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Thinking about a hybrid… sorry!

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  • June 24, 2014 at 1:24 pm #21760
    parksey

    I’m thinking about getting myself a hybrid bike… *runs and hides*

    I love riding the road bike, but it’s not exactly an all-weather, all-purpose machine…

    I have admittedly been using it for commuting, but outings on wet or slippery roads are always a slightly nervous affair, so I’m looking for a bike which gives me a bit more confidence in those situations, as well as something which I don’t need to wear cleats just to pop down the shops on.

    I suspect I’m actually not alone on here in wanting (or at least having a need for) such a bike, so who’s brave enough to admit they own one and offer up anything in the way of recommendations?!

    It’s all a bit of a minefield though… There’s bikes classed as “hybrids” which basically have road bike gearing and tyres but flat bars, but then there’s also “hybrids” that are basically what I would’ve once known as hardtail mountain bikes.

    I’m just after something reasonably light and nimble. Suspension forks I would happily take or leave, but discs and wider tyres would be desirable, as much so it can handle the odd foray around the trails of the local country park. I’m a bit lost on the Shimano off-road groupset hierachy too!

    It will likely be another cycle-to-work purchase, but I’d really like to keep it on the lower £500 limit if at all possible. Main thinking is to placate the wife, but also so the savings aren’t completely eroded if it doesn’t get the use and I decide to get rid after a year.

    The Cannondale Bad Boy range has caught my eye, but even the cheapest one exceeds my desired budget unless I can get a late season sale deal in a few months’ time. There’s otherwise the ubiquitous offerings from the likes of Trek, Giant and Specialized, all of which appear to offer value at/below the £500 mark.

    Anything else I should be considering though?

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  • July 20, 2014 at 1:37 pm #800955
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    Argos74

    I picked up a one of the EBC
    I picked up a one of the EBC Revolution disc hybrids earlier in the year. Only reservation was the aluminium forks, addressed with some more friendly bar ends. Bought a cross bike recently, which I’ll be using for offroad and on road jaunts, with tyres for both uses. But sticking with the hybrid for commuting and utility/social rides.

    Hoy, Boardman and Cube hybrid bikes looked nice, if outside my price range at the time for that sort of usage. Also considered Scott Scale 960 MTB, Boardman MTB and waiting until November when Btwin’s carbon MTB hits the shops. In terms of heresy and blasphemy, don’t worry. It’s got wheels and pedals. It’s all good.

    July 20, 2014 at 8:02 am #800953
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    parksey

    That Avanti looks like an
    That Avanti looks like an interesting proposition, particularly for the price, might have a look at what they’ve got in the way of UK distributors.

    Whilst browsing round some local stores I have come across the Cube Hyde range, bikes that seem to be designed for urban use with discs and 42mm road tyres. There’s an Acera model for £550 but also a couple of hub-geared options above that.

    Definitely intrigued by the idea of hub gears though, but am concerned whether having “only” 8 gears with something like Alfine is enough? Not so much that they won’t go low or high enough, rather the gaps between them will be too big.

    Can anyone who rides a hub-geared bike offer any input?

    July 20, 2014 at 6:19 am #800951
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    davecochrane

    I’ve opted for an Avanti Inc
    I’ve opted for an Avanti Inc 2…a domestic NZ brand that I can get for a really decent price here ($1299 so about 625 quid). It’s got cable discs, 8 speed Alfine, and Gates belt drive…which for me was the final decider. I’ll be sticking some plastic mudguards on it with some lights and I fully expect it to be pretty much maintenance free for quite a long time. Keen to see what you go with. I’d def recommend the belt drive for muck avoidance.

    June 26, 2014 at 8:10 pm #800949
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    gmac101

    I have an On One Pompetamine
    I have an On One Pompetamine Alfine a steel frame with Flat Bars, horizontal dropouts and a Shimano Alfine 8 speed Hub. It’s a very different ride from my aluminium road bike and in many ways a better commuter. The frame and 35mm tires feel like a magic carpet after the road bike, but it’s a bit slower (2-3 mins over 25 minutes). The best bit though is the hub gears they’re great, you can choose the right gear to pull away with, starting off from an unexpected stop is not a problem they are easy to adjust (not that you have to adjust them often) and they are so much easier to keep clean and lubricated.
    I’ve found it copes well with “easy” family style off road trails so it’s pretty flexible
    Good luck with your search let us know how you get on

    June 26, 2014 at 6:31 pm #800947
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    Mombee

    I ran a Cannondale Adventurer
    I ran a Cannondale Adventurer (flat-barred 700c wheeled hybrid) for a while when the kids were younger and I needed a more family-friendly bike (not a road or dirt racer)… and rapidly came to the conclusion that, if for any reason you could only have one bike, this was the ideal choice.
    Over the years it served as my infrequent commuter, shopper, load-hauler, child-carrier, tow-path warrior, all-round good beastie… it was fast-enough to pass muster in a time trial and sturdy enough to cover me when less-equipped mates needed to borrow a bike if we ventured around the local trails. It could turn it’s hand to pretty much anything.
    Sadly it’s gone to a new home, where hopefully it’s getting similar use from a new family… saying that, I’ve just put my grandad’s 1949 Raleigh back on the road as my ‘town’ bike, which isn’t really that far removed from a hybrid… maybe they knew more back in the day than we’d like to admit.

    June 26, 2014 at 3:38 pm #800945
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    NeilG83

    Nothing wrong with hybrids.
    Nothing wrong with hybrids. I’ve owned a Mongoose Crossway for years. A very cheap bike, but has been excellent both on the road and for light offroad riding. I even did a 1,500 mile fully loaded tour across France on it last autumn. Certainly not the best bike you can buy, but the wheels and Continental tyres are bombproof.

    I have been looking for a replacement recently though. The advice from my LBS was that the Giant Escape and Trek 7.1 FX are both pretty good. I think the disc brake models are more than £500 though. Trek have already brought out their 2015 range so many of the 2014 models are already on sale.

    I was also warned against the Dawes Discovery range. Even though the shop stocked other Dawes bikes they don’t sell the Discovery due to poor quality.

    June 26, 2014 at 2:20 pm #800943
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    jacknorell

    parksey wrote:Anyway, I think

    parksey wrote:
    Anyway, I think I’ve got my head round the Shimano off-road groupset hierarchy… You generally won’t get better than Alivio at this price (and even then it’s usually just the rear derailleur), with Acera being the more abundant choice. Would I be right in thinking (in quality terms) that Alivio is broadly like Tiagra on the road side, with Acera being more like Sora?

    *New* Alivio, pretty good. Acera, yeah, not so much…! As someone else mentioned, SLX is nicer, but for commuting the trade-off on price isn’t worthwhile.

    Alivio is probably more like Sora, with Acera being Shimano’s non-named road stuff…

    June 26, 2014 at 2:14 pm #800941
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    parksey

    The Trek FX 7.2 Disc is
    The Trek FX 7.2 Disc is actually on my rapidly-growing shortlist of bikes to have a look at, an apparent bargain from the C2W perspective at £475. Still being drawn towards the Cannondale though…

    Just a minefield really as basically everyone seems to offer two types of hybrid in their range, either a rigid fork with a slightly better gearset and narrower tyre, or a suspension fork generally with a lesser gearset but wider tyre. (Hydraulic) disc brakes seem to be more prevalent on the latter type of bike too, at least around the 500 quid mark.

    Anyway, I think I’ve got my head round the Shimano off-road groupset hierarchy… You generally won’t get better than Alivio at this price (and even then it’s usually just the rear derailleur), with Acera being the more abundant choice. Would I be right in thinking (in quality terms) that Alivio is broadly like Tiagra on the road side, with Acera being more like Sora?

    June 26, 2014 at 9:02 am #800939
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    PJ McNally

    I commute on a Trek 7.2 fx.
    I commute on a Trek 7.2 fx.

    This doesn’t make me any less of a “cyclist”, IMHO. I do enough 000’s of miles, in all weather, that parts like v-brake blocks and drivetrain have to be affordable to replace.

    I solved the hand positions issue, with a set of trekking bars. They’re great.

    If i was buying now, I might just consider disc brakes. But I had fairly specific requirements that surprisingly few hybrids met.

    (I wanted a steel fork drilled for front rack – usually only a feature on cheaper bikes – but also a threadless headset – usually only on pricier models, which tended to have alloy / carbon forks. Trek ticked all the boxes!).

    June 25, 2014 at 10:21 pm #800937
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    Jack Osbourne snr

    glynr36 wrote:Rich71 wrote:I

    glynr36 wrote:
    Rich71 wrote:
    I primarily ride road bikes but after a tumble on icy roads last winter im looking for a cross bike or hybrid for the winter too

    A cross bike won’t stop you binning the bike on ice!

    A cross bike with these babies fitted will though http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b6s142p1942 bloody brilliant they are!

    For commuting, go for it with the Hybrid. My beloved Boardman Team Hybrid has recently entered semi-retirement after about 10000 miles in all sorts of shitty weather and a hefty crash. It now awaits winter and with spiky tyres fitted is ready to grab and go at the first sign of ice.

    I replaced it with a CX for the more aerodynamic riding position as I spend a lot of time riding uphill into the wind on the way home from work. The CX is faster in both directions, but I must admit I miss the hydraulic brakes and the increased low speed stability of the hybrid.

    June 25, 2014 at 3:54 pm #800935
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    sergius

    I just use(d) my hardtail MTB
    I just use(d) my hardtail MTB for commuting, a £700 bike from Cube gets you quite a lot of bang for your buck (tis what I got on CTW scheme at least).

    You can take it offroad as that’s what it was built for, but lock out the front forks and switch the knoblies for a hybrid/road tyre and you are good to go for a commute.

    June 25, 2014 at 3:43 pm #800933
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    glynr36

    Rich71 wrote:I primarily ride

    Rich71 wrote:
    I primarily ride road bikes but after a tumble on icy roads last winter im looking for a cross bike or hybrid for the winter too

    A cross bike won’t stop you binning the bike on ice!

    June 25, 2014 at 3:25 pm #800931
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    Rich71

    I primarily ride road bikes
    I primarily ride road bikes but after a tumble on icy roads last winter im looking for a cross bike or hybrid for the winter too
    I used to knock about on a Dawes discovery 301 for a few years which i loved
    Ive got my eye on a Focus Mares AX cross bike or a Boardman hybrid who have a couple of really good urban models
    its just a case of deciding whether to go for flat bars over drops which i am used to but you can usually get alot more for your money with a decent hybrid

    June 25, 2014 at 12:08 pm #800929
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    gdmor10

    CX bikes are the fashion of
    CX bikes are the fashion of the minute so I guess the price point reflects that. As I said above I would like to get one especially as a winter road bike but my bad boy does great stuff so its hard to justify to her indoors, a few years ago I did Reading to Bath on it along the town path of the kennet and avon canal and it was perfect for that.

    June 25, 2014 at 11:08 am #800927
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    parksey

    Thanks for the input so
    Thanks for the input so far.

    The kind of reasons that have been suggested for having a bike like this is pretty much exactly why I’m after one. Don’t get me wrong, the road bike will still get used for fair(er) weather commuting, but a back-up would be handy for when it’s grim out, or if I do fancy stepping towards the dark side of off-road riding.

    Wasn’t aware of those Revolution bikes, assume they’re an in-house brand of EBC or something? Seem to offer good value though. Only immediate problem is that none of the shops are particularly local to me on the south coast, making it difficult to try one out before buying…

    There is of course the CX bike angle too. A colleague recently bought a Trek Crossrip, which seems a capable bike, and there’s definitely plenty of choice out there. Difficulty I’m having with CX bikes is that they just seem comparatively expensive when compared to a broadly-equivalent hybrid bike.

    Take Specialized as an example – the Crosstrail Sport Disc, being their slightly more off-road focussed hybrid, low-end Acera groupset but with hydraulic discs, all for £550. Now take the Tricross CX bike, low-end Claris groupset and cantilever brakes, but it’s £750. The Sport version of that, with mechanical discs and Sora, is £1000…

    Not singling out Specialized, the same appears to be true of the other big names, but I’m just not sure I can see what more you’re actually getting for your money, particularly when viewing them simply as “do it all” bikes?

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