Help pick me a cycle to work, hybrid or mtb?

[Neil-c]

I’m looking for some opinion on which bike to get on cycle to work scheme. I’ve done my 8 mile commute over the past few years on my ancient specialised mountain bike (24 speed) with hybrid tyres and its served me well but its time for an upgrade. I’m looking at something that will cope with the commute which is mostly cycle paths, some road, some unsurfaced tracks. And also do light forest tracks etc as I have a young son who is getting into more adventurous cycling. I’m thinking mountain bike or a hybrid with front suspension. My main concerns are firstly, how suitable a suspension hybrid is for forests etc and secondly will a 1x11 mountain bike be up to the road sections of my commute. I’m not out to set records but I don’t want to be hamstrung by gearing either. Obviously restricted to suppliers due to cycle to work but have these on my shortlist. Any opinion or advice would be appreciated.

Boardman MTX 8.8 hybrid 20sp £650 https://www.cyclerepublic.com/catalog/product/view...

Boardman MYB 8.8 hybrid 10sp £750 https://www.cyclerepublic.com/catalog/product/view...

Boardman MTH 8.9 hardtail 11sp £1000 https://www.cyclerepublic.com/catalog/product/view...

Boardman MTH 8.8 hardtail 11sp £850 https://www.cyclerepublic.com/catalog/product/view...

Specialized Sirrus Elite hybrid 20sp £900 https://www.evanscycles.com/specialized-sirrus-eli...

Pinnacle Cobalt 4 suspension hybrid 20sp £800 https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-cobalt-4-2018...

Trek DS4 suspension hybrid 20sp £900 https://www.evanscycles.com/trek-ds-4-2018-hybrid-...

BMC Teamelite 03 hardtail 20sp £850 https://www.evanscycles.com/bmc-teamelite-03-three...

Cube Attention SL hardtail 20sp £850 https://www.evanscycles.com/cube-attention-sl-2018...

 

[steveindenmark]

Genesis Croix de Fer 20. Its a bike that can do everything from your commute to the Transcontinental race. It takes big tyres or skinny tyres, disc brakes. Fitting a rear rack is easy if you want one. Its fast and comfortable with good gearing. Its a whole range of bikes in one. A super bike.

 

[Neil-c]

Thanks for the response. I probably need to try one but I am more attracted to a flat bar bike, probably just because I’m more used to that. I’m also trying to stay under the 1000 mark

 

[ShxdowRider420]

If your trying to stay under the £1000 mark then I say go for the Carrera Kraken 27.5'' MTB. For the specs you really will struggle to find anything under 1500 matching it on paper. I have the 2015 version and my mate has the newer version that can be bought from Halfords for £450 brand new. I bought mine a while ago just to mess around with, to get from A to B.. it wasn't until my mate bought one after that when we decided to go to some local MTB trails and really test what they could do. For a 400 quid Hardtail I was expecting more negatives than positives. We have been 5/6 times to the same trails (full day) with the 2 krakens and we haven't had any problems. Not even a single chain slip between us both... The bikes are amazing to say the very least. They weigh around 14kg although the websites says 15kg for the new ones... We even smashed them down Red trails and some black trails, they handled unbelievably well and look spectacular too. A truley amazing bike for just effing around or hitting some serious trails!! It proved to me that you don't need thousands of pounds to enjoy Mountain Biking... with the kraken you get the look, the ride, the durability and a feel for quality! It doesn't feel like a cheap bike at all.. it feels comfy and the handlebars are also very wide giving it a bigger feel!! 27.5'' wheels x 2.2inch Continental Tyres, Clarkes M2 Hydraulic System and some Suntour 120mm Forks that you can click on and off.... 180mm Disc Rotar on the front and 160mm Disc Rotar at the back and the shape of the frame is eye catching as hell when you see it in the real world! Online photos don't do this bike any justice... The only thing I changed was the seat. The stock one was too hard for me.

Reason I suggest the kraken is that its thanks to this bike that I've decided to get more into MTBing, instead of buying another bike I've decided to just upgrade things on the Kraken. It's actually booked in at the end of the month for a Gold Service and a new FSA ORBIT MX headset fitting! I can't see past this bike and I reckon it might be a long time before I ever do. Even if I had 2 grand to spend, I'd spend it on upgrading the kraken instead of buying a new bike. The adrenaline I get from this bike mixed with comfort is unbelievable for the price you pay! it really is...

go for it.

 

[jowwy]

If your going to spend 1k....then theres only 1 off the shelf mtb i would buy

Trek Roscoe 8..........done deal

 

[Neil-c]

Funny the trek roscoe just popped up on another forum I was looking at. I was concerned about how a 1 x 11 would feel on road or cycle track, any opinion?

 

[jowwy]

Funny the trek roscoe just popped up on another forum I was looking at. I was concerned about how a 1 x 11 would feel on road or cycle track, any opinion?

i ride a 1x11 rigid mtb with 650b 47mm horizons - i got a 32t upfront and 10-42 rear and it goes well on the tarmac parts of the commute

so if running knobblies it should be hey ok..........

personally i wouldnt to be running a 15kg plus mtb on the commute, but thats just me