Road or Hybrid

junkie_ball
junkie_ball Posts: 3
edited October 2013 in Road buying advice
Hi all,

This is my first post here (1 of many I hope). I have currently been using my specialized hardrock bike fitted with road tyres to do 30+ mile rides. As you can imagine not an ideal bike for this mileage and am looking to increasing this to 50-60 mile rides. I am looking at a budget of about £1000 to purchase a new bike more suited to my needs.

I mainly cycle road, tow paths and cycle paths. Some of these paths tend to be gravelly and pot holed. I'm not sure if a hydrid bike would be better than a road bike because of the terrain. I'd like the bike to be as fast as possible whilst maintaining the balance between speed and comfort. Any advice / suggestion greatly received as I have only ever had down hill / mountain bikes and am a complete novice when it comes to these types of bike. Thanking you in advance.

Comments

  • Camcycle1974
    Camcycle1974 Posts: 1,356
    How about a cyclocross bike?
  • primalcarl
    primalcarl Posts: 579
    I went from proper mountain bikes to hybrids as was too scared to commit to the road. The hybrid didn't stay for long and have had road bikes ever since! Much more efficient and comfortable over longer distances. Maybe a cx bike would work for you with towpath use
    www.csimages.info
  • junkie_ball
    junkie_ball Posts: 3
    Thanks for the replies. Tow paths are very little part of my riding so think a cx bike is not for me. I was thinking of the hybrid as similar to primalcarl am worried about committing to a road bike.
  • Camcycle1974
    Camcycle1974 Posts: 1,356
    junkie_ball wrote:
    Thanks for the replies. Tow paths are very little part of my riding so think a cx bike is not for me. I was thinking of the hybrid as similar to primalcarl am worried about committing to a road bike.

    What are you worried about exactly? Obviously you won't want a full-on race bike but something with a fairly tall head tube and shortish head tube for its size should be nothing to fear. Only way to find out is by test riding a few. Why does the idea of a CX bike not appeal, sort of a half way house between an MTB and a road bike?
  • Barteos
    Barteos Posts: 657
    CX bike.

    More versatile than a road bike and faster than a hybrid.
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    Road bike 100%. Gravel? Road bike can do that as long as the gravel isn't too big/deep, pot holes? Ride around them.

    Pointless compromising your entire ride for the sake of the 2% of the riding you'll be doing off road. For distances you're talking about 50-60 miles a hybrid won't do, you need a road bike.
  • ilovegrace
    ilovegrace Posts: 677
    I comute 30 mile round trip ,weekend rides of 50 ish on road 95% of the time.
    Started with a MBike then Hybrid now CX.
    I own Giant Hybrid , Giant CX and a carbon Lappiere road bike.
    If I had to pick only one of them , it would be my CX bike all day long.
    If you go down the CX bike route ,go for the allrounder rather than a Cyclo Cross secific bike.
    Saw this http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bik ... 991/66577/ at m LBS just the job for you IMO.
    Good luck and enjoy.
    regsrds
    ILG

Categories