Hybrid recommendations - Cannondale Treadwell 2, Bad Boy 3, Giant Escape 0 disc, Specialized Crosstrail Sport

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
OP
OP
T

teerob

New Member
Location
Lancaster
Thank you all for all your help and recommendations. I think I feel every so slightly more informed now. It's really nice that people are willing to take the time out to help someone who is so clueless! I think I've got a good couple of options to choose from and will probably go and visit a couple of shops to have a look in person ^_^
 

Gekko21

Regular
I've just donated my 2009 Specialized Crosstrail Sport so have direct experience of an older version of this bike. Until a couple of weeks back I was doing a short daily commute (3.5 miles each way) on it. It's a solid enough bike and I've had few problems with it. However, it is heavy and not suitable for hilly rides - I tried to do a club cycle on one last year and the South East London / Kent hills nearly killed me. In the end, I wanted a quicker commute bike so have changed it for a Planet X London Road SL, which I'm really pleased with. Like the other person who posted, I've noticed some component rust but to be fair, I haven't wrapped the thing in cotton wool. As someone else has said, the fork is pants - there's little added benefit for the weight. I bought a Rose Gravel Pro earlier this year that made me realise that forks aren't necessary for trail riding unless you are riding over some seriously bumpy stuff.

Which brings me on to my suggestion. I also swapped out my partner's old Trek hardtail for a Cube SL Road Race the other week. What a great bike it is - it's got a rigid fork and a light zippy frame. It also has flat bars and comes fitted with 38mm Schwalbe G-One All Rounds so is perfect for some off-roading. The geometry is surprisingly similar to my Rose bike and has the same groupset and tyres. It's really just a flat bar version in many respects. It was also only £899 and there are cheaper versions available if you are happy to go lower than the 105 groupset you get on the 'Race' version. Here's a link - https://www.cube.eu/en/2020/bikes/road/road/sl-road/cube-sl-road-race-iridiumngreen-2020/. The lead time on the bikes was long on some sites, but I managed to get one from Bike Discount in Germany within a week.
 
Top Bottom