Hybrid Bikes

jacton

I posted on the Road forum about the purchase of a Hybrid bike but having been out on a Hybrid Bike today for a 20km ride i realise that a Hybrid road bike will not be the right machine for me but a Hybrid Mountain bike would fit the bill I have looked at the Claud Butler Explorer 200 Hybrid which is at the top end of my budget of 500 euros, sorry I live in Spain, but am still confused as to when does a hybrid bike end and a full MTB start?

I dont need the full MTB as the bike will be on irrigation roads and shall and sand or loose chippings and some roads hence the Hybrid bike option, but I have quickly realised that Hybrids fall into two categories Road Hybrids and MTB Hybrids.
I was out today on a year old Drag which didnt seem to be a full MTB but am really not sure.

Going to look at some more bikes tomorrow, but a lot of the shops over here stock bikes I've never heard of so any suggestion would really be welcome.

Thanks all

jacton

Thanks for that suggestion Funnily enough I was in Decathlon yesterday but only looked at Hybrid as I at the time didnt think i wanted a full MTB, mind you both models I was interested in was not in stock and neither were available anywhere in Spain so was a bit frustrated with Decathlon. I did actually look at your suggested bike in passing to compare it to the Hybrids and yes it is very MTB in comparrison.
Oh this gets so confussing honestly

fenix

You don't need to overthink things. How far are you planning on riding ?

A road bike with wider tyres or a MTB with narrowish tyres or a hybrid would do you. If you have one over the other - there's not that much difference.

jacton

Today I cycled 20kms but I suppose I will be looking to ride 30 to 50 kms at a time
I was out today on the DRAG Grand Canyon and liked the feel of the bike but cannot find any place over here in Spain that stocks it.
I have found a place on the web that can deliver it to me but wanted to make sure i ordered the correct size first and would really prefer to test ride it before purhase. I have been looking at the Hybrids but they all seem to merge into each other without a clear guidance as to what constitutes what

apreading

You dont say what it was about the hybrid road bike that wasnt for you? Was the position uncomfortable? Was it too harsh over the bumps? What was it you didnt like?

I have to say, if I was thinking of riding 30-50km then I wouldnt choose to do it on a mountain bike unless the terrain really demanded it - it will be hard work riding that far and much easier if you had something lighter.

But leaving aside type of bike, the MOST important thing, more important than weight or the shape of the bars or whether it has suspension, is whether the bike fits you. If it doesnt then everything will be hard work and if it does then the different types of bike will not be so different in many ways.

Will you have lots of steep hills on your riding? If so then you need to make sure the gearing is right.
Will you have poor road surfaces on your riding? If so then any road bike needs big tyres - minimum of 28mm, and make sure not to pump them too hard.
Will you actually go off road? If not then dont get suspension - if you buy a bike at this price bracket then any suspension will be heavy and probably not that effective.
Do you want a more upright position? Look at how high the bars are mounted in particular - a road based bike often has them quite low but you can raise them by moving spacers on the stem or getting a stem at a different angle or sometimes flipping the stem you have upside down. Some road based hybrids have a more upright position already for example the Specialized Sirrus.

I think we need to know more about what riding you intend to do, and what you didnt like about the bike you tried - that way we can maybe suggest something YOU might like, based on your needs and preferences, rather than what we would choose ourselves.

jacton

Sorry Maybe I mislead you a little bit by my confusion in that some Hybrid bikes are almost road only bikes and some are almost MTB's and finding the correct Hybrid is my problem.
The way these bikes are grouped is misleading when a Hybrid bike can have 28 or 38 on the wheels.
I intend to ride on mainly off road irrigation roads that are tarmacked but can also be very poor quality and in some cases just shale or sand or just loose chippings.However to get to these traffic free areas you have to go on roads.
The narrower the tyres I dont think would be up to the type of surfaces i will be riding on here in Spain But as there is no clear measure of what is a hybrid and what is an MTB or Road bike hence my confusion
The other issue is over here you go into a shop ask for a hybrid and they clearly are showing you an MTB and no matter what you say they insist its a hybrid bike.
I rode a Drag Grand Canyon today and it was very comfortable for the type of terrain i was cycling on but again the bike is not for sale over here. I dont really want to purchase off the internet unless i can try the bike first.
I really didnt think this would be such a maze to traverse in order to get a bike.
Is there no clear uniform definition that manufacturers all stick to in order to show clearly what bike is what?
Urban, City, Hybrid, Mountain, Road, Racer yet every manufacturer seems to interpret their bikes diffeently to each other. I'm sure this doesnt happen with motor cars.
So to reiterate I am looking for a Hybrid but the corect one within the scope of what a Hybrid really is.
Sorry but the more i research the more confused I'm getting
But thanks for you input its really appreciated

apreading

I think you are focussing too much on labels. There is no clear definition of what a hybrid is because the term is a woolie one in itself - it just means a mixture of two or more types of something.

There is no clear definition of what is a road bike - you get tourers, sportive bikes, aero bikes, triathlon bikes and now gravel and adventure bikes.
There is no clear definition of what a mountain bike is - 26 inch, 29 inch, now 27.5 inch, full suspension, hardtail, fully rigid, downhill, enduro etc etc.

Just the same as there is no definition of what a sports car is, or a family car - they mean different things to different people and there is a huge range under each label.

You need to stop thinking about the label and focus on what you want the bike to be/have physically.

I am guessing from what I read that you want:

29 inch / 700c wheels (standard on most road bikes but also on many hybrids and some cross country mountain bikes)
Rigid forks / no suspension (at your price any suspension wont be worth having and will be counter productive on the road)
Fairly upright position (I am just guessing here - you havent indicated in either way with this)
Room for large tyres - 32/35mm at least.
Flat bars (again guessing - to be honest, the geometry of the bike and size/fit of it is more important than the shape of the bars)
Fairly light if you want to cover 50km rides without having to train hard.
Easy gearing on the cassette to allow for a novice rider to go up hills without too much difficulty.

You will find bikes in every category that has this - from road bike with drop bars to hybrid and all the way to mountain bike. There will be more that fit this category under road bikes or hybrids but you will find some dont allow tyres as wide as you want. There will be some within the MTB category that fit this, but they will be heavier than those under the road bike or hybrid categories.

There will be something out there for you, its just a case of finding it but I have no idea what will be available to try near you - probably the only way to find out is to take your list of requirements to the shops around you and ask. But dont ask about bikes by label - explain what you want based on your needs and the individual parts you want to find - then see if they can recommend a bike to match.

jacton

Thank you apreading you got what I want spot on Even down to the 29ins wheels my prefered option and Flat bars and upright position. The problem over here is the language barrier and finding a real bike shop as opposed to just trying to sell you a bike. I had the same issues when I was into my road running days and never went to a high street sports shop as they would sell you any old crap footwear whether it was right for what you wanted or not and i find the same issues over here.
I now have a list of requirement in both Spanish and English and am taking them to the shops local to me to see what is around but i suspect i might have to venture to a big city like Alicante to find my bike
Thank you for your help it really is a great help to me

02gf74

apreading wrote:

I have to say, if I was thinking of riding 30-50km then I wouldnt choose to do it on a mountain bike unless the terrain really demanded it - it will be hard work riding that far and much easier if you had something lighter.

.

Money supposedly cannot buy love but it can buy lightness, oh and 18 years of advancement in technology.

For example my latest 29 carbon hardtail weighs 8.7kg which is less than my 2000 biachi road bike, the frame of which cost £1000 back then.

tangled_metal

Bet that mtb didn't cost up to £500 though! Budget limits choice and at that budget mtb bikes are usually heavy. However my partner's Ram mtb is surprisingly heavy for a bike that cost b the equivalent money as v this option has to spend. That's another Bulgarian bike brand and they do seem nice bikes but not what the op wants.

Have you thought of a gravel bike? They vary a lot but most will cost more. I think some makes do a cx / gravel bike for close to £500 if your budget can expand a bit. The reason I suggest them is because they're a fast enough bike on the road but with suitable tyres they're also perfect for gravel and your terrain. Tyres up to 50mm have been seen on some models but typically up to 40mm or 37mm is more common.

I can tell you from experience that a 37mm high volume tyre on one of these bikes is comfortable over a wide range of terrains. I've come a cropper on gravel but I was on marathon plus tyres at the time. If I'd been on my original tyres (nobbly edges with a grooved centre) I'd possibly been alright.

I can't suggest models of gravel bike for you since I don't know what is available in Spain. Also I'm not really up on what's available at your budget since I've only been looking at a higher budget product.

Thick Mike

jacton wrote:

I rode a Drag Grand Canyon today and it was very comfortable for the type of terrain i was cycling on but again the bike is not for sale over here. I dont really want to purchase off the internet unless i can try the bike first.

If you rode the Drag Grand Canyon and you liked it, then you HAVE tried the bike. Can you not order one off the Internet in the same size as the one you tried?

jacton

Just got back from Test ride on the DS1 and it felt comfortable and smooth, didnt really get onto hard trail stuff but the loose shingle wasnt a problem and on the roads could get the bike up to decent speeds, it didnt feel heavy but might be a better option and smoother with 29inch wheels and wider tyres but not sure if that would work.
But overall it felt comfortable and as good as the Drag.
Plus point they offered me a good discount compared to the Trek main shop. Which meant i could buy the extras I wanted and still stay under budget
Thanks everybody for you input been a great help.

02gf74

Tangled Metal wrote:

Bet that mtb didn't cost up to £500 though! Budget limits choice and at that budget mtb bikes are usually heavy..

Yes, you are right, I missed the 500 euros budget.