Buying advice for hybrid bike

ian-d
ian-d Posts: 17
edited February 2012 in MTB buying advice
Hi all, brand new to forum so apologies for the instant question. Also apologies if hybrid bike chat isn't meant for this section but I can't find an exclusive one.

I'm looking to get back into biking and current own a couple of mountain bikes (one is a prototype Raleigh from years ago - never put into production). Unfortunately most of my riding is on roads and bridal paths, so using the mountain bikes is probably much harder going that it should be.

Just looking for some help with deciding on a hybrid bike, as I think it will give me the best of both worlds. I'm looking to spend up to around £800, maybe £1000 at a push, and would ideally like something straight forward but effective, light, and most importantly (because I'm shallow), good looking; white bikes generally catch my eye for some reason.

I looked on a well know bike website and the Whyte bikes look good, but not sure if I should be sticking to specific brands like Trek and Specialised?

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Comments

  • benpinnick
    benpinnick Posts: 4,148
    I think that Cube have the best Hybrids at this time. I bought one last year and very happy with in. Only change I made was to swap the stem and bars to something shorter and wider, with a rise (about £50), an change the saddle to something more comfy. I avoided suspension altogether, as the forks on hybrids tend to be cruddy.

    The new boardman range look good too.
    A Flock of Birds
    + some other bikes.
  • ian-d
    ian-d Posts: 17
    The Boardman bikes look pretty good, though I'm not sure the fact they are exclusive to Halfords gives the impression of a good brand.

    Hope I'm making the right decision considering a hybrid bike as I'm not that well educated on bikes tbh. I just assumed that they would be more suitable for roads and slight rough paths than struggling with a moutain bike. Maybe there are mountain bikes out there which is designed more as hybrid, without the tag?!?!
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    'Hybrid' is a bit of a catch all tag, it covers everything from a road bike with flat bars instead of drops (like the Boardmans, ignoring they have disc brakes) right through to mountian bikes on road tyres and generally rigid forks (like Carrera Subway or even the Boardman 'urban MTB'0) some 700C hybrids even have suspension forks to further confuse the mix.

    So it really depends on what you want, the Boardman hybrids only take very narrow road wheels which may well not suite what you want, on the other hand the 'urban MTB' has rigid forks and (IMHO) a great look and may be perfect FOR YOU.

    I commute on a Carrera Gryphon hybrid, but it won't take wide enough tyres for anything but smooth gravel track use, so wouldn't take it on many bridal paths. On that basis I suggest with your budget you consider the Urban or a similar bike rather than a more raod biased one unless you can fit much wider tyres (like those of CX).

    Simon
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • ian-d
    ian-d Posts: 17
    Thanks for the advice, I currently have a Specialized Hardrock from 2009 so that suits any major off-road cycling I guess, which is why I've angled more towards my journey's locally on normal roads and single path country lanes etc; however, I've not seen any hybrid bikes in the flesh yet, so hadn't realised the tyres are really skinny! Are they as skinny as road/race bikes with zero tread?

    Do you know if any of these Boardman MTB's are more towards the road use end of the spectrum? http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtb/index.html

    I ideally want something light, reckon my current bike must be 15-20kg at least!!!

Categories