Which rigid hybrid, give me a clue please.

steve_sordy

An acquaintance has asked me for advice on what bike he should buy. He is a total newbie. He does not want a road racer, no curly bars, not an mtb. He just wants to ride around the village, tow paths and maybe the odd green lane now and again. He is prepared to spend between £500 and £1000.

My view is that he should go for a carbon fibre rigid fork, hydraulic dis brakes and a 1x11. After that I'm down to prowling through the web looking for potentials. Can you short circuit the process for me please with a few ideas?
The closest I've found so far is the Pinnacle Neon 5 Hybrid for £800, from Evans.
https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-neon-5-2020-hybrid-bike-EV339959

Thoughts?

gomezz

While I am not a fan of Halfords, the Carrera range and Boardman too seem very good for what your mate seems to want, and will not break the bank for occasional use.

The Rookie

The Planet-X London Road flat bar is well worth a look, will take tyres up to circa 2", comfy yet efficient frame, I really like mine, coming up on 4,000 miles now.

JBA

Giant Toughroad SLR1?
Rigid but with 50mm tyres for a bit of squish, comes with front and rear pannier racks should he want to fit them, equipped with mudguard mounts, carbon fork, Deore gears and hydraulic brakes.
2019 model is currently on sale if he can find one in his size.

Longshot

The Rookie said:

The Planet-X London Road flat bar is well worth a look, will take tyres up to circa 2", comfy yet efficient frame, I really like mine, coming up on 4,000 miles now.

Agreed. I have a PXLR road bike but it's very good value for money.

steve_sordy

Thanks you all that replied. I have passed on my three options for him to consider. I really like the Planet-X bike. But I can't do all the work. He is going to have to get his act together and do some homework.
Thanks again!

The Rookie

longshot said:

The Rookie said:

The Planet-X London Road flat bar is well worth a look, will take tyres up to circa 2", comfy yet efficient frame, I really like mine, coming up on 4,000 miles now.

Agreed. I have a PXLR road bike but it's very good value for money.

I built mine up from a frameset from one of PX's quick sales (half price at £130), mixing parts from my previous commuter and relevant new ones, its down at just sub 9kg (before rack and guards) without spending silly money and is a joy to ride.

Steve,
Because the LR is primarily a road frame you need to be careful on sizing selection as the frame is a little shorter in the TT than you would normally get on the same nominal sized hybrid, I went up a size and used a setback seatpost instead of inline to get the same saddle to bars length as I'd had on my previous bike but well worth it.

steve_sordy

@The Rookie: Thanks for the warning. The guy is such a newbie that I doubt I could even explain that to him without being there. He is an acquaintance that I see only twice a year and he lives nowhere near me. I have urged him to take a test ride if at all possible, but if he doesn't know what he's looking for...........
I almost wish I hadn't got involved.

gomezz

I almost wish I hadn't got involved.
I know what you mean, set off with good intent and then they either recon they know more than you ( so why ask for help ) or you get the blame when they get it wrong.
Send him to Halfords let them sort it.

mattyfez

Voodoo marasa from Halfords is a good value hybrid.
Think it's 3x9 rather than 1x11 though.

1x11 works well for mountain biking but might spin out on the flat unless the front single ring is quite big.

Maybe a 2x10 or 11 would be more versatile.

The Rookie

steve_sordy said:

I almost wish I hadn't got involved.

You know how the paved the road to hell!

PX bikes are only available via the Sheffield store unfortunately, of course he can see what other bikes fit and measure seatpost mounting to bar clamp and then crunch the numbers (stem length included) for the LR (Stem length plus ETT plus seatpost offset, small differences in seatpost angle aren't worth bothering with).