Which Hybrid......no, seriously!

d21dga

Right people, thought we'd have one of these threads for a change

My Bike4Work voucher is being delivered soon so I have to pick a bike! It has to be from Evans and I've shortlisted the 4 possibilities below. I've had a ride on the Kona Dew and Ridgeback but haven't had the opportunity to test the other two although I do have a mate who has a similar Felt bike and I like that one.

I don't want people telling me to get a road bike :P because:
a) the last mile of my commute will be on fairly rough bridleway so a road bike just isn't suitable for my only bike. It would be nice to have one as well just for fun, but maybe in a year or so!
b) ideally I'd spend more and get a nice cyclocross bike as that would be ideal but I really can't afford to spend any more than this at the moment and didn't want to risk buying second hand as I don't know a great deal about bikes, hence me asking this!
so there that's told you!

Any sensible advice about the relative merits of the specifications/manufacturer of each of the following bikes would be very much welcome! Many thanks in advance.
Anyone who mentions road bikes is gonna be sent to the back of the class and made to stand in the corner with a dunces hat on!


http://www.evanscycles.com/products/felt/qx75-2009-hybrid-bike-ec017117

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/72-fx-2009-hybrid-bike-ec016505

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/ridgeback/velocity-2009-hybrid-bike-ec017036

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kona/dew-2009-hybrid-bike-ec017268

Kieran_Burns

) ideally I'd spend more and get a nice cyclocross bike as that would be ideal but I really can't afford to spend any more than this at the moment and didn't want to risk buying second hand as I don't know a great deal about bikes, hence me asking this!

You see!

YOU SEE!!!


You all want one! :twisted:

Obsessed with road bikes this lot.... :roll:

d21dga

Yes yes but that's just in my dreams I'm afraid. Is it wrong to wish for a 'pervert' bike?! :? :roll:

Kieran_Burns

being serious - they have some huge tyres on those bikes.

My CX Tricross runs fine on 32c over a 4 mile stretch of bridleway, if you're going to use it as a commuter check you can fit mudguards (ESSENTIAL for the bridleway) with narrower tyres.

Get bar ends, I have them on my flat bar roadie and they make a lot of difference to the comfort

soy_sauce

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec016013

then put on a pair of semi slick.

give you a option to do abit of off road and more comfortable on the rough bridleway

d21dga

Kieran_Burns wrote:

being serious - they have some huge tyres on those bikes.

My CX Tricross runs fine on 32c over a 4 mile stretch of bridleway, if you're going to use it as a commuter check you can fit mudguards (ESSENTIAL for the bridleway) with narrower tyres.

Get bar ends, I have them on my flat bar roadie and they make a lot of difference to the comfort

Ok thanks that's useful to know. I was thinking I could probably get away with something a bit skinnier than the 42C's on the Kona. The Felt and the Trek aren't quite so bad at 37 and 35c respectively.

Kieran_Burns

For reference, and so you can compare bridleways - my commute: http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... highlight=

d21dga

Hmm interesting. I think my bridleway is a different kind of beast. It's just recently been redone with what is basically a load of compacted crushed stone/gravel. This should mean it is much less susceptible to becoming a mud-pit but also there will probably be a bit less grip available than yours which looks like a fairly hard compacted surface.

Nifkin

Nowt wrong with a Hybrid.

Or a BMX for that matter.

Thing is, this is a forum festooned with roadie snobs like LiT and BBB, who are so transfixed with pedalling their Cervelos that they've barely noticed the fact that 90% of commuters DON'T ride road (racer) bikes, yet those same crap commuters are having a bloody good time as they do it. Yes, it's lovely to meet "cycling enthusiasts", but those same "two-wheeled hooray henrys" only deposit their "I'm a cyclist" hubris here coz they'd be laughed out of the pub by their mates... Anyway, they may give it the feisty large here, but I bet they're all kittens in real life.

Nerr ner ner-NER ner ;-)

The Chingford Skinhead

I can't give you any comparative advice but I can say I've got an older Ridgeback Velocity and it has been a trusty friend. I recently had a big service done on it and the guy in the LBS said retailers tell Ridgeback every year not to mess with its components as the bike works perfectly well as it is. It's nothing special but for the price you're getting a bike with reasonable spec, reliability and good user satisfaction.

d21dga

The Chingford Skinhead wrote:

for the price you're getting a bike with reasonable spec, reliability and good user satisfaction.

Sounds like the kind of bike I'm after!

FyPunK

I can, as I have had one for the last 12 months reccomend the Ridgy Velocity and one other suggestion I would make is chuck some bar ends on. It does appear to be a well made bike and considering some of the crap the winter threw at this year it has come through really well. I really can't find any fault, the gear ratio's seem good for me, the riding position is fully adjustable. I don't know the other bikes or people that have them so cant comment but if you do get chance to test ride the velocity give it a go.

lost_in_thought

Nifkin wrote:

Nowt wrong with a Hybrid.

Or a BMX for that matter.

Thing is, this is a forum festooned with roadie snobs like LiT and BBB, who are so transfixed with pedalling their Cervelos that they've barely noticed the fact that 90% of commuters DON'T ride road (racer) bikes, yet those same crap commuters are having a bloody good time as they do it. Yes, it's lovely to meet "cycling enthusiasts", but those same "two-wheeled hooray henrys" only deposit their "I'm a cyclist" hubris here coz they'd be laughed out of the pub by their mates... Anyway, they may give it the feisty large here, but I bet they're all kittens in real life.

Nerr ner ner-NER ner ;-)

Who's BBB? And I don't have a cervelo!

Actually, as I've said before, we're not snobs, we just try to encourage people who ask for advice to do what we think is the best thing. A lot of us started out on hybrids before realising a roadie was best for what we were using them for - we're trying to stop people making the same expensive choice we did, as well as dispelling ideas like 'road bikes are delicate'.

In the OP's case, a cyclocross bike would be best, but he's ruled that out.

Having never owned a hybrid, I can't really help the OP, just wanted to set you straight there, Nifkin.

d21dga

lost_in_thought wrote:

In the OP's case, a cyclocross bike would be best, but he's ruled that out.

Having never owned a hybrid, I can't really help the OP, just wanted to set you straight there, Nifkin.

I'll rule it back in again if you'll give me the extra few hundred quid I need
Actually there's an idea... maybe I can exploit the contempt towards hybrids of many of the posters on here and persuade them to put £10 each into my bike fund so they can all breathe a collective sigh of snobbish relief when I don't introduce another hybrid into this world :P



Note for those who have had a humour bypass - that was a joke and I don't actually think everyone on here is a snob!

DonDaddyD

Nifkin wrote:

Nowt wrong with a Hybrid.

Or a BMX for that matter.

Thing is, this is a forum festooned with roadie snobs like LiT and BBB, who are so transfixed with pedalling their Cervelos that they've barely noticed the fact that 90% of commuters DON'T ride road (racer) bikes, yet those same crap commuters are having a bloody good time as they do it. Yes, it's lovely to meet "cycling enthusiasts", but those same "two-wheeled hooray henrys" only deposit their "I'm a cyclist" hubris here coz they'd be laughed out of the pub by their mates... Anyway, they may give it the feisty large here, but I bet they're all kittens in real life.

Nerr ner ner-NER ner ;-)

I own a Giant M2 hybrid, brilliant bike, brilliant. for my commute, which is in London, it is not as good as the road bike I use for commuting. Ironically my hybrid has better quality gears, wheels and brakes than my road bike, but the overall package including comfort still falls short of what my road bike delivers, who would have thought....

Where the M2 would shine is off road and light trials but then it uses the Giant XTC mountain bike frame, so it would.

I speak from experience.

il_principe

lost_in_thought wrote:

Nifkin wrote:

Nowt wrong with a Hybrid.

Or a BMX for that matter.

Thing is, this is a forum festooned with roadie snobs like LiT and BBB, who are so transfixed with pedalling their Cervelos that they've barely noticed the fact that 90% of commuters DON'T ride road (racer) bikes, yet those same crap commuters are having a bloody good time as they do it. Yes, it's lovely to meet "cycling enthusiasts", but those same "two-wheeled hooray henrys" only deposit their "I'm a cyclist" hubris here coz they'd be laughed out of the pub by their mates... Anyway, they may give it the feisty large here, but I bet they're all kittens in real life.

Nerr ner ner-NER ner ;-)

Who's BBB? And I don't have a cervelo!

Actually, as I've said before, we're not snobs, we just try to encourage people who ask for advice to do what we think is the best thing. A lot of us started out on hybrids before realising a roadie was best for what we were using them for - we're trying to stop people making the same expensive choice we did, as well as dispelling ideas like 'road bikes are delicate'.

In the OP's case, a cyclocross bike would be best, but he's ruled that out.

Having never owned a hybrid, I can't really help the OP, just wanted to set you straight there, Nifkin.

Some of us ave even bought drinks (in real life) for hybrid and cx riders... although we don't like to talk about it.

d21dga

Might just have to toss a coin a few times to pick one, there's not much to choose between them. From what I can make out the Felt has some very slightly higher spec components but the frame looks a bit chunkier, the Ridgeback has been given a couple of thumbs up, the Trek looks pretty similar to the Ridgeback to me! Think I might discount the Kona on purely cosmetic reasons cos the white finish with the black forks looks wrong in my opinion 8)