And the reason that I
despise the word hybrid, which manages to be meaningless, useless and positively harmful at times.
These three are all described as "hybrids" and they range from the Spec Crosstrail, a rigid mountain bike which would be good on all surfaces, to the Charge Mixer, which would struggle on even rough tarmac.
From the other thread, the OP was looking for:
- Suitable for roads, pathways and very gentle x-country (cycling through woods etc). I'm not going to be doing any major off-raoding or anything like that
- Preferably something that I can attach a kids bike to so that my son can ride behind me (he can't really cycle on his own yet)
Now, imagine they were told they needed a hybrid, walked into a bike shop asking for one and walked out having bought one of
these.
A great bike, the Sirrus, I'd love to have one but 700c wheels with 28mm tyres, linear pull brakes... it's a road bike with flat bars, it would be outclassed by the proper choice when it hit its first woodland climb.
The next "what bike" thread is someone who wants a commuter but will never go off road and gets told "you want a hybrid". He says that in his LBS and comes out with one of
these.
Again, a fantastic bike but front suspension, disc brakes, 37mm tyres and a 28x32 bottom gear are not exactly ideal for a road bike.
Hybrid means so much that it means nothing. Rigid MTB, flat-barred road bike, cruiser, shopper, Dutch, step-through, these are all words which mean something. "Hybrid" could mean any of these designs and more, so using it, particularly for peeps who are wanting to know what bike to get, is not helpful.
IMO.