Best type of bike for on-road and off-road cycling?

[Wardy940]

Cheers for the replies. My commute is about 15 minutes. I would guess the majority of my riding would be on the road. Like I say, I don't drive so riding to trails and stuff would be my only option.

I'm a little far from gateshead but definitely an option. The pinnacle lithium looks to be a decent bike like. Almost looks like a MTB. If its out of stock looks like I may have to go for second hand though. I may go look at the trail 5 that vickster send the link for. See if the size is right for me and what not. I does seem like a hybrid may be the better option though.

 

[vickster]

This would do the job very well, Stockton on Tees
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boardman...331818?hash=item1a9f187caa:g:QdoAAOSwWr5fKUzd

not sure what price it’ll reach , with a day and a bit to go. Medium the right size

 

[vickster]

I’m a little confused, is your main riding Going to be on road or off? You can do a 15 minute commute (3 miles?) on anything including a hard tail (and indeed much further), but if you’re going to be doing proper rough off road, suspension might be better. Just make sure you can lock it out for roads if at all possible

 

[cougie uk]

15 minutes ? Any bike can do that.

I'd not get a MTB. Gravel type bike maybe. That'll ride fine on the road and enable you to go off road too.

That said look at what road bikes do on Paris Roubaix or Strade Bianche.

 

[vickster]

15 minutes ? Any bike can do that.

I'd not get a MTB. Gravel type bike maybe. That'll ride fine on the road and enable you to go off road too.

That said look at what road bikes do on Paris Roubaix or Strade Bianche.

Ride through woods and not on paths?

 

[Pale Rider]

This would do the job very well, Stockton on Tees
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boardman...331818?hash=item1a9f187caa:g:QdoAAOSwWr5fKUzd

not sure what price it’ll reach , with a day and a bit to go. Medium the right size

That looks more or less ideal.

Road orientated tyres, but I reckon there's enough clearance for narrow gravel tyres.

Stockton is all but linked to the 'boro by urban sprawl so the OP ought to be able to get there on the bus easily enough.

 

[Wardy940]

I’m a little confused, is your main riding Going to be on road or off? You can do a 15 minute commute (3 miles?) on anything including a hard tail (and indeed much further), but if you’re going to be doing proper rough off road, suspension might be better. Just make sure you can lock it out for roads if at all possible

I would like to be able to go off road once at location but I will most likey be riding on the road to get there. Which is why I was unsure what kind of bike would be best. But like I mentioned earlier, I'm not really interested in extreme downhill biking. At least not yet. Just basic woodland trails and paths up on the moors that kind of thing. If suspension is necessary for that I'll go with a MTB. If not I like the look on the boardman you posted the link of or the pinnacle on Evans. Got the boardman on eBay on my watch list.

 

[vickster]

I would like to be able to go off road once at location but I will most likey be riding on the road to get there. Which is why I was unsure what kind of bike would be best. But like I mentioned earlier, I'm not really interested in extreme downhill biking. At least not yet. Just basic woodland trails and paths up on the moors that kind of thing. If suspension is necessary for that I'll go with a MTB. If not I like the look on the boardman you posted the link of or the pinnacle on Evans. Got the boardman on eBay on my watch list.

I'd prefer to have suspension and fat tyres on rough and potentially muddy paths, and where there are tree roots and holes. In your shoes, I'd get a 29er with lockout (like the Cannondale). The Boardman probably won't take anything much bigger than a 35-38mm tyre

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Just basic woodland trails and paths up on the moors that kind of thing. If suspension is necessary for that I'll go with a MTB.

Suspension has never been necessary for anything barring the most extreme variety of off-road cycling. In the early days of MTB, all bikes had fully rigid frames, and the springing medium came from having 2" wide tyres. Suspension started to appear because it enabled competitive MTB racers to ride a bit faster on really rough terrain compared to riders on rigid bikes. Pretty quickly, some form of suspension became the norm in competitive riding, then the cycle industry marketeers began a campaign to persuade all the non-racing leisure MTB owners that they "needed" to replace their perfectly good rigid frame bikes with new ones that had suspension. Like most things in cycling, it was all about selling more new bikes to a finite pool of customers who already owned perfectly good bikes!
Those of us who have rejected the marketing spin and still ride our old rigid frames manage fine - but we are generally not racing such bikes competitively and we accept that they need an approach where you pick your route not just aim the bike and try to plough through everything.
The massive advantage that old-school rigid bikes have is they can easily be set up as touring/commuting bikes as there are no issues with fitting mudguards and racks, and they can be run on a shoestring. Cheap suspension bikes are basically just marketing-driven junk and not worth having, and decent suspension bikes need a lot more maintenance than rigids, so they are considerably more expensive to both buy and run.

 

[Grant Fondo]

That looks more or less ideal.

Road orientated tyres, but I reckon there's enough clearance for narrow gravel tyres.

Stockton is all but linked to the 'boro by urban sprawl so the OP ought to be able to get there on the bus easily enough.

I would second that, don't think it has clearance for much more than 32c but as others have said, you can go a long way off road on one of those

 

[Wardy940]

I think with the stocks in stores being so low I'll keep an eye out on eBay and on the forum for a good deal on something. Maybe even find a 2nd hand gravel bike for less that a grand.

I'm kinda leaning towards an MTB just because I know for sure it would take anything I threw at it. With a hybrid I'd probably be worried about taking certain routes. I wouldn't mind trying both just to see which one I prefer to ride.

As skipdriverjohn mentioned, I most likey wouldn't even need suspension and fat tires for most routes I'd want to try, but it would probably be nice to have the option. Although with me living in a hilly area, getting up into the countryside would definitely be easier with a hybrid. Ah, choices, choices. Gonna have to have a little think about what I'd prefer.

 

[Grant Fondo]

I think with the stocks in stores being so low I'll keep an eye out on eBay and on the forum for a good deal on something. Maybe even find a 2nd hand gravel bike for less that a grand.

I'm kinda leaning towards an MTB just because I know for sure it would take anything I threw at it. With a hybrid I'd probably be worried about taking certain routes. I wouldn't mind trying both just to see which one I prefer to ride.

As skipdriverjohn mentioned, I most likey wouldn't even need suspension and fat tires for most routes I'd want to try, but it would probably be nice to have the option. Although with me living in a hilly area, getting up into the countryside would definitely be easier with a hybrid. Ah, choices, choices. Gonna have to have a little think about what I'd prefer.

You may well be right. I have had slick tyres on my old rigid Cannondale, and it flies on the road. Bung some knobblies on and it goes anywhere....

 

[Wardy940]

Ah right. Well clearly you've been able to take that on to sand so maybe a hybrid is all I need. Im going to look into a hire centre for bikes and see if I can rent both a hybrid one day then a MTB then next and just give them both a try.

I'm a landscape gardener and I'm not the fittest. Hence why I want to take up biking so if I can make it easier on the hills for myself then I'll probably go that route. Which is why I wouldn't mind trying both out.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Ah right. Well clearly you've been able to take that on to sand so maybe a hybrid is all I need. Im going to look into a hire centre for bikes and see if I can rent both a hybrid one day then a MTB then next and just give them both a try.

I'm a landscape gardener and I'm not the fittest. Hence why I want to take up biking so if I can make it easier on the hills for myself then I'll probably go that route. Which is why I wouldn't mind trying both out.

Thats a good move, try before you buy is the way to go. Never had a hybrid or want one, but millions would disagree, but good luck with your selection

 

[Wardy940]

Ahh I thought that was a hybrid but looking at it now, it looks like a rigid mountain bike style frame. Thanks, and thanks for all your help everyone.