road or keep hybrid for now

johnpercival80

hey guys after a bit of advice, started off with a 73 quid hybrid with 6 gears lasted 2 weeks, got my money back and bought a board man hybrid comp, absolutely love it I've not used my car for work in 5 months since i got it, cut 7 min off my 3 mile ride to work, signed up for the manchester to blackpool ride and was wondering whether i need to change to a road, the gears on the boardman could be better (on the hills) which is why i was thinking road but would have to be cheap at the min any ideas

thanks

monkimark

If you just want to change the gears (to lower easier gearing I assume?), that can be probably be done on the hybrid for very little money.

What do you want the road bike for? Just for Manchester - Blackpool?
How cheap is cheap?

From what you've written, I'd have thought the hybrid is probably fine. I'd probably stick with it and save a bit of cash so that if you decide to change to a road bike, you'll be able to get something that's a significant improvement over the hybrid.

johnpercival80

yeah sorry easier gearing, which is only now and then to be honest,

no not just for the manchester-backpool, I'm starting to do a lot more miles now and thought it may be better suited.

yeah good idea that thinking about it, I've been caught once already going for the cheaper option, never been on a road though not 100% on the riding position so would probably ooh into renting one for a weekend before i made a definate decision to be honest

Initialised

Assuming your Braodman is standard:

Front Mech SRAM X5 - 2 Speed
Rear Mech SRAM X5 - 9 Speed
Chainset FSA Velo Compact 50/34t
Cassette SRAM PG950 - 11-32t

To get easier gears:

If you have the long cage Rear MechSRAM X5 it can cope with a maximum of 36t on the rear so you could fit a 12-36t cassette like this: HG61 12-39 x9 and fit a longer chain.

Alternatively you may be able to change the front cranks to a more forgiving combination like 30-46: viewtopic.php?p=15795468 but sourcing the parts is going to be more complicated.

ForumNewbie

If your lowest gear is 34 at front and 32 at the back, that is lower than on most road bike, so it should be okay on even steep hills. It would be for me and I'm by no means a strong cyclist.

johnpercival80

hey guys thanks for reply, been having a look around and have decided to keep the board man and keep it as it is for another year, then this time next year when ill be doing a lot more miles, and a lot more money saved is go for a road bike, i will probably keep the board man for commuting and for training in the winter as i have all the mudguards and everything, and use the road for all my summer rides and training etc, looking at numbers ill be looking at sending around 1k max i think, but ill look closer to the time see whats about

thanks guys

Gazzareth

If you are looking at a 1k bike (and your work support it) then the cycle to work scheme can save you a fair amount and space your payments over the whole year. Just make sure you find out what happens at the end of the year for your employer...... (for example mine gives me the bike, but they can charge)...

G

markhewitt1978

Do you want a new bike? Can you afford a new bike? Do you ride mainly on the roads?

If you can answer yes to those things, then you *need* a new bike

For £1k at the moment the best buy is the Planet X carbon.

akc42

I decided to get into cycling after the Olympics, and bought a hybrid because I didn't know what I wanted it for. I started cycling in earnest about a year ago now and after a few months was loving it, was becoming much fitter and lost a lot of weight. But I was mainly going on the road.

As a present to myself for loosing the weight, last September I ordered a lightweight road bike, for delivery in October. At the time I had long debates with myself, and asked a question on this forum about gearing. My hybrid had a triple and with the hills around where I live I needed the granny ring on the lowest gear to get up them. In the end, I decided to risk it - say I needed to make my legs stronger and would walk up the hardest hills if I needed to - an bought the road bike with a standard compact 50-34 front ring, and 28 as the lowest rear. I had contemplated getting mountain bike gearing, but in the end stuck with the standard 105 set that came with the bike.

I am glad I did - my first ride out with the new bike went up the old hills in record time - and could get up them in the lowest gear. I didn't need to worry about the low gearing.

Other things I have learnt along the way. I could just about do 50 miles with the hybrid, but my backside was sore after despite what I thought was a really comfortable saddle. Last weekend I tried my first long run on the road bike. It has a hard, thin saddle. I did 67 miles, and my backside wasn't sore at all. Whats more its much easier on relatively flat roads to maintain a much faster speed that with the hybrid.

I had contemplated selling the hybrid when buying the road bike, but I am glad I kept it. Firstly, the expensive road bike needed special insurance - so much so that it really isn't covered when left unless chained up with a motor cycle style chain lock - far to heavy for normal carrying around. So for trips where I need to park the bike somewhere I take the hybrid. In fact for that I bought a fairly sturdy u shaped -with bar across the end lock that just clips to the frame. My road bike has double sided spd peddles - for the hybrid I have one sided spd clips, and other side is a normal flat peddle which I can use shoes with - so for a quick trip down to the shops or whatever then its the hybrid (also bought some velcro trouser straps to avoid the trouser getting caught in the chain). And lastly, but not least, when I do want to ride on a simple trail, the road bike really doesn't work and I can use the hybrid.

So in summary - I get a lot more of enjoyment from my road bike than I did with the hybrid - I go further and faster with it than I ever could with the hybrid. On the other hand I still need the hybrid for day to day cycling and for those time when I need to go off road.

markhewitt1978

Nice post. I have a similar story, except that I got a road bike when my hybrid was written off by a car. In retrospect I wish I'd gotten my hybrid fixed - it wasn't that badly damaged really, just needed a new wheel. Instead I sold it for parts to part fund my road bike purchase. So I'd like to still have a hybrid now buy buying another one is an extravagance!