drop 'bars somehow define the *real* cyclist.

    Not tried that Merida, but they do make good vfm bikes! So they should, being one of the highest volume manufacturers in the world, including the frames for many brands that trade on a top end reputataion!
    d.j.
    "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    meagain wrote:
    Nowt wrong with so called hybrids - mainly used as a term of disparagement by those who think that drop 'bars somehow define the *real* cyclist.

    Nothing wrong with flat bars...on a MTB. Hybrid generally means they take the worst things from MTB and Road and mix them, ie flat bars, narrow tyres, upright geometry, heavy. Hybrids tend to do nothing well, except go slowly (a generalism granted).

    A Cyclocross bike is a better hybrid of road and MTB.
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  • bigjim
    bigjim Posts: 780
    Hybrids tend to do nothing well, except go slowly (a generalism granted).
    I hate that. Not everybody wants to fly round like a maniac. Also MTBs on heavy 26" wheels are likely to be a lot slower than a hybrid. "The slower you go the more you see."

    I agree about gearing. thats why I mentioned my 80s bikes. They are doubles with quite high gearing and don't have the bale out granny gear. I can certainly climb but this hill is realy steep, narrow with high close walls, no pavement and heavy traffic. Safer to dismount sometimes.

    Jim
    Nothing to prove. http://adenough1.blogspot.co.uk/
  • meagain
    meagain Posts: 2,331
    "Nothing wrong with flat bars...on a MTB."

    MTB for you then, when you get older!
    d.j.
    "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."
  • johnno_uk
    johnno_uk Posts: 30
    Mr Enta, i'd ignore the anti hybrid comments on here and go with what you want. Generally on this forum i think people are true road bikes and nothing else will do - its like being a heretic.
    I have both a road bike and a hybrid (I'm very lucky i agree) - the hybrid being new and quite light, well geared, fast enough and more importantly upright so that when i'm riding in traffic, my vision isn't buried in the exhaust pipe of the bus in front. If you're sticking to the road only, get a hybrid with a carbon front fork if you can instead of a heavy suspension fork, that makes a big difference to the weight i found when i swapped recently. For 400 you can get a decent one. Its not going to be the lightest, but around town and commuting in the rain and wind, i'd always opt for a bit more weight to increase stability.
  • bilsea159
    bilsea159 Posts: 256
    I own two road bikes with drop bars that I train on and enjoy the drop bar experience for recreational use. As a pasionate cyclist using the bike for commuting I bought a Hybrid from Halfords, a carrera Gryphon for £284. I find it covers my needs as a commuter as covered in the previous post and the upright posistion supports my rucksack that carries my work stuff around. Ok Reddraggon it may not be as fast as my road bikes but is better for the task I purchased it for and gets me to work safetly. And when I return home my desire for speed is met by my two road bikes. So I guess I am another cyclist who just uses a range of bikes to meet my needs all providing me with a the single passion of the love of cycling
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    My road bike gets me to work safely aswell. It can have a rack and mudguards also.

    No visibility problems either.
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  • meagain
    meagain Posts: 2,331
    Why oh why is "road" bike used as a synonym for "drop handlebars"? Or even for a "racing" bike? When did this ridiculous compartmentalisation become common-place?
    d.j.
    "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."
  • COVEC
    COVEC Posts: 213
    Hi,

    I have just moved from the Escape M1 to a road bike and can certainly recommend the Giant, it is a great bike, fairly light with nice gearing(I noted the Merida's chain rings are fairly small so may require some frantic pedalling if going fast) and the brakes are very reassuring. Rather than think of it as a true hybrid try to think of it as a MTB with slicks and bigger gears, it will last for a very long time as its very well built.
    Good luck with whatever you choose, they all look nice :D

    COVEC


    Edited to add, I still have the M1 and might be willing to come to some arrangement for a sale if you want.
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    meagain wrote:
    Why oh why is "road" bike used as a synonym for "drop handlebars"? Or even for a "racing" bike? When did this ridiculous compartmentalisation become common-place?

    Why is a mountain bike a synonym for flat bars, knobbly tyres and low gearing? Surely they race up mountains in the TdF don't they? They should be on MTBs then. MTBs should be ATBs therefore.


    After all people Road Race on a Road Bike, don't see many flat barred bikes in a RR do you?
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  • meagain
    meagain Posts: 2,331
    "After all people Road Race on a Road Bike, don't see many flat barred bikes in a RR do you?"

    But you see I'd always thought (and still do) that they race ona RACING bike. A sub-category of ROAD bike.
    d.j.
    "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    meagain wrote:
    "After all people Road Race on a Road Bike, don't see many flat barred bikes in a RR do you?"

    But you see I'd always thought (and still do) that they race ona RACING bike. A sub-category of ROAD bike.

    Nah, a RACING bike is a bike you race on, so that could be a DH, XC, Cyclo-X, or TT bike etc. Personally I wouldn't want to do any DH on a road bike.

    Calling a road bike, a racing bike is obsolete. When they called it a racing bike, there wasn't much MTBing going on. Time has moved on.

    Just look at Wiggle, Evans, CRC, they all call ROAD bike, ROAD bikes.
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  • Pretre
    Pretre Posts: 355
    If you want a hybrid, they're great for commuting IMO.

    I have a Spesh Sirrus Comp for my commute -wheels upgraded to Mavic Aksiums & pedals to Shimano PD-M520 SPD's - upright position to see traffic, panniers on the back & clip-in pedals for better pedalling.
    I also have a Spesh Roubaix Comp with Look Keo pedals for the weekend - drop handlebars & racing-style pedals for better power transfer & because I don't need to walk & or even really stop - utterly unlike my hybrid, where I need to walk once I get off the bike & not carry around several pairs of shoes.
    I know you can put SPD's on a road/race (whatever you want to call them!) bike but it seems to me to defeat the object to put MTB pedals on a bike where you don't need to walk around at all.
  • Lagavulin
    Lagavulin Posts: 1,688
    Was it a Sirrus "the hamster" used to make Clarkson look like a bell-end with his P O W E R boat? :?:
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  • NWLondoner
    NWLondoner Posts: 2,047
    Lagavulin wrote:
    Was it a Sirrus "the hamster" used to make Clarkson look like a bell-end with his P O W E R boat? :?:

    Yes but the FULL Ltd carbon version

    I would love that bike but cannot afford £1500 for a bike

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