What's most important in a hybrid?

austinbyrne21

Hi all,

Looking to get a new hybrid as an "around the town" bike. I already have an entry level road-bike, that I researched the a**e off before purchasing.

Just wondering really... What should I be looking out for in relation to a decent entry level hybrid? I presume groupset is up towards the top of the list. What way does the gearing go? Like with Shimano road-bike gearing it goes from Sora to Tiagra and so on up the scale. What's the bottom to the high-end?

Any other tips or advice on what I should be looking out for? I checked out the Bianchi_Camaleonte range and the Specialized_Sirrus range. Any opinions?

Thanks in advance.

kenmc

Personally, given you already have an entry level road bike, I'd be more inclined to get a better road bike and use the one you have as your hack.

petethedrummer

Hub gears for low maintenance?
Something that looks crappy so noone will steal it?

christeb

I'm a massive fan of disc brakes on a hybrid. They saved my skin numerous times on the quays and other places, especially in the wet. Although the fact I'm a not the most sedate commuter, combined with riding on Armadillos might have something to do with this.

triggermortis

I'd recommend a Cannondale badboy or go with kenmc's advice

Tonyandthewhale

Keep it simple stupid. If it's just around town and commuting you want something cheap so you won't be crippled if it's stolen and you have to replace it and so you can keep it running for minimim money (that's why I'd say 8 speed beats 9 or 10 speed groupset when it comes to hybrids, hub gears are good too). A cheap bike also means it's less likely to be stolen in the first place.

Of course when I say cheap I don't mean bargain basement, you want a bike that's solidly built and reliable. You don't need to worry about high performance and the associated cost. As regards groupsets hybrids tend to be a hybrid of road and mountain bike so the hierarchy is 2300, sora, tiagra etc on the road stuff and tourney, acera, altus, alvio, deore etc on the montain bike stuff.

Basically stay away from suspension, flashy brand-names, excessive carbon fibre and make sure you have room for a rack and mudguards. Using your current road bike as a hack and upgrading to a better race bike may also be vialbe option, as kenmc pointed out. Although that's probably going to be more expensive.

Lumen

christeb wrote: »

I'm a massive fan of disc brakes on a hybrid...riding on Armadillos might have something to do with this.

I don't want to jinx you, but...brakes only slow the wheel down, it's the tyres that slow the bike down.

The extra power of disc brakes ought to completely overwhelm the limp grip of your Armadillos and send you skating into the back of a bus.

HivemindXX

I don't think you particularly need to worry about groupset and the likes, basically you get quality based on how much you spend. Like other people have said since it's a second bike just for doing things you don't want to use your road bike for then cheap is better.

The principal things you want different on your hybrid, since it's for commuting, are lights (if you want to spend money get a hub dynamo), mudguards (proper full length ones), bullet proof tyres (I like Schwalbe Marathon Plus) and maybe a rack so you can carry a bunch of stuff when you need to.

austinbyrne21

Thanks for all the advice lads, much appreciated. As always!

I wouldn't really get the use of a better road-bike as what I currently have is plenty bike for the amount I do. So I was just gonna keep that for when I'm doing longer training/fitness spins.

Are the 2 ranges I linked to over-kill then in your opinins? I've always been of the thinking that you get what you pay for so don't wanna skimp too much. Also, don't wanna be fleeced either. Probably somewhere in between €400-€600 or thereabouts. And extra for a couple of good locks!

@triggermortis - Cheers for the shout, I'll check it out.

Keep_Her_Lit

Lumen wrote: »

I don't want to jinx you, but...brakes only slow the wheel down, it's the tyres that slow the bike down.

The extra power of disc brakes ought to completely overwhelm the limp grip of your Armadillos and send you skating into the back of a bus.

For sure, that's a likely outcome if you panic and grab a handful. It could also happen with cheaper brakes with poor modulation, giving "all or nothing" braking in response to applied lever force.

However, on many (most?) bikes with rim brakes, the wet weather braking performance degrades even more than the grip available from the tyres does. So you can't even fully exploit the meagre tyre grip available in the wet. In that situation, properly set up discs would be an improvement.

I'll probably get a hybrid (sorry!) under the BTW scheme before it's axed. Disc brakes will be on my "must have" list.

christeb

Lumen wrote: »

I don't want to jinx you, but...brakes only slow the wheel down, it's the tyres that slow the bike down.

The extra power of disc brakes ought to completely overwhelm the limp grip of your Armadillos and send you skating into the back of a bus.

This is very true. The discs are superb in the dry, I'm extra extra careful in the wet on the armadillo's, as they are poison when there's water on the ground. I'l take that in return for one puncture in 2 years (jinx protector - on)

smacl

Thinking to upgrade to disc brakes for my own hybrid, I find if I'm mixing a few muddy roads into a spin on a wet day, brake performance is not great afterwards. After reading a rake of reviews, I moved to marathon supreme tyres, which I find to be an excellent hybrid tyre for most conditions, though they throw up more water than the regular marathons and are more biased to road than rough (not good on muddy uphills, but fine on gravel or anything flattish).

Lumen

Keep_Her_Lit wrote: »

I'll probably get a hybrid (sorry!) under the BTW scheme before it's axed.

If it prevents you from vandalising a nice road bike with rolls of luminous tape then you have my full support.