Mountain bike vs. Hybrid bike

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Apollo_95

New Member
I am considering trading in my carrera mountain bike for a hybrid. How much of a tangible difference is there in performance generally speaking? From what I’ve read, Hybrids have skinnier tyres which help you cycle longer distances if putting in same effort you would on a MTB. I really like the look of the Carrera axle black hybrid & I’m on a very tight budget but I’m a bit nervous that I won’t notice much of a difference on the new bike. My cycling is mainly along country roads & gravel paths. Any opinions or advice would be much appreciated. Thanks. A
 

vickster

Legendary Member
Put narrower slicker tyres on the MTB and see how you go. Does the fork lock on the current bike?
 

Smudge

Veteran
Location
Somerset
If you're mainly only doing country roads & gravel paths, then a hybrid can do that easily.... its not even a problem on my road bike.
Personally, i much prefer hybrids to MTB's, i like the higher gearing and 700c wheels roll much better than 27.5 or 26ers. Plus i dont ride anything gnarly enough to warrant a MTB.
Of course, lines are blurred now in categories of bikes. Some MTB's are more hybrid territory and some hybrids edge more towards MTB's. Which makes even more choice out there.
You choose a bike on where you mostly ride and what you prefer to ride...... and only you know that.
 

Levo-Lon

Guru
More comfort with an mtb
More ease of use with the hybrid.
Only downside for me would be the off road use.
If you like a rip off road then only having a hybrid may limit this.
 

tom73

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
From what you say a hybrid will be more than enough.
Look around see what you like and if you can go and look at a few.
Only you will know when you find the bike for you.
 

KneesUp

Guru
If you're tight for cash I'd stick with what you have and maybe just swap the tyres as suggested by @vickster

The limiting factor is always how fit you are - swapping your bike is not going to transform that; I'd suggest that the difference will be fairly minimal swapping from one bike to another with slightly larger wheels. I do pretty much all of my riding on a slick-tyred 26-er MTB frame or a 20" folder and both do the job perfectly well. If you really want to spend some cash. get a different set of wheels for the MTB so you can easily swap from knobbly tyres to slick tyres - I sometimes find it a bit annoying when I go through the woods that even though I'm on an MTB frame I can't get enough traction to get up hill if it's churned up.
 

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
The Axle is virtually a mountain bike. It has 2" fat tyres and a triple chsinset, the only thing missing is a suspension fork. If you swapped out the tyres for something smoother and replaced the fork for a rigid on you're existing bike you'd have Axle. So you're not going to be gaining anything.
If you want a real difference find something with a lighter frame and skinnier tyres.
 
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I am considering trading in my carrera mountain bike for a hybrid. How much of a tangible difference is there in performance generally speaking? From what I’ve read, Hybrids have skinnier tyres which help you cycle longer distances if putting in same effort you would on a MTB. I really like the look of the Carrera axle black hybrid & I’m on a very tight budget but I’m a bit nervous that I won’t notice much of a difference on the new bike. My cycling is mainly along country roads & gravel paths. Any opinions or advice would be much appreciated. Thanks. A
You can roadify an MTB with different tyres. These days wheel size is not a way to differentiate between mtb and hybrid, the 29" mtb is 700c. I use 26" mtb wheels on my city runabout using slick tyres ( Schwalbe Big Apple).
If your mtb is full suspension then you may gain efficiency and utility with a front sus or ridgid bike.

What style wheel size and model is your mtb?
 

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
You're not going to feel an awful lot of difference just changing the tyres to slicker versions. It might roll a bit better but that's all, you'll still have all that weight to lug around.
 
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