Hybrid vs Road.

[John the Monkey]

... as for steel, I'm still rolling on it. Not as bad as many say ;-)

A shorthand for "Old-ish roadbike from the time before compact geometry". My LHT is steel (and has a horizontal top tube)

 

[John the Monkey]

You keep quoting massive differences in speed and then saying things such as "I wouldn't call that enough of a difference". Could you please indicate what you would expect for the different to be "enough" because as far as my opinion goes, 3-5 mph is HUGE.

I wonder if the problem is more that the OP is trying to "justify" a preference.

There's just no need to, unless you're doing this for a job - ride how you like, on what you like.

 

[nickyboy]

You keep quoting massive differences in speed and then saying things such as "I wouldn't call that enough of a difference". Could you please indicate what you would expect for the different to be "enough" because as far as my opinion goes, 3-5 mph is HUGE.

Agree. As I indicated I'm 2.9mph faster on the road bike than I was on the hybrid. That's like I'm passing my old hybrid self on the road bike at a reasonable walking pace. If someone passed me while I was on my road bike like that I would consider them seriously quick (I suspect you could comfortably do it). These "small" differentials are actually really big

 

[confusedcyclist]

If I could do it all again, I would probably buy a CX instead of a road bike as my commuter. However I don't regret my purchase as riding my road bike vs my £200 heavy ass hack is pure bliss.

Also, when it comes to riding with my local cycling club, I need a road bike anyway.

What would be really interesting for me would be seeing how well £799 of hybrid performs vs my road bike.

Ideally one should own at least 3 bikes, my choices would be CX, Road, MTB.

 

[4F]

Ideally one should own at least 3 bikes, my choices would be CX, Road, MTB.

4. Fixed

 

[mjr]

Also, when it comes to riding with my local cycling club, I need a road bike anyway.

Find a nicer club

 

[tudor_77]

I know exactly what the OP means. I have a Giant Roam sports hybrid (mountain bike style but with road bike gear ratios and 700c wheels) and a carbon Giant Defy and the the Defy is only very slightly faster. Where the Defy really outshines the Roam is when climbing hills or over very long rides but most of the time I opt for the Roam because it is just so much more fun to ride and can take on more varied terrain.

I only keep the Defy road bike for long distance stuff and any sportives I may want to enter. The Roam is a damn good winter bike too I might add!

 

[blazed]

That's the thing though. The maximum difference I've recorded between feather light Carbon roady, and alloy hybrid (on the flat) is about 26 mph for the roady, vs 21 mph for the Hybrid (back to back rides, on consecutive days, in similar conditions). On the hilly bits of the same course, about 14 mph up a 10% hill on the roady, and 11 mph on the hybrid. I wouldn't call that enough of a difference, admittedly there felt like there was a lot more to come from the roady, state of roads, traffic were the limiting factor, the Hybrid was going about as fast as I could be bothered to push it, crap roads / traffic or not. But that's the problem. There's no point in having a capable expensive road bike, on open roads, I can't get anything like the potential out of it. Given closed roads and a free reign on how much of the road / line I could take, the Hybrid wouldn't see which way the roady went. I wouldn't get enough opportunity to be able to use it in that manner though.

Those are HUGE differences for cycling. If you were buying a new sports car and one went 5mph faster it would be irrelevant to most people, but on a bicycle most people would consider it a big deal.

Not sure what your expectations are but they seem unreasonably high.

 

[BrumJim]

Bought a road bike rather than a hybrid and haven't regretted it for one minute.
Until a few months ago I had only one bike. That same bike got me to work every day in all but the very worst weather (in which case the office was closed anyway), but has also taken me on Sportives, Audaxes and social rides, starting at 20 miles and reaching a peak of 150 miles in one day. I doubt if a hybrid would have led me towards these achievements without me having to look at an N+1.

And like some of the posters above, if you were to offer me a bike that would give me an extra 5 mile/h on the flat and 3 mile/h on the hills, I would take it in a minute. (affordability permitting, electric assist doesn't count).

 

[tudor_77]

Those are HUGE differences for cycling. If you were buying a new sports car and one went 5mph faster it would be irrelevant to most people, but on a bicycle most people would consider it a big deal.

Not sure what your expectations are but they seem unreasonably high.

I cannot speak for the OP, but for me I generally start to appreciate the difference over long distances. Anything over 50 miles on the Roam Sports Hybrid would start to really kill my legs but the Defy I feel I could comfortably ride all day. If I can only squeeze a 40 minute ride in then obviously the hybrid will give me a much better cardio workout than the Road bike. Different bikes for different situations.

The thing is, there really is no 'one size fits all' for bikes or any kind of universally applicable rule as everyone rides for different reasons. All these variables also give us valid excuses to justify another N+1 which is always a bonus

 

[pclay]

That's the thing though. The maximum difference I've recorded between feather light Carbon roady, and alloy hybrid (on the flat) is about 26 mph for the roady, vs 21 mph for the Hybrid (back to back rides, on consecutive days, in similar conditions). On the hilly bits of the same course, about 14 mph up a 10% hill on the roady, and 11 mph on the hybrid. I wouldn't call that enough of a difference, admittedly there felt like there was a lot more to come from the roady, state of roads, traffic were the limiting factor, the Hybrid was going about as fast as I could be bothered to push it, crap roads / traffic or not. But that's the problem. There's no point in having a capable expensive road bike, on open roads, I can't get anything like the potential out of it. Given closed roads and a free reign on how much of the road / line I could take, the Hybrid wouldn't see which way the roady went. I wouldn't get enough opportunity to be able to use it in that manner though.

:

So in summary:

When riding your road bike, you are 23% quicker on the flats, and 27% faster on hills. I think that is quite a difference.

It up to you what bike you want to ride, and on what surface.

 

[Racing roadkill]

I know exactly what the OP means. I have a Giant Roam sports hybrid (mountain bike style but with road bike gear ratios and 700c wheels) and a carbon Giant Defy and the the Defy is only very slightly faster. Where the Defy really outshines the Roam is when climbing hills or over very long rides but most of the time I opt for the Roam because it is just so much more fun to ride and can take on more varied terrain.

I only keep the Defy road bike for long distance stuff and any sportives I may want to enter. The Roam is a damn good winter bike too I might add!

That's pretty much it. The only difference being that I don't like leaving the Roady anywhere out of sight, so it limits stopping areas on long rides. So therefore the Hybrid (crosstrail to be more accurate) wins on the long rides as well. The roady is however, the only sensible option for the turbo trainer, which is probably where it's going to be spending most of it's days from now on. However, I would still like to get a replacement TT bike, That was only ever used for short fast rides anyway, and was massively quicker than the crosstrail, and a fair bit quicker than the roady. So maybe I should get a new TT, leave the roady on the trainer, keep the crosstrail for the majority of long road rides, and buy a Langster for commuting and short hops

 

[vickster]

Why restrict fixed/single speed to short rides?

 

[mjr]

I forget whether the tyre and handlebar types of the hybrid that's 5mph slower have been mentioned. Putting easier rolling tyres and more aero bars on, plus maybe removing/replacing heavyweight parts, may reduce that 5mph.

 

[Apollonius]

But wouldn't that leave you with a road bike?