Hybrid Bike advice

[TWbiker]

Good morning,

I'm after some advice on a suitable hybrid bike up to £800 from you experts.

The bike will mainly be used on cycle trails, tow paths, parks etc, with not much road use expected, so am looking for something that can comfortably handle light offroad, without going down the route of a mountain bike.

I've a number of bikes in various online shopping carts and am struggling to settle so your expert advice would be much appreciated for a relative newbie (I mountain biked a lot in my youth but that was a good few years ago now!)

The bikes I've shortlisted (but am open for further suggestions) are:

Boardman HYB 8.8
Specialized Sirrus X 3.0
Whyte Portobello
Whyte Victoria Compact (I'm 5-8 and think the size would be ok - the sale price in Evans for this bike is brilliant)
Orbea Vector 20 (or 30)

Appreciate your help.

Thanks

 

[vickster]

I'd go for a Whyte.
As you've observed, the Victoria is a different geometry to the Portobello being a women's specific design bike with a shorter wheelbase (don't know if you are male or female). You can find sizing on the Whyte site. So a L in the Victoria for example (at 5'8 should be ok, unless you've a very long reach and relatively short legs), might suit a shorter rider than a L in the Portobello. Not sure if they use a women's design saddle on the Victoria, so if a man, you may want to change the saddle, but you can get a Charge Spoon for £20 or pick up a Whyte men's saddle on eBay.
Best advice is to at the very least go sit on them to see if the reach and fit feels right, better still test ride.
The issue with Evans is they charge for delivery to store and if you order and decide you don't like / doesn't fit, they don't do cash refunds I think (although not sure how that stacks up with DSRs)?

 

[DCBassman]

Good selection, any of them will do what you want, in my opinion. I ride a true road bike, with flat bars, over the same sort of terrain you are envisaging, and it's no problem, so these will be entirely at ease with the ride.

 

[TWbiker]

Hi both. Thanks a lot for the quick responses! Happy to hear that my shortlisted bikes are at least what I should be looking at for the activities in mind.

I brought my son a junior Boardman the other day and am very impressed with the build so I have been giving the HYB 8.8 serious consideration, but I am being massively drawn to Whyte. Maybe its because I can see an excellent bargain with the Victoria compact (I'm a bloke, 5-8 so will certainly go for the large size, and hope it doesn't look girly :-))

I'm waiting for my CycletoWork paperwork to go through, so there's a good chance I'll miss that deal on the Whyte, so it will be down to the Portobello or HYB 8.8. I think the Orbea might not be as solid on light offroad as the others?

 

[TWbiker]

Forgot to add, whilst I have a few bikes shops near me, none of them stock Whyte bikes, so will be taking a bit of a punt ordering online as I won't be able to take any for a spin prior to purchasing

 

[tom73]

Ribble do a good priced hybrid you may want to check out.

 

[TWbiker]

Thanks Tom. I have had a look at that one, but can’t find it under £800. That the figure I budgeted for when applying for the ‘cycle to work’ scheme. Maybe should have gone higher, but there will always be a bike that looks great just out of price 😄

 

[tom73]

Thanks Tom. I have had a look at that one, but can’t find it under £800. That the figure I budgeted for when applying for the ‘cycle to work’ scheme. Maybe should have gone higher, but there will always be a bike that looks great just out of price 😄

try here
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-hybrid-al/

 

[TWbiker]

Oh…. Thanks Tom! I was looking at the Trail version and missed this one. Another one now on my shortlist

 

[All uphill]

try here
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-hybrid-al/

Oh, I like that!

 

[Jameshow]

Oh, I like that!

Very workmanlike complete contrast to the racey boardman!

 

[wiggydiggy]

The bike will mainly be used on cycle trails, tow paths, parks etc, with not much road use expected, so am looking for something that can comfortably handle light offroad, without going down the route of a mountain bike.

Whyte Portobello
Whyte Victoria Compact

I like these best also, with 47mm tyres they'll soak up lots of rough stuff on those trails.

 

[TWbiker]

Managed to find a local Whyte stockist today nearby. Had a good look at the Portobello and it’s a cracker. I think I’ve found my new bike! Now just have to wait until my cycle scheme voucher to come through