hybrid or road bike?

[CommuterBen]

Obviously majority of this will be personal prefernce im just curious on the pros and cons of both. My commute will consist of a 7 mile ride to the train station then 40min train then 1 mile to my parteners, day after will be 1 mile to train station 1 hour and 5 mins on the train then 1 mile to Uni. And then reversed 3 times a week. Any info/feedback welcomed.

Ben.

 

[Beebo]

your issue isnt hybrid or road bike, it's whether they allow rigid bikes on the train at the times you need to use it.

In peak hours most train companies only allow fold up bikes.

 

[CommuterBen]

I've checked and there isn't an issue it's says if its overly busy the conductor can refuse me but I'll ring and book my tickets in advance and can book my bike on.

Ben.

 

[MattHB]

Road bike unless you're sure you'll be riding some very rough tracks. Otherwise you'll end up doing what I (and a lot of others) did, and that's sell the hybrid in 3-6 mths in favour of a roadie.

 

[CommuterBen]

Road bike unless you're sure you'll be riding some very rough tracks. Otherwise you'll end up doing what I (and a lot of others) did, and that's sell the hybrid in 3-6 mths in favour of a roadie.

Perfect just the info I was looking for cheers!

 

[MattHB]

Perfect just the info I was looking for cheers!

It does also depend on whether or not you can get on with drop bars, but that'll just be a question of a flat or drop bar roadie. Hybrids are heavy and built for rough stuff, if you actually need it for that it'll be frustraiting.

 

[biggs682]

road bike all the way

 

[jefmcg]

I'd leave the bike at your partners place, 4 miles a day is about the minimum daily exercise you should get (I know practically no one does it), and it saves you fussing with the bike on the train and locking it securely at uni, stripping everything off it etc etc - also leaves you freer to visit a pub with fellow students.

 

[Sandra6]

It does also depend on whether or not you can get on with drop bars, but that'll just be a question of a flat or drop bar roadie. Hybrids are heavy and built for rough stuff, if you actually need it for that it'll be frustraiting.

I wouldn't say all hybrids are heavy, mine certainly isn't. There's only a slight difference between it and Mr6's roadie.
I went through a phase of thinking I should "progress" to a road bike, but I'm perfectly happy with the hybrid. Mostly I ride on the road but if I fancy going over a field or down a track I don't worry about the bike coping with it, I just go.
I think it depends on the hybrid you choose, mine's more of a flat bar road bike whereas some are definitely trying to be mtb's.

 

[SquareDaff]

The choice is really - commute or leisure! If you're just commutting then I'd go for the hybrid. IMO it's a better choice for an easy all year round cycle. You can add panniers without looking like a complete dweeb and you have better visability.

If this is a "I'm getting into cycling and I might start riding for leisure or enter a couple of sportives" bike then go for the road bike. Or do what I did and buy both for the price of 1 (effectively) on the C2W scheme.

There is another option - if you prefer drops how about a Cyclocross bike. The advantage of drops / a reasonable weight and will take the elements you'll regularly be exposed to on a yearly commute. Win, win!

 

[Drago]

I wouldn't say hybrid unless its one of the racier ones, by which time you may as well have bought a road bike.

 

[Davywalnuts]

Can you not cycle the whole way?

 

[BrumJim]

Can't agree more with the man above (SquareDaff).

For the route you describe, anything short of a unicycle would work. The questions is what you want to do with your bike when you aren't commuting. If you either do, or think you might fancy a good blast along some roads on Saturday, go for a road bike. If bashing forest trails tickles your fancy, go for a mountain bike. If you fancy a holiday under your own steam, camping on the way, then a tourer would be a good place to start. If you would prefer to keep off the roads, but are still more interested in exploring and covering distances than technical challenges, a Cyclocross bike looks like a very good idea.

 

[donnydave]

I wouldn't say hybrid unless its one of the racier ones, by which time you may as well have bought a road bike.

absolutely this. I've got a giant rapid which for all intents and purposes is a road bike, just with flat bars. I've always had mtb's before and for some reason the jump to drops was too much and I copped out and got the rapid. Luckily though it is pretty fast so I'm not tempted to "upgrade" yet as I don't think I would gain much over the relatively short distance I cover each day, but if I made the choice again I would have gone straight for roadie with drops

 

[Shadow]

snow, sleet, rain - hybrid, a heavy BSO with 'guards with fat tyres and loads of tread
dry - roadie; thin tyres, no tread
Fortunately, I don't need those overcrowded, poorly ventilated boxes on rails aka trains.