decisions hybrid or hard trail bike

jockmoray

Use to do mountain biking in my younger years now im wanting back in but stuck on what to choose i like the odd jaunt in the forests now and again but yet i do more cycling in town to the likes of shops etc so was just wondering if anyone could help with a choice of bike il only have a wee budget around £500

The Rookie

Some hybrids are in effect rigid 29er MTB's with road orientated tyres, have a look at the Voodoo Marasa from Halfords, very good value and with some slightly more off road orientated tyres it's very competent.

jockmoray

Ye i fancied a couple of voodoos in my local halfords but havent really heard much about them on how they ride but il have a look into the voodoo

drlodge

Depends what kind of terrain you're likely to be doing. I did 60 miles on my CX bike along the canal tow path and it was quite harsh on my arms, that was with robust 32c touring tyres. Wider tyres with lower pressures would certainly help, so in that case a hardtail or hybrid with no suspension might be fine. If you're thinking of bumpier surfaces then some front suspension could be beneficial.

jockmoray

Itll usually be roads or cycle paths around here there pretty smooth but would like to go in the forests at times and forest trails here are quite medium ground not to hard but not to soft with a few tree roots growing on them

drlodge

jockmoray wrote:

Itll usually be roads or cycle paths around here there pretty smooth but would like to go in the forests at times and forest trails here are quite medium ground not to hard but not to soft with a few tree roots growing on them

In that case I think a "non suspension" bike would be fine, but do suggest reasonably wide tyres.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

If you fancy something a bit different, how about a fatbike?

The Voodoo Wazoo is great fun, no longer avaialble on Halfords own website, but they have three 18" models left on Ebay, go via Topcashback for 1.1% and Halfords currently have a 10% sale, so long term bike will cost ~£445

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VooDoo-Wazoo- ... 1373335552

All I've changed so far is stem (to rise front end and help my weak lower back); tubes (Sv13J tubes are ~320g each lighter than stock); tyres (Jumbo Jim 4.0s are great as all-round on/off-roaders and snakeskin version is ~350g lighter per tyre).

Alternatively, the Calibre Dune is good value, with better upgrade paths due to a tapered headtube and 150mm front hubs. Although it has lost the Jumbo Jim lightskin 4.0s since the large frame came out a month or so back, the Kenda Juggernaut Pros are very light for fat tyres and rated almost as good as JJs.
7.7% for going through Topcashback, making it ~£544 (sadly just missed a 15% site code that ran on Go Outdoors site over the bank hol).
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/calibre-dun ... ke-p347149

jockmoray

Quite liked the fatbike i seen on halfords site it was black and white cant remember the name fancied it because of the width of the tyres the frame looks a bit low in pics maybe wrong when seen though does anyone have one and how does it do on the road

N0bodyOfTheGoat

The Coyote fatbikes are very much in the BSO (bike shaped object) camp, very heavy and very poor spec for the cash.

jockmoray

Went to my local halfords and might be putting money on a 13 incline alpha tyres look a bit chunky but not sure how it would be on roads

kajjal

Just think about where you ride most, hybrids can run quite big knobbly tyres in the same way as you can run slicks on a mountain bike. My old mountain bike has low tred xc style tyres which work fine on forestry roads etc. and are OK on the road. Slick tyres work well on the road but are less stable on anything but dry , flat forestry trails.

The Rookie

Did you have a look at a Marasa?
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/h ... ybrid-bike
Put some CX Smart Sam tyres on it and it would fit your bill perfectly I think.

jockmoray

Looks like il be going for a voodoo hoodoo like the frame and its about right size for me dunno what it would be like on cycle paths

The Rookie

Just a bit draggy with the knobbly tyres, the Hoodoo is a decent entry level hardtail mountain bike.

lfcboro

Few of my mates have hybrids and get punctures galore, I would stick to mtb and if u need buy some slicks.

cooldad

Why does the type of bike cause puntures?

Seriously.

StinkinHippy

jockmoray wrote:

Looks like il be going for a voodoo hoodoo like the frame and its about right size for me dunno what it would be like on cycle paths

Decent bikes. Can always fit skinnier tyres to reduce on road drag if you find it to be a problem.

jockmoray

StinkinHippy wrote:

jockmoray wrote:

Looks like il be going for a voodoo hoodoo like the frame and its about right size for me dunno what it would be like on cycle paths

Decent bikes. Can always fit skinnier tyres to reduce on road drag if you find it to be a problem.

Ye id probably change the tyres if there was a problem with them any idea on a decent tyre for both road and forest

StinkinHippy

Something along the lines of a Schwalbe smart Sam would do both.

Fairly low rolling resistance for the Tarmac, but you have the good sized knobbles for the Forrest trails to provide grip on the footy sections.

May have to make more of a compromise if your local woods get particularly muddy in winter. But my mate runs smart sams and he loves them.

There may be others with more in depth knowledge that can advise you further.

The Rookie

It depends on the Forest surface, gravel trails you can do on almost anything - slicks would do it or a treaded touring tyre like a Schwalbe Marathon would feel more secure, the Smart Sam is a proper off road tyre which is slightly compromised to give a near continuous centre tread for on road/hard pack work, there is also the Kenda Small Block8 which is great for anything until its soft mud (copes fine with a slimey surface on hard mud).