Specialized Sirrus or whyte portobello

relwof

Last week I had a Scott sportster P55 hybrid. But it was stolen!

i found it to be heavy and sluggish with 700x38 tyres.

I need a replacement, so am looking at either Specialized Sirrus Elite Disc or Whyte portobello.

I cycle 98% of the year to work in all weather (apart from snow), on roads amd i will take my kids to forest of Dean in the summer on bridleways etc.

So... I need a fast road bike, which i can take off road. Id like hydraulic discs, and i need to be able to fit a child seat on the back. Ridgid forks i think.

Anyone compared both of these? can i take 700x28 on bridleways, toepaths etc?

help/// please \\\

pinkteapot

I got a hybrid and looked at the Specialised Vita (women's Sirrus) and the Whyte Malvern.

I found the fitting quite different - for me, the Whyte was much comfier than the Sirrus. This may be particular to the womens sizing though. Nonetheless, my first advice would be, ride them both! One may well be comfier for you than the other.

Aside from comfort, I decided the Specialised had tyres that were too smooth for me. I also do a bit of off-roading - stony but decent footpaths etc. The Whyte Malvern has nobblier tyres than the Vita/Sirrus/Portobello and has lock-out front suspension. The tyres and the suspension make off-road riding much more pleasant. For me, the Vita (Sirrus equivalent) was too far towards the 'road' end of the hybrid spectrum. The Whyte Malvern was much more the halfway-point I was looking for.

I've actually started using my front suspension for the journey to work. It's only four miles each way so I don't mind that I waste a bit of energy as it does make the ride more comfortable. I only lock it out on my long weekend road rides.

I'm on 700c x 35 and I zip along the roads at a fair lick (can comfortably do 18mph on the flat for a few miles, and am sure I'll be able to maintain that for longer as I get fitter).

I have to say I absolutely love my bike. I hadn't heard of Whyte before I saw mine in the shop, and it's my first decent bike so I don't have good grounds for comparison, but I just love it! The saddle and handlebar grips are amazing - I'm comfortable on four hour rides wearing no padding whatsoever! Plus Whyte are a British make.

relwof

thanks Pink Pot - im still stuck!

apreading

I tried both of these and the Boardman Hybrid 18 months ago.

The Sirrus is much more 'sit-up-and-beg' even after you use all the adjustments on the stem etc. Much more upright, relaxed, cruiser style position. The feel was more relaxed too, but also a bit dull. And the spec of the components was shockingly low compared to other bikes at the price (even after a hefty discount).

The Portobello was a fantastic, lively ride - completely the opposite to the Sirrus. Made you want to go faster and faster. It did have skinner tyres on though. The ride was alot more harsh though and helped me to decide that I wanted a bike with a carbon fork. At the time, the portobello also didnt have enough clearance around the stays to use wider tyres and a mudguard and was less practical.

The Boardman Hybrid Team was the perfect blend of the two for me. Slightly softer ride but still capturing the more racy feel of the Whyte.

The Portobello that I looked at the other day had much more tyre clearance, so some of the reasons why it wasnt the bike for me have now been sorted. I would certainly take a closer look at it if I were buying tomorrow as its a lovely bike but I suspect that I would still opt for a bike with a carbon fork. I would buy another Boardman without hesitation - it has been absolutely fantastic.

relwof

thank you apreading, I dont think the portobello would cope well on forest trails though.

Steve@Tern

What about looking at the Giant Seek - the 2 and 0 both have hydraulic discs, 32C tyres and rigid forks. Pricewise, they fall either side of your Elite Disc budget, but worth look.

apreading

relwof wrote:

thank you apreading, I dont think the portobello would cope well on forest trails though.

I reckon it would be OK - frame looks very similar to their CX bike now. Would obviously want bigger, knobblier tyres though.

Are you looking for something with Front suspension? Interested in what you think a bike needs to cope with your kind of forest trails?

relwof

I really havent a clue!

I want... a fast bike to commute. Scott I had was sluggish, and want to go to forest of dean bridleways on weekend with my son in a carrier on the back.

I been told in Worcester that the sirrus wouldnt cope.

Ive been told that the Giant Rapid, would cope with bridleways.

I dont like the look of Giant Seek - bit "bland".

Gone off the Whyte now too after seeing the Giant Rapid

please someone help!

apreading

You must have been told that by a Giant dealer... If the Sirrus and Portobello wouldnt cope then the rapid wouldnt have a chance... The rapid is even more 'road bike' than those, when I looked last year it wouldnt take wider tyres at all, didnt have disc brakes (not the end of the world, Sirrus doesnt either) and had a lighter and less durable frame...

Have you seen the Whyte in the flesh? I think it looks awesome.

First choice has to be whether or not you want front suspension? If not you will get a much lighter bike that is way better on road but you will NEED to be able to fit at least 32mm tyres in my opinion, certainly no less than 28 as the almost all of the bump absorption will come from the tyres. If you do want front suspension then the list is totally different to the one you have been looking at so far...

relwof

I dont realy want fromt sus. To keep it light on road.

But i may need sus to go down bridleays if I want my teeth at the end of the journey!

Is there a non-sus fast that will cope with lumps and bumps of bridleways

and yes it was Giant that said Rapid will cope!

apreading

relwof wrote:

Is there a non-sus fast that will cope with lumps and bumps of bridleways

There are loads - the Spesh Sirrus, Whyte Portobello, Boardman Hybrid to name but a few.

I would check how wide a tyre the Giant Rapid could take before considering that. The Sirrus can go up to 28 I think, but the Whyte and Boardman could do a 35 if you needed, which would make it much more comfy off road. I am not sure that the Giant can even do a 28.

cookeeemonster

apreading wrote:

relwof wrote:

Is there a non-sus fast that will cope with lumps and bumps of bridleways

There are loads - the Spesh Sirrus, Whyte Portobello, Boardman Hybrid to name but a few.

I would check how wide a tyre the Giant Rapid could take before considering that. The Sirrus can go up to 28 I think, but the Whyte and Boardman could do a 35 if you needed, which would make it much more comfy off road. I am not sure that the Giant can even do a 28.

my Sirrus came with 32 as standard, so can probably go higher?

I had a much more basic Sirrus than the one you're looking at (the sport) and i cant recommend it highly enough. Far more comfortable than my brothers boardman hybrid (we both agreed) and while not the fastest out there...its the rider not the bike that dictates speed

apreading

Ah - I couldnt remember if the Sirrus had that much clearance - I know there was something I was unsure about in terms of tyres/mudguard/pannier rack and clearances. I am sure the one I test rode had 28mm tyres...

Without a doubt, the Sirrus is a much more relaxed, cruiser style bike and as stock gives a softer ride (due to the tyres as well as the frame). Totally different type of bike to the Rapid/Boardman/Whyte which are more stretched out, lively, racy bikes. The Sirrus has quite alot of adjustment you can do, with a 4 position stem, but you cant shake the fact that the geometry is different and the whole feel is different. I found it a bit 'dead' and lacked feeling, but it was certainly a softer ride.

Whether or not you get a carbon fork makes alot of difference too. This and the tyres will have the most impact on the smoothness of the ride although the frame does play a part too.