First bike in 10~ years - Hybrid?

Andr3w

Andr3w

Andr3w

Soldato
Joined
6 Oct 2004
Posts
20,260
Location
England
Evening folks!

Moved down south due to work and i'm lucky enough to be living about 4ish miles away from work.

With the weather usually quite nice down here I would like to cycle to work.

I'm really not a fan of drop handlebars and I would like a bike that I could take out on the weekends and explore some coast paths/bike to the shop/bike to a beach etc!

Would you agree this would suit a hybrid bike?

I was thinking of setting a limit of around £450ish including bike/helmet/lock.

I'm going to go to a local cycle shop to have a chat with them and to get fitted since I have no idea what actual size bike to buy, I'd just like to go in there with a little bit of knowledge beforehand.
 
I've got a Scott Metrix (sports hybrid) and I think that sort of bike would suit you.

Really comfy, reasonably efficient and wont fall apart on track and trails. I am now getting a MTB as well though as I want to get more adventurous.
 
grudas said:
Why are you not a fan of drop bars? How much experience have you got with proper road bikes?
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Limited if I'm honest. I had a go on my dads (just up and down a long street a few times) bike a few months ago and I just felt like my face was going to plough into the road. Road bikes wouldn't be very good for weekend adventures either I don't think. Thirdly, I dont like the idea of having to have 'clip' shoes, unless you can get normal pedals?
 
Andr3w said:
Oh really? How come?
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I don't think they're very cool because they're a compromise.

I have a road bike too with really skinny tyres. Really efficient and if I was going to do 50 miles I'd take that but it's a much more relaxing experience on the hybrid and the tyres will cope with trails. People seem to like CX bikes here, but I'd rather not have drop handle bars on that sort of bike.

Don't worry about pedals. I have shoes that clip onto the pedals but when I need to I just swap for regular pedals with toe clips so I can wear trainers. It's easy.
 
Too slow Von - post above yours :p

Agreed on the hardtail MTB if you're going to use the bike to do what you're talking about. A hybrid is essentially the same thing only worse at off road as it will have skinnier tyres.
 
FrenchTart said:
Too slow Von - post above yours :p

Agreed on the hardtail MTB if you're going to use the bike to do what you're talking about. A hybrid is essentially the same thing only worse at off road as it will have skinnier tyres.
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LOL.

I agree, the hybrid copes with most things but being from South Wales the sand is a killer with skinny tyres!!!!!

It's one of those things, you'll have to decide yourself after looking at them.
 
I've got a road bike, a Cyclocross, a Singlespeed road bike, etc. For short journeys and pootling about with the kids on the Thames Path (muddy trail) then I like to use my singlespeed hybrid.

It's a road bike base one rather than hard tail MTB (or at least the current designs as the frame is late 90s) so it's quite long and I don't feel cramped, the 40mm tyres will compe with most terrain most folks would ride on and the simplicity of single speed makes it easy to look after.

If I were replacing it I would get a Vitus Vee 29. Cheap, nails and easy to look after.

That said, I don't know if it's got guard mounts and if you are commuting 4 miles I assume you are going it in work clothes. Guards are a must to avoid the brown stain of shame.
 
Yep, get a real bike.

There's a few good places around here, go see either Unit Cycles or Alex at Trail Munki (they only do MTBs, but still very good). There's some MTB trails around here, with the coastal paths technically being off limits but nobody really minds. I'd imagine they get very busy in the summer though and a lot of them being pretty technical.

Theres a few good mtb clubs in the area if you decide to go down that route though.

And yep they are, I hate riding mine on the road. If you want to ride on the road, buy a road bike. Also that hill on the way into work, nope no thanks! Also I seem to miss out on all this good weather everybody reports around here :(
 
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Andr3w said:
Arnt mountain bikes a pain in the bum for commuting? I always though their tyres were a nightmare on the road?
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hence the reason for road bikes ;) with hybrid you don't get the best of both worlds.. say, now you got into cycling... you'll need a new bike? I can't imagine you doing 50-60 miles on a hybrid :) drop bars are easy too because you can pretty much have ANY hand position you want? the only time I'm in the drops is when going flat out down a hill or when fighting crazy headwinds.
 
Begbie said:
Yep, get a real bike.

There's a few good places around here, go see either Unit Cycles or Alex at Trail Munki (they only do MTBs, but still very good). There's some MTB trails around here, with the coastal paths technically being off limits but nobody really minds. I'd imagine they get very busy in the summer though and a lot of them being pretty technical.

Theres a few good mtb clubs in the area if you decide to go down that route though.

And yep they are, I hate riding mine on the road. If you want to ride on the road, buy a road bike. Also that hill on the way into work, nope no thanks! Also I seem to miss out on all this good weather everybody reports around here :(
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Are you down here? I'll pop into unit cycles are some point this week. Didn't realise a lot of the coastal paths were off limits to bikes!!

I assume its easy enough to get a road bike with normal pedals, not clippy ones?
 
Andr3w said:
Are you down here? I'll pop into unit cycles are some point this week. Didn't realise a lot of the coastal paths were off limits to bikes!!

I assume its easy enough to get a road bike with normal pedals, not clippy ones?
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Yep, live here but don't work here.

Unit cycles are very good, serviced my forks the other week, really friendly. Yep, but I'd clip in on a roadie. You'll get used to it very quickly anyway and it's just more efficient. Avoid the bike shop in Newquay it's insanely overpriced IMO and just doesn't have that local bike shop feel.

I say there off limits, I've used them plenty of times and never been collared about it. But probably best to edge on the side of caution. The gym have a few mountain bikes too, could probably borrow one to see how you get on?

Personally if it's that commute I'd get a roadie though.
 
It's a 4 mile commute. You could do it on a kid's tricycle. The real question to ask is how much you are really going to commute, and how much you are really going to want to go off-road. If you're saying you want to commute, but in reality you'll never bother, then go all out mountain bike. If you'll do both, then look at a hard tail or maybe maybe MAYBE a cyclocross but bear in mind that unless you're pretty hardcore that's not going to be as easy to use as a mtb on the rough stuff. If you're serious about commuting and you want to do long road rides as well - which your OP suggests you don't - then buy a road bike.

Seriously, if you can have one bike as a tool for commuting, and as a mtb toy for the weekends, then I don't see that a road bike or even a CX bike makes a lot of sense.

As usual with these sorts of questions the obvious solution is the best - you need two bikes :D
 
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