road or hybrid?

sammyg

Hi all,
I'm really stuck on which type of bike to get. I want the speed of a road bike but the durability of a hybrid.
I will be doing a 12 mile commute on back roads between Hartlepool and Middlesbrough which is a good flat road, but maybe risk of pot holes, then in through middlesbrough city centre.
My local supplier stocks Giant so have been looking at SCR series of road bike and the CRS series of hybrid.
Help
Cheers sammyg

Clever Pun

road bikes can be just as rugged as hybrids... I guess it depends on whether you want drops or flat handlebars

if you're on the road use a road bike and get tougher wheels/rims if you're worried about it

or get both

sem69

I have a Giant SCR2 road bike which I'm very happy with for my 9 mile commute in London. It has the option of adding full mudguards and a rack, and has a slightly more upright riding position, which is good for riding in traffic and being able to look around easily. And has full Tiagra groupset.
A road bike also allows you to change your hand positions on the handlebars, from hoods to drops, which is good for your back on a long ride.
And the most important thing is you look more cool on a road bike!

BentMikey

Road bike if you're riding on the road. Faster, works better, and plenty strong enough for rough roads.

delcol

i have a road bike with flat bars. same geomatry as the road bike same spec just has falt bars instead of drops..

the roads i take are quite bad surface wise pot holes and road works at the mo unpaved raised man holes my scott speedster s60 fb is fine even on the dogy unpaved surface and the 700c 25 wheelsand tyres are super fast on road..

i got to admit i did have my reservations on a road bike at first but glad i opted for one now...

NWLondoner

Get a road bike with flat bars. The ridgeback Flight Series are great. I have the T3.

Really light and fast.[/i]

BentMikey

Not flat bars, get drops. More hand positions, more comfort, and narrower to filter through traffic.

redddraggon

BentMikey wrote:

Not flat bars, get drops. More hand positions, more comfort, and narrower to filter through traffic.

I whole heartedly agree, flat bars are for wimps.

Once you get drops you won't regret it.

redddraggon

Why do people think that road bikes aren't durable?

After all Paris-Roubaix is not a cake walk, and that's done on road bikes.

HedgerRooney

I'm in a similar what bike dilemma and any advice would be great! The criteria being: -

Good reliable all rounder
Fast road but still be able to pedal up BIG hills and go down the odd track
Front Shocks
Hydraulic Disc
Light ish
Good looks

Thinking about the GT Transeo 2 Disc at the moment!? What sort of speed could I get on a flat!? 8)

redddraggon

HedgerRooney wrote:

I'm in a similar what bike dilemma and any advice would be great! The criteria being: -

Good reliable all rounder
Fast road but still be able to pedal up BIG hills and go down the odd track
Front Shocks
Hydraulic Disc
Light ish
Good looks

Thinking about the GT Transeo 2 Disc at the moment!? What sort of speed could I get on a flat!? 8)

Get a cyclocross bike.

HedgerRooney

That sounds a bit serious for my level of riding :oops:

sem69

HedgerRooney wrote:

Fast road but still be able to pedal up BIG hills and go down the odd track

This is a cyclocross bike in a nutshell. Check out the Specialized Tricross Sport, £699

TheBoyBilly

Given the criteria, Mr Rooney I'd say you'd need a Cyclocross bike too. Do you really need suspension or disc brakes or is that just for show? Cross bikes are pretty light by definition anyway, and will tick most of your (riding) boxes. £699 might seem a lot but for a "do-it-all" bike that will last for years it's a snip really. Even better if your work does a Ride2Work scheme.

whatamidoing

the tricross looks really good.. but you won't need it for normal commuting... just get some bullet proof tyres (gatorskin)... and you be fine...

acr

I have one of the CRS's that you looked at, CRS 2.0 City. It's fine, nice and light and didn't cost an arm and a leg.

jjojjas

I use a tourer every day, and I wouldn't change it for the world.
ps, I put flat bars on it as well. No point in following the crowd if it doesn't suit your needs.
Jas

cpt_spalding

I opted for the Giant SCR 4.0

Really like the bike. Just learning about the whole cycling thing though & about to upgrade my tyres to a tougher tyre after 8 months of punctures . The things they don't tell you about in bike shops (& no it wasn't a big national, it was a small independent in Fife!).

I love the road bike. My only regret about not getting a hybrid is I couldn't go offroad in the park when I took my eight yr old down there on her bike..

beverick

I have a 'fast' tourer and a hybrid. I'd recommend the tourer.

The tourer's a durable 'load lugger' which takes a heavy duty pannier as well as full sized mud-guards.

The hybrid's a compromise between styles and falls between stools.

Bob

roger_merriman

cpt_spalding wrote:

I opted for the Giant SCR 4.0

Really like the bike. Just learning about the whole cycling thing though & about to upgrade my tyres to a tougher tyre after 8 months of punctures . The things they don't tell you about in bike shops (& no it wasn't a big national, it was a small independent in Fife!).

I love the road bike. My only regret about not getting a hybrid is I couldn't go offroad in the park when I took my eight yr old down there on her bike..

for park use i dought you'd cause the bike any problems, even the 20mm training tires cope fine for gravel tracks and stuff you get in parks. as long as your pressures are high enought and you don't slam into lumps you'll be fine, those thin tires aren't as fragile as they look.

Mombee

Hi,
I did my first commute on my road bike yesterday and have to say that my hybrid wins hands down into town.
To put it into perspective, my route takes my from the outskirts of Bath in the centre... it's two and a half miles straight down (quite steep) in the morning and a steady climb on the way out. Downhill on damp and greasy roads first thing in the morning isn't a great place for a road bike - it felt nervous and didn't instill anywhere near the same confidence of the hybrid. The hybrid just seems to throw itself into the job with more confidence... I'm sure much of that is the upright position and softer ride (on bigger tyres). The hybrid also has pannier fixings, rather than the saddlebag that my road bike needs - guess that affects the overal handling as well.
The hybrid also has the advantage of a 'granny' gear for hauling up that hill - though saying that the road bike clipped almost a minute off the hybrid time.
I'm planning to extend my route in to get more exercise and I'm pretty sure that the road bike will come into its own then - but while I'm on those short 2-3 mile hops, the hybrid wins hands down.
Cheers, Mombee.

sonnyb

I have a Boardman Urban Pro hybrid with flat bars which I prefer because of the better position of gear and brake levers. It just feels more natural than drops, and the bike itself is just as nimble as a road bike.

Swannie

I was starting to have a little regret about my hybrid choice.

Having told the LBS that I was going to ride on road and toe path, that's what they suggested. Until last night I hadn't done any toe path riding. Well, thank f*** I have the hybrid, for I think I would have been fighting a road bike for a lot of the 9 and a bit miles. Especially the nice big sticky mud puddles.

Still not got bar ends yet, but I suspect when I do they will make the 15mile + rides a bit more comfortable. I like the fact that I have a nice heavy weight rack on the back, and I have no problems getting a decent sized shopping trip home with it :-)

That said, now it's getting a bit drier and sunnier, I think I might be on the look out for a nice cheap, older road bike. So I can have one without rack, without mudguards, etc. for nice speedy fun rides. (My current commute is slowed down by bloody traffic lights, not my bike!)

DavidTQ

Mombee wrote:

Hi,
I did my first commute on my road bike yesterday and have to say that my hybrid wins hands down into town.
To put it into perspective, my route takes my from the outskirts of Bath in the centre... it's two and a half miles straight down (quite steep) in the morning and a steady climb on the way out. Downhill on damp and greasy roads first thing in the morning isn't a great place for a road bike - it felt nervous and didn't instill anywhere near the same confidence of the hybrid. The hybrid just seems to throw itself into the job with more confidence... I'm sure much of that is the upright position and softer ride (on bigger tyres). The hybrid also has pannier fixings, rather than the saddlebag that my road bike needs - guess that affects the overal handling as well.
The hybrid also has the advantage of a 'granny' gear for hauling up that hill - though saying that the road bike clipped almost a minute off the hybrid time.
I'm planning to extend my route in to get more exercise and I'm pretty sure that the road bike will come into its own then - but while I'm on those short 2-3 mile hops, the hybrid wins hands down.
Cheers, Mombee.

What tyres are you running, nervous in the wet isnt a road bike characteristic its a tyre characteristic, stick some conti GP4000s's on there and you will find damp road no problem at all They transformed my damp weather handling from the cheap and nasty kendas that were fitteed as standard...

My road bike has rack and panniers, and a granny gear

always_tyred

the biggest issues I have with my road bike are pinch flats, and wearing out rims. I cycle right through the winter and, with the best HID I could get on the front, I'm still never going to see the potholes as well as during the day. I also don't have time to clean the bike every night to make my rims last for years. That doesn't qualify as "practical" to me.

I'd like to get 25 or 27C's on, but there's no room with mudguards. For that reason, the next big thing that fails on the old commuter will precipiatate the purchase of a cross bike, on to which will go some slicks.

My main concern with a hybrid, and why I wouldn't recommend them over a commuterised mountain bike, or a road bike with a plush saddle and riser stem, is that its a compromise. Its ideal initially - more braking than a road bile, faster than a mountain bike, a bit of suspension perhaps, more comfortable riding position.... but what happens when you get used to it? You can go off road, but not a lot. Its sort of quick on the road, but you can't get the power down and you can't adjust the position enough when your body is able. I mean, don't you run up to one limit or the other really soon?

redddraggon

Always Tyred wrote:

the biggest issues I have with my road bike are pinch flats, and wearing out rims. I cycle right through the winter and, with the best HID I could get on the front, I'm still never going to see the potholes as well as during the day. I also don't have time to clean the bike every night to make my rims last for years. That doesn't qualify as "practical" to me.

Perhaps if you pumped your tyres up you wouldn't get snakebites. I don't have any problems - and I don't go out of my way to avoid potholes either.

hodsgod

redddraggon wrote:

Why do people think that road bikes aren't durable?

After all Paris-Roubaix is not a cake walk, and that's done on road bikes.

Probably because so many people won't ride their best bike during winter, saying things like "I don't want all the grit and dirt in the mechs"

At the end of the day, a hybrid IS a "road bike" maybe a triple with a flat bar but still a road bike.

I have a Dawes Super Galaxy, triple with drops. Could be a hybrid with drops, depends on how you look at it.

My advice is, do not get fixated by terminology. Decide what you want out of your bike. Do some research on which bikes are available and then make your choice. Most of all don't get side tracked by others opinions on what is best. Remember it is only best for them.

always_tyred

redddraggon wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

the biggest issues I have with my road bike are pinch flats, and wearing out rims. I cycle right through the winter and, with the best HID I could get on the front, I'm still never going to see the potholes as well as during the day. I also don't have time to clean the bike every night to make my rims last for years. That doesn't qualify as "practical" to me.

Perhaps if you pumped your tyres up you wouldn't get snakebites. I don't have any problems - and I don't go out of my way to avoid potholes either.

That's a little smug. If riders on the Paris Roubaix with 25C tubulars get pinch flats, I think its safe to say that under some circumstances, its unavoidable. If not, you should let the world know how you manage it. For example, if I hit a pothole 5 inches deep with a sharp edge at 40 kph, what pressure is required to avoid a pinch flat?

I'm talking about completely blindly hitting a pothole - its hilly where I live and I have to cycle on totally unlit roads. In the city its trivial to roll over potholes and let the bike move under you if you can't quite avoid them, but if you are training at night and forget that there's one, which happens occasionally, and crunch over it unawares, you are, occasionally, going to get a pinch flat.

Unless you use a brand of clinchers that enable you to runsignificantly more than the 110psi I run?

dirk_van_gently

I agree with Reddragon

Cyclocross bike (regulars to the forum may be shocked by this comment 8) )
They do everything a road bike can, but go off road too. Drop bars give you plenty of different hand positions, hence more comfort.

redddraggon

Always Tyred wrote:

That's a little smug. If riders on the Paris Roubaix with 25C tubulars get pinch flats, I think its safe to say that under some circumstances, its unavoidable. If not, you should let the world know how you manage it. For example, if I hit a pothole 5 inches deep with a sharp edge at 40 kph, what pressure is required to avoid a pinch flat?

I'm talking about completely blindly hitting a pothole - its hilly where I live and I have to cycle on totally unlit roads. In the city its trivial to roll over potholes and let the bike move under you if you can't quite avoid them, but if you are training at night and forget that there's one, which happens occasionally, and crunch over it unawares, you are, occasionally, going to get a pinch flat.

Unless you use a brand of clinchers that enable you to runsignificantly more than the 110psi I run?

If you haven't got enough light to see any obstacles or dangers ahead of you at 40kph, you shouldn't be going that fast.

Just because "it's hilly where [you] live" it doesn't mean you have to whack into potholes. It's hilly and the roads are unlit where I live, but I don't seem to have any problems and I run 23mm tyres at 120PSI rear/105 front. If it was a real problem people would still be using tubulars.

sad Bastad

Sorry to but in on the original question that was asked, but I have a very similar dilemma. Just started commuting on a front-suspensioned hybrid which I won in a raffle 5 years ago and have used sparingly for recreation. Now want something better and am confused!
I have an 11 mile one-way commute, all on roads with only a little stop/start for traffic.
I'm basically doing it to keep fit and beacuse I'm enjoying it too.
I want a pannier so I can lose my backpack and I want full mudguards etc. Beyond this commute I'm unlikely to be doing much longer rides.
My local bike shop says a road bike is out, as it won't take a pannier and mudguards.
Hybrid bikes appeal aesthetically although these seem to be alu which certain commentators have said gives a very stiff ride comapred to steel together with the the inferior posture comfort. Touring bikes seem to fit the bill although these seem to be aimed more at people doing huge mileages rather than a 22 mile daily round trip.
I have a max budget, all in, of £1K.
Any suggestion splease?
Thanks!