Help choosing between hybrid or more sporty bike

rootto

Hi all,

I know this questions has been asked several times, but after hours browsing the forum I could not make up my mind. I've decided to start commuting to work, because cycling is the only sport I like and working all day in on office I do need some activity My final aim is to be healthy, and loose a bit of weight while having fun!

My plan is to spend between 400£ - 500£ for a bike which will be used for a 10 miles commute each way. I have a small hill to climb at each end of the rute (got for loosing weight:) I've tried a road bike, and although I did like how fast it was, I was feeling not very confortable. Occasionally I would like to use the bike for rides in parks during the weekend, but nothing too extreme.

The hybrids bikes I've shortlisted are:

http://www.cyclesurgery.com/pws/UniqueP ... CGIA0796EK
http://www.cyclesurgery.com/pws/UniqueP ... CGIA0795WB

The more sporty are:

http://www.cyclesurgery.com/pws/UniqueP ... CGIA0800WK
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/fitness-5-ro ... 88896.html

My doubt is: if I pick the Giant Rapid, would I be able to use it on trails/light off-road as well?

If you can recommend another bike in my price range, any advice is welcomed!

Thanks in advance

Nicola

blacbul67

Hi, Sorry to open it out to other contenders, but I would have to recommend the Forme Pulse, It has ticked exactly all the boxes you require for me over the last 4 months, I really cannot praise it enough. I have yet to see a better specced bike for a comparable price though the new Boardman MX Race comes close, but even that only has mechanical disc brakes as opposed to the Hydraulic ones of the Pulse.

http://www.goodbikes.co.uk/forme-pulse- ... ite-46-cm/
http://www.boardmanbikes.com/hybrid/hybrid_mx_race.html

rootto

Hi guys,

Thanks for your answers!

@blacbul67: my understanding is that suspension add weight to the bike, and I don't think I will make much use, since I to ride in light trails (ie. Richmond park, Hampsted Heath) but nothing to hardcore

@oxoman: I thought that road bikes where too specialised to be used off road (light trial). Do you have any model in mind which is in my price range?

At the moment I lean toward the Giant Rapid 4, but any other suggestions about more sporty hybrids are welcome

Thanks again

Nicola

apreading

rootto wrote:

Hi guys,

Thanks for your answers!

@blacbul67: my understanding is that suspension add weight to the bike, and I don't think I will make much use, since I to ride in light trails (ie. Richmond park, Hampsted Heath) but nothing to hardcore

@oxoman: I thought that road bikes where too specialised to be used off road (light trial). Do you have any model in mind which is in my price range?

At the moment I lean toward the Giant Rapid 4, but any other suggestions about more sporty hybrids are welcome

Thanks again

Nicola

If you like the Rapid 4 then take a good look at the Boardman Hybrid Comp. £550 and it has disc brakes, is lighter and most importantly can take MUCH bigger tyres than the Giant Rapid - which will be a godsend off the smooth tarmac on one of these bikes.

agg25

I'd go for a Boardman Hybrid as well for that price. Don't go for a road bike, no matter how many people say "I went for a hybrid and switched to a road bike after blah months", they're not as comfortable or safe as a more upright hybrid with disc brakes for commuting moderate distances.

slowbike

Trails on roadbikes can be a mixed experience .. I've ridden several on my Allez and the smoother ones are fine when it's dry, but once it starts getting really bumpy and wet then whilst you can ride them it's not really ideal. When it's wet the tyres pick up mud/leaves and can quickly jam up in the forks and brakes - and if you put mudguards on then you've got even less clearance.

Hybrids are fine for trails - but so are CX's - and having ridden a (borrowed) hybrid for my 10 mile commute (through the country, not town) for a few weeks I bought a CX because the feel was closer to my roadbike (I like drops and hoods) but retained the ability to ride trails.

The right bike will be the bike you can ride comfortably - and this will change over time. If you've not been used to riding road bikes then the stretch could easily be too far and you'd be better off with a more upright position - but that can still be achieved in a road/cx bike if that's what you want.. Similarly, you can get a more stretched position with a Hybrid, but they do tend to be more upright.

If your ride is through town then you may be better off with a more upright stance anyway - and if your weekend riding is going to be with children then you may feel more comfortable on a ride that you can hop on and off quickly.

@agg25 - why are roadbikes less safe than hybrids? Is it because you want to be more upright? Why? what does that achieve for you? IMHO it's not the bike that is or is not safe - it's the rider.

agg25

More upright = head up = watching where you're going more.
Disc brakes > rim brakes (especially in the wet)
Hybrids generally have fatter tyres than road bikes as well = more comfortable over Englands notoriously potholed roads.

Can you point out to me the advantages of having a road bike for a commute rather than a good hybrid for a 10 mile commute?

cookeeemonster

agg25 wrote:

More upright = head up = watching where you're going more.
Disc brakes > rim brakes (especially in the wet)
Hybrids generally have fatter tyres than road bikes as well = more comfortable over Englands notoriously potholed roads.

Can you point out to me the advantages of having a road bike for a commute rather than a good hybrid for a 10 mile commute?

the wind will f*cking kill you when its windy

10 miles seems to be the cutoff point on these forums for deciding hybrid vs road...that is, above 10 miles you're better off with a road, below a hybrid unless you're also doing longer distances on the weekend etc

so cant help you. I did the hybrid to road thing after 4 months but my commute is a lot longer...for 10 miles either will be fine (and you'll get used to the road bike position after a few weeks anyhow)

slowbike

agg25 wrote:

More upright = head up = watching where you're going more.
Disc brakes > rim brakes (especially in the wet)
Hybrids generally have fatter tyres than road bikes as well = more comfortable over Englands notoriously potholed roads.

Can you point out to me the advantages of having a road bike for a commute rather than a good hybrid for a 10 mile commute?

More upright and head up - if you're not constantly riding in town with lots of lane changes & junctions then you can see enough from a roadbike position. If you're off on a long section then a more aero position can be advantageous - especially if there is a strong headwind.

Never had a problem with rim brakes - even in the wet/ice/snow - suggest you try better brake pads.

Fatter tyres = greater rolling resistance - thinner tyres (to a point) = Less rolling resistance = faster for same effort

If it's your commute you'll learn where the potholes & drain covers are.

I have no issue with the suitability of hybrids for a commute - as I said, I used one - when the raceblades on my roadbike kept clogging up - but when it came to sorting out a long term bike for winter commute I decided on CX because I like the drop bars - riding on the hoods most of the time and the availability of the drops for the faster sections whilst retaining the capability of wider tyres & solid mudguards. For me the CX is just a bit more enjoyable than the Hybrid and the roadbike is more enjoyable than the CX (for my commute)

agg25

So, you agree, riding in traffic Hybrid with a more upright position is better. Which is one of the main reasons I picked mine. If I was riding in the countryside with no traffic, maybe I'd look at a road bike.
Wind schmind, we're not doing the Tour de France, pedal faster. You can still duck down anyway on a hybrid for those few moments it gets really bad.
Fact still is disc brakes own rim brakes, a guy at work is considering switching to a hybrid/disc because his rim brakes aren't cutting it.
I've ridden with good rim brakes and discs, it's like chalk and cheese.
When I said fatter tyres, mine are 700 x 28c, hardly chubby, but there's no need for 23's on a commuter. 28s even 30+ will still roll fine. Remember, you're not riding a Tour de France. I still average over 20 mph through the middle of London on my 10 mile commute to work passing many roadies. It's not about the bike ;-) It's about the legs.
Anyway, I just disagree with the "go for a road bike, if you buy a hybrid you'll "upgrade" to a road bike in months" argument that many seem to push. It aint necessarily so.

slowbike

On my ride I only need to use the brakes 7 times for course changes - I may add another 2 or 3 due to traffic - not had a problem with them yet ... But if you were needing to frequently stop sharply then I can appreciate you may want a better braking system - but perhaps you could just slow down a bit?

Aero or not - in town I guess you have a significant amount of traffic going your way ... even if they're going faster than you they're still providing a wind break - in the country I do get a fair amount of traffic going past, but because they give me quite a bit of space and the speeds are significantly different I don't get much of a pull off them - best ones are lorries and buses where I'll get a bit of a longer pull ... so aero is handy ...

I'm currently riding 32mm's (standard tyres on my CX) - they were handy in the ice/snow and quite nice for the muddy sections - but I do believe I can tell the difference between them and the 23mm's on my other wheels .. it's not significant, but every little bit counts ...

You are of course right - it's the engine that matters and I'm sure I could be over taken by a fitter rider on a tesco bike when I'm on my road bike - but there's that extra dimension called "pleasure" ... and I ride mainly because I enjoy it (most of the time) as well as a way to get fitter - but if I didn't enjoy it I wouldn't do it - hence my commuting bike(s) will be the one(s) that enable(s) me to enjoy the ride.

Anyway, I wasn't arguing against your disagreement of "just go for a road bike" - it was the "Hybrids are safer" line of yours ...

agg25

Yeah, you riding in the country vs me riding through London probably changes our requirements quite a bit. I would probably brake about 50 times on the way to work, sometimes that's because a pedo has forgotten to look before they step onto the road so it's quite important. And you have to watch getting a "suckjob" from cars/buses in London, they tend to stop rather abruptly, that's where the good brakes come in handy :-)
I like your suggestion of just slow down a bit rather than use the brakes hehe, kind of defeats the purpose of having a faster road bike wouldn't it? :-)

slowbike

Buses around here are (mostly) fine - you know where their stops are and they are miles apart - I've not had one overtake me and stop straight away (yet) - so nothing like London buses!

agg25 wrote:

I like your suggestion of just slow down a bit rather than use the brakes hehe, kind of defeats the purpose of having a faster road bike wouldn't it? :-)

not really - if you don't follow traffic quite so closely you won't need to brake sharply (except for the ped who steps out) - and you can save your energy for going that bit faster when the traffic speeds up ... accelerating takes more energy than maintaining a steady pace - so sometimes it can be faster to slow down ...
But I don't normally ride through towns so it's just a theory!

supersonic

If the OP is going off road, he doesn't want a road bike.

rootto

Wow thanks for all the suggestions!

The Boardman Hybrid looks nice, but it's a bit above the budget (which I could stretch) and halford is not part of the Cycle Scheme (they are with Cycle2Work, which I believe my company doesn't have).

If the Rapid has thin tyres (looking at the pictures it might not be able to fit mudguard) I'll fall back on the Escape 1 2013. Tomorrow I'll go hunting for a cycle surgery shop which has both of them on stock.

According to my limited experience, I feel more secure on a more upright position, in particular with the crazy traffic in London! At the same time when I used a friend' btwin road bike, I really enjoyed how simple was to step up on the pedals and push Since I'm still at the beginning, I do prefer to go for an hybrid to start.

zx6man

The forme pulse is a cracking bike btw, its the mtb side of hybrid, and looks great in the flesh, pics don't do it justice.

blacbul67

zx6man wrote:

The forme pulse is a cracking bike btw, its the mtb side of hybrid, and looks great in the flesh, pics don't do it justice.

Very true, I'm biased I know, but true none the less, to my pleasant surprise, I get lots of cries of "cool bike mister!" up here in Northumberland as I ride it!