Hybrid or mountain bike?? £1000 to spend - HELLLLLP!!

lau_jas_uk

Hi, my first post so hopefully wont be too taxing......

I am taking part in a cycle to work scheme and need a bike that I can use for approximately 15 miles road riding a day to work and also several miles off-roading at the weekend when I take the kids to the forest / park.

I have been told a "hybrid" will be the way forward but worry about how much abuse these can have when taken off-road due to the thinner frames / bigger but thinner wheels etc. What would be the difference between a hybrid with front suspension and road tyres, to a MTB with front suspension locked out with road tyres.... Is it simply weight??

I have £1000 to spend at an independent dealer selling specialized, cannondale, GT, Scott amongst others.

Another issue is SPD pedals / shoes.... do I or don't I???

ANY and I mean ANY advice, greatfully received

Cheers

Jason

RealMan

These several miles off-road, are they real off road? Or are they just dirt paths? A road bike can handle dirt paths and fire roads, a hybrid would be fine. I probably would go for rigid forks as well.

SPDs are your choice, it means you have to take another pair of shoes to work, but if that's what you're used to riding/what you prefer, go for it.

skyd0g

Neither - a Cyclocross bike + SPD's

zippypablo

I'd second the cyclocross option. If I was only a buying one bike as a do it all then it would def be a cross. The Scott gets a good write up and is £1000.

Bobbinogs

Like others have stated, I would think carefully about the offroad stuff. You may be doing some serious offroading, which is great, but I wasn't and yet still tried to factor this in.

I bought a hybrid to cut my road teeth and do some ad hoc offroad with my family. Well, the last year has seen me use the hybrid on the road about 99% of the time and when I do offroad this is mainly on family trails that a cyclocross would laugh at. In fact, I have recently swapped the suspended forks that came with the hybrid for some rigid ones. My word, what a difference, I wish I had done this months ago. The rigid forks are half the weight and make the bike nimble/much more fun. It still handles the family trails but my trips on it to the pub and back are all the more enjoyable

I do have a "proper" road bike as well, which I bought within a couple of months of getting the hybrid when I found that I was building up the miles and needed something built for the job. You may find you end up doing this whatever bike you buy first but a cyclocross with an alternative set of tyres is a very good option... (but may only delay the inevitable!)

ALaPlage

I bought a Hybrid last year for road and the odd sojourn down tow paths/old railway line cycle routes. Handled all extremely well but enjoyed the road so much have bought a road bike now. Going to get a cyclo cross bike for winter riding and to take on camping hols when a lot of the riding is on dirt tracks and forest trails.

Wife has a scott Hybrid with front fork suspension. She does use it when on the forest trail routes but on road she locks the suspension off as it seems to make it hard work to push on - I guess the suspension is soaking up some of the energy transfer to the road.

Bike types are generally built for purpose so MTB is what you need if you are doing serious off road stuff but cyclo cross will probably be better suited to your needs from the description of riding you have given

cougie

What bikes do your kids have ? Itd be silly to get a full on MTB bike to pootle round forest trails most of the time. My fixie with 25mm tyres copes fine with gentle off road.