Hybrid 'V' Mountain Bike

[Mr Pig]

Maybe I'll show you a couple of the bikes I'm thinking of and you can give me the pros and cons of them, in your opinion.

The Scott Sportster is the hybrid that seems to fit the bill the best:

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86558

On mountain bikes the entry Rock Hopper looks like good value:

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86116

Out of left feild this caught my eye the other day, great spec for the money!:

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=87602

I'm leaning more towards a mountain bike. If you're battering down a hill at speed, whether or not the wheels will take it is not really something you want to be wondering about! I think I'd rather have a bike I have total confidence in, even if it is a bit slower on the road/track.

 

[Globalti]

Buy a hardtail MTB and get the shop to fit it with faster tyres, something like a 1.8" commuter, which will give a good turn of speed on tarmac yet still grip well in mud.

 

[Mr Pig]

Yes, that's pretty much what I have at the moment and it looks like the best way to go. Just need to pick a hardtail! ;0)

 

[Trillian]

why not spend the money upgrading the hardrock?

 

[Dayvo]

Maybe I'll show you a couple of the bikes I'm thinking of and you can give me the pros and cons of them, in your opinion.

The Scott Sportster is the hybrid that seems to fit the bill the best:

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86558

I've got the 2005 Scott Sportster P3 and am very happy with it.
It is fine for commutes, long hauls, and with a tyre like this

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=14456

should be fine for off-road activity.

 

[bonj2]

Maybe I'll show you a couple of the bikes I'm thinking of and you can give me the pros and cons of them, in your opinion.

The Scott Sportster is the hybrid that seems to fit the bill the best:

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86558

On mountain bikes the entry Rock Hopper looks like good value:

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86116

Out of left feild this caught my eye the other day, great spec for the money!:

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=87602

I'm leaning more towards a mountain bike. If you're battering down a hill at speed, whether or not the wheels will take it is not really something you want to be wondering about! I think I'd rather have a bike I have total confidence in, even if it is a bit slower on the road/track.

either scott or spesh, both great bikes. Forks not the best though on either.

 

[Mr Pig]

I reckon the fork on the RockHopper is about as good as you'll get for the money. Looks better than the one on the Scott and both look better than the one I have now. Any other suggestions for mountain bikes at that price? What's wrong with the Claude Butler, looks like good value with the kit it has on it.

My Hardrock is pretty worn. I've thought about buying new bits for it but I think it'll be more cost effective in the long run to replace it. I've had it seven years and it's been used a lot, just about every day during the summer. The money I save by cycling to work alone justifies spending £500 on a bike, easily.

 

[bonj2]

I reckon the fork on the RockHopper is about as good as you'll get for the money. Looks better than the one on the Scott and both look better than the one I have now. Any other suggestions for mountain bikes at that price? What's wrong with the Claude Butler, looks like good value with the kit it has on it.

My Hardrock is pretty worn. I've thought about buying new bits for it but I think it'll be more cost effective in the long run to replace it. I've had it seven years and it's been used a lot, just about every day during the summer. The money I save by cycling to work alone justifies spending £500 on a bike, easily.

oh yeah sorry, it is! It's a proper fork is that. I think i must have clicked on the same link twice, doh
Get the rockhopper then! could do far far worse.
Specialized are a really good make.

 

[HJ]

Some of us are (sadly) old enough to remember the days before mountain bikes, when I was a kid we just used to ride our road bike through the woods. 700 wheels can take a surprising amount of punishment if you use strong enough tyres. Go for a hybrid with 700 wheels and don't go for light weight racing tyres and you'll be fine...

 

[Mr Pig]

Go for a hybrid with 700 wheels and don't go for light weight racing tyres

My favourite tyre is the Specialized Nimbus Armadillo/Flack Jacket. That's not too light a tyre is it? When I was a kid I had a MkII Chopper and you're quite right, the abuse we gave our bikes was criminal. They didn't always take it though. Amongst other damage, I snapped my handlebars when I jumped about six-feet off a ramp and went a*** over elbow when I landed! ;0)

Yes, I've always thought that Specialized give you a lot of quality for the money. Maybe I should get another Chopper though, that was a great bike! ;0)

 

[Fnaar]

Some of us are (sadly) old enough to remember the days before mountain bikes, when I was a kid we just used to ride our road bike through the woods. 700 wheels can take a surprising amount of punishment if you use strong enough tyres

I remember one summer when we seemed to spend all our waking hours building ramps and jumps, speeding downhill towards them, jumping as far as poss, then trying to skid to a halt before reaching the river!
Bikes ("racers" as we called 'em then) were fine, just needed a few things tightening up. Cycle helmets didn't exist, and out parents hadn't a clue where we were or what we were up to.
I sound like an old fogey, but sheesh, 35 years later, I'm still enjoying it!

 

[Mr Pig]

I'm too fat to jump, my bike would collapse! ;0)

We used to be on our bikes all summer too. Racers, Choppers, Grifters and bikes made of motley bits of other bikes but we all went runs together quite happily. My kids just want to sit in the house and look at screens all day! :0(

 

[Zoiders]

I find most 700c hybrids to be fustratingly upright and not very nimble, the equipment tends to suck as well, Acera/Tourney bits seeming very common along with Hi-ten frames, a flat bar road bike is a very different beast from a hybrid

A good rigid MTB on the other hand with slicks offers a more agressive riding position, less weight on the whole and the ability to go back to knobbly tyres if you should so wish

The EBC courier is a good off the shelf package, or a Ridgeback Cyclone

 

[Mr Pig]

The Scott Sportster P2 has Deor/XT front and back. I think spec-wise they're on a par with MTBs of the same price, you get what you pay for. The EBC bikes look nice and simple but they don't have enough gears, a single ring at the front is no use to me. There is hardly a flat bit of ground where I live, and I mean proper hills, not little bumps! ;0) Put it this way, my regular work-out run is about fourteen miles and takes in hight differences of a thousand feet!