Which bike?

sporttourer

Hi, I have spent several hours searching this forum but need to ask for your advice please on which bike to buy.
Most of my riding is road, some masin roads but country lanes on the whole so can be pretty rough,potholed & gravel at times. Also do a fair bit of cycling on bike trails at weekends etc.
I currently have a Marin San Rafael - nothing wrong with it but want to upgrade to something a bit more road biased!
Suspension forks are always locked off so not needed on new bike. and rarely if ever use the inner chain ring.
Do I need disc brakes?
Budget is £500 but I have seen several last yr models within that budget that retails for £700 +. SO not bothered about having latest spec. Just want the best bike I can get for around £500 max.

Models I am thinking of are: Giant Rapid 2 ( currently £375 on wiggle for a 2011 model), Giant 3
Specialized Sirrus Comp, Boardman Hybrid Comp, Dawes Discovery 501.
ANy others you can think of?

My main questions would be are these suitable for trail riding as well as road, can I fit wider (28 or possibly 32) 700c tyres to the Giant Rapid 2?
There are so many bikes out there within my budget but it's difficult for me to know which way to go!
Any help gratefully received.Sorry for asking so many questions on my first post.

Bluestoesonnose

Got an old Trek 4300 disc running 700c wheels and kona project 2 forks, 180 disc up front and a 140 out back, set of race blade guards and flat bars, I could ditch the granny ring (but haven't yet) awesome commuter bike as it does everything.

The Rookie

Carrera Subway is a good solid MTB based Hybrid, you can swap on MTB tyres for more off road use no problems, also consider the Carrera Gryphon at the other end of the Hybrid scale, you'r limited to tyre width thaough (the chain stays are very narrow at the front) unless (like me) you run it on 26" wheels (disc braked) where it will take 1.5" tyres and works just fine on gravel tracks (when the MTBs are being borrowed by others).

Simon

tonye_n

sporttourer wrote:

Models I am thinking of are: Giant Rapid 2 ( currently £375 on wiggle for a 2011 model), Giant 3
Specialized Sirrus Comp, Boardman Hybrid Comp, Dawes Discovery 501.
ANy others you can think of?

My main questions would be are these suitable for trail riding as well as road, can I fit wider (28 or possibly 32) 700c tyres to the Giant Rapid 2?
.

I've got the Giant Rapid 1 (exactly the same frame as the Rapid 2 with some upgraded componenents).
It will certainly take 28c tyres there is not enough clearance for 32c.. definitely not.
Very light and comfortable for an alu frame. But be well aware that this is a road bike with flat bar... definitely not a tradition hybrid geometry at all!
The top tube is slightly longer than the equivalent sized Giant Defy (with is there sportive drop bar range) by about 1cm. Head-tube height is about the same as most sportive road bikes.

Never even seen a Discovery 501. I used to have a Specialized Sirrus Elite and it does take 32c tyres even with mudguards.
Of the Rapid and Sirrus I'd say that Sirrus if anywhere up to half of your riding is off road of any kind.
Definitely Rapid if you do mostly road riding. It is a very sporty and light bike. Fast and great fun on the road.

The Sirrus is 'proper' hybrid geometry. Very high head-tube which places you in a very upright position.
If the Boardman has disc brakes as I suspect it might, then this may be even better for trail riding. Better braking and probably than the Sirrus (which I gather has mini v-brakes) and also clearance for 32c tyres.

sporttourer

Thanks tonye

Had a look at a Boardman Comp hybrid & it is a nice looking bike - now back at £500 though - was £395 on Xmas Eve!!!

Still not seen the Giant in the flesh but looking at specs and as long as some more grippy 28c tyres will fit it should be suitable for my needs as the bike trails I ride are almost tarmac smooth anyway with only a few slightly more uneven surfaces. and at £375 at the moment seems to good to miss, just reluctant to order "blind" on the internet.

Not sure about the gearing on the Sirrus elite - seems to have the same ratios more or less as my current Marin and would like better gearing for road use, so like the idea of a 50 tooth outer chainring on the front!

KR MAN

I switched to a Giant Rapid 1 from a 12 year old Trek mountain bike about a month ago. I have a 10 mile commute on a mix of road and cycle paths. The Giant is a flying machine compared to the Trek it's as light as a feather,apartfrom that the only other thing that's really noticable is that the ride is a lot stiffer.

I've suffered a couple of punctures, my first ever!, but that was down to running too low a tyre pressure and has made me conscious of avoiding as many imperfections in the road surface as possible. Apart from that the bike is an absolute pleasure to ride and I've knocked about 10 minutes off my commute time.