Hybrid or road bike?

Alex1988

First post so, hello!

I'm going back to Uni in a week and would quite like to get a bike i can use to commute there on, 25 miles round trip, consists of road and tarmac cycle paths. I've ridden a hardtail mountain bike for the last couple of years off road and it is just too hard riding it on the road!

I'm wondering is a road bike going to be best suited for this type of commute. I've never ridden one before so not sure how i will feel riding one, but i'm sure i'll get used to it.

It's either spend around £300 on a hybrid or have a budget of £500 for a road bike? Thinking the road will be the best for the distance. May also use it for the odd mid week road ride, inbetween mountain biking. How are road bikes in the wet as i'll be doing it right through the winter :roll:

Thanks for your help and any recommendations around the budget for the road bike? Was thinking Specialized Allez/ Trek 1.1 Compact/ GT GTR Series 4...

careful

Hi Alex
I am really a 'roadie' and would normally recommend a roadbike though I have also had hybrids and mtbs. Road bikes are fine in the wet (thiugh I would fit mudguards for regular commuters through winter). Make sure you get one that has clearence for guards. They also enable a slightly more aero position and might open up a new interest id road riding for you. A specialised Allez would be good. Kinesis Racelight Tk are also great.
On the other hand a round trip of 25 miles is quite do-able on a hybrid which arguably will give a more comfortable riding position on shortish trips. The straight bar set up will also seem more natural to you after your mountain bike.
Sorry I cant give a simple answer but I think the choice really depends on whether you think you might ride on the road beyond the commute - if so, go for the roadie. If its just the commute then I think the hybrid might suit you best.

Pross

If sticking to tarmac and not carrying much load I'd go with the road bike. May take a while to adapt to the position but I think you'll enjoy the additional speed especially if you are thinking about using it for pleasure rides.

equinefunk

Hi....I had the same decision, I have a full suss & hardtail MTB. I thought I wanted a Hybrid & rode a couple, but thought they were to similar to the MTB's in terms of riding position although a lot faster. I wanted something a bit different & preferred the Road bike so I'm going down that route now. I have similar commute & I'm hoping to improve my time for that using a road bike.

Penn

if you aren't spending at least £600 on a road bike, its not really worth it imo, really a trek 1.2 or equivalent is as low as you want to go (I had to find that out the hard way!). Although others might have a different opinion on this.

I use a cheap hybrid (http://www.evanscycles.com/products/ral ... e-ec018942) and it does the job quite well for my commute which was actually to uni as well, on the same type roads, and the same distance! Also now that winter is coming up you might want to get a cheaper bike as generally winter isent good on bikes, and then buy a nice road bike for summer. I have a trek 1.2 triple but I only use it on club runs and triathlons.

So my 2 cents: If your just using it for casual riding and commuting, I'd advise a £300 hybrid as it will give you more bang for your buck and you don't want to ruin a road bike in the British winter.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/sco ... --ec016360 seems pretty good!

Roger_This

Visit your LBS and try out a few, see how they feel. There aren't any hard and fast rules, and it's largely down to personal preference, but some important points from above:
room for mudguards
reasonably upright riding position for traffic
comfort - do you really want 23mm tyres? Not the best on gravel tracks.

I'd go with Penn and suggest the hybrid.

Alex1988

Thanks for all the replies.

I can't really justify me spending £000's on a commuter bike which i may only occasionly use for leisure purposes, the MTB is for that! So it looks like a Hybrid will be best for me. Mainly due to budget but also i will be carrying a heavy(ish) backpack with all my books in and i think i'll find it alot easier to ride in a more upright position?

Even though the hybrid won't be anywhere near as quick as a road bike, i think it'll be a great deal quicker than using my hardtail!

Is it worth paying a little more for a hybrid with front suspension and disk brakes or are they just unecessary weight? Something like this be best?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/sco ... e-ec016308

There is a 2.25kg difference in weight between the one with suspension and the one without, will this be noticeable?

keef66

I'd just stick some slick tyres on the mtb for mixed surface commuting. Look for a rigid fork on ebay to reduce weight if you want. Cheaper than buying a hybrid bike you might never use again.

Alex1988

I'll be using the bike for at least the next couple of years for Uni and i work part time which is 7 miles away so will be used for that also! The surface isn't mixed either mate, it is just tarmac, no gravel etc.

Don't really want the hassle of messing around changing wheels/forks over every time i want to go off road with the MTB.

I can certainly justify spending up to £400 on a dedicated commuter

Pross

Wouldn't bother with suspension on the hybrid as you are staying on surfaced roads and will just slow you down if anything.

mikeq

nothing wrong with a £500 road bike. My Specialized Allez 09 cost that and there is nothing wrong with it. I have now done many many miles on it

MrChuck

Pross wrote:

Wouldn't bother with suspension on the hybrid as you are staying on surfaced roads and will just slow you down if anything.

+1 More weight, more cost, less efficient, no benefit.

Alex1988

Think i'm going to go and see if they have the Kona Dew Plus and the Scott Sub 30 in at my local Evans and get a test ride on them etc.

Nerrep

What about old bikes? I picked up an old road bike on eBay for £36. Required a new front wheel (free, thanks to the spectacular generosity of one of the members on here), new brake blocks (£10), new tires and tubes (£40) and it's now more or less perfect, though I'll probably pick up a new back wheel and brakes at some point. Mechanically it all feels very solid, handles nicely, rides quickly, and is pretty comfortable.

It's not as nice to ride as my Trek 1.5, but it cost less than a seventh as much in total and is correspondingly less likely to get nicked! I think the steel frame and forks are also much safer to leave in a public bike rack than aluminium / carbon in terms of their resilience to getting bashed around.

sturmey

If you want to use the bike for longish training rides I would say road bike every time. If you just want to commute with the occasional training ride- say once a month then hybrid will do. But all serious road men use a road bike- don't see many hybrids on clubruns and the like.

hodsgod

I am a big fan of hybrids, a real good compromise of different styles of biking. Just don't expect to get either road bike performance on the road, or mtb performance anywhere else.

They can be great little commuter bikes though. Try a few and compare it to a bike with drops.

macondo01

Have you a bike shelter or somewhere safe to secure your future bike at Uni? I say this as a consideration if you get a 'nice bike'.

geoff_ss

I commuted 135 miles/week Summer and Winter for years on a drop handlebar touring bike with full mudguard clearance. I'm sure you could find a decent secondhand steel frame (531) which would cost less than £300 to build into a decent commuter.

For a while I used an old Raleigh Lenton Sports frame (531 main tubes) sprayed one colour with a 5 speed hub gear. Not as easy to ride as the 'proper' bike but it served its purpose and was good training for the Summer camping tours and not really much slower. I still managed the 13 miles or so in around 45 minutes.

Geoff

Alex1988

I know this is a month old thread, but thought i'd update and say i've gone for a Specialized Secteur Triple 2010 and i'm so pleased with it. What a difference coming from a MTB!

Macondo - Yes there are secure shelters for bikes.