Hybrid needs attention

Bettsy78

Hi everyone,

I am pretty new to cycling and need some advice.

I have a hybrid bike and want to make some adjustment to improve my speed, I was thinking of the following;

Change the tyres to 28's.

Change the pedals to clips and cleats.

Can I go ahead and do this?

Am I right in making these changes?

Any advice would be really appreciated!

Cheers,

Bettsy.

menthel

I changed to SPD pedals and shoes on mine last week. Makes a big difference in the way you cycle from my point of view. I now have more muscles than before that hurt but if feels smoother and I can certainly go faster!

As for the tyres, I would like to know too. I am currently on 32's with a fair bit of tread but would like to try something faster- 28's or even 25's.

Bettsy78

Cheers Menthel,

I am a little worried about the SPD's as my balance isn't all that!

How have you found the SPD's??????

menthel

I have been fine. A couple of near falls but having adjusted the tension in the pedal it was much easier to get my foot in and out. My wife has had a little more trouble with hers and has some good bruises to show for it!

Bettsy78

Cheers!

I will go ahead and make the changes.

Thanks again for the info.

menthel

Good luck, report back on the tyres!

menthel

I offered but she said no!

ianwilliams

I have a Specialized Sirrus and I'm going to be removing the spacers sequentially before flipping the stem. It should enable me to get a bit lower and present less resistance in the wind.

It will also help me get more comfortable with the position for when I buy a road bike.

daddy0

I got SPDs at the beginning of the year, probably done about 1000 miles with them now. Was a really good move. Your feet are kept in the ideal position (as long as you put your cleats in the right place on your shoes) and pulling up helps a lot when you're applying the power awesome. I have had one fall, when I was giving way to a bus and another cyclist decided to overtake us both as the bus pulled out - bus slammed on his brakes and so did I but I couldn't unclip in time. Didn't hurt, I just ended up sitting down on the curb with my feet both clipped in.

Tyre wise, I used 32 Gatorskins for a bit on a hybrid, they were pretty fast if pumped up to 120psi. I now use Conti GP4000 23s on a road bike and can go about 10Mph faster - partially due to the tyres I'm sure.

nigglenoo

Bettsy78 wrote:

Hi everyone,

I am pretty new to cycling and need some advice.

I have a hybrid bike and want to make some adjustment to improve my speed, I was thinking of the following;

Change the tyres to 28's.

Change the pedals to clips and cleats.

Can I go ahead and do this?

Am I right in making these changes?

Any advice would be really appreciated!

Cheers,

Bettsy.

The clips and cleats are a good idea.

Regarding the tyres IME its more important to get good quality lightweight tyres than to just go for skinnier ones. Look for low weight, which usually means going for folding bead tyres, and supple, i.e. a high TPI count (Threads Per Inch). Also your wheel rims may not be suitable for much skinnier tyres.

One good deal on a reasonably quick and light tyre at the moment is the Marathon Racer folding tyre at Planet X Bikes for £18.49, go for the 30mm version:

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/TYS ... lding_tyre

If you want to go skinnier and your rims will allow it then Vittoria Rubino Pros (folding) in 28mm (I would not go slimmer than that for a hybrid TBH) are £19.95 at High on Bikes:

http://www.highonbikes.com/wheels-tyres ... lding.html

I use these (28mm as well) on my Genesis Equilibrium road/Audax bike and they excellent, light quick and smooth with their 150TPI carcass.

Also you can try lighter tubes, such as my favourite Michelin Ultralights, and don't worry if they are not supposed to fit your width of tyre, they will expand and work just fine:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=20485