Swapping from a road bike to a Hybrid

[Elybazza61]

Oh and a good rack if there are mounts for one.

 

[NeilnrLincoln]

Schwalbe city jets or marathons are nice & fast rolling but big apples look cool & give a really nice ride without losing too much speed.
Hybrid / mtb everytime for me over the drop bar road bike.

 

[annirak]

Yeah unless i'm doing over 40 miles, I much prefer being upright. Im just at the stage now I would much rather pedal alongside the canal upright than have my head tucked down behind a bus.

I did seriously consider converting my road bike into a gravel bike. But what swung it for me was fitness. As the MTB to hybrid cross will likely be "less efficient" than the Road bike to hybrid cross. I will actually burn more calories and be fitter on the pior. And be able to sit up and enjoy the view.

I'm not a hugely motivated person so I figured that I will likely "keep it up" more if I am enjoying the scenery.

And I still get to keep my road bike as is should I fancy a longer blast.

Fair enough. Personally, I am always pushing myself to go faster, to improve.

I'm still upset at the LBS that sold me my most recent hybrid. Here's why:

I started cycling again after a long hiatus in about 2010. I had a hybrid that I'd bought in about 2006, but barely used. I found myself starting to commute regularly by bike in 2011 and 2012, riding 22km each way with 293m round trip ascent (114m to work, 179m on the way home). I would compare commuting times, but it was before I'd discovered Strava and I didn't have a smartphone at that point. I became fascinated with power meters around that time because my commute involved a big stretch that was quite exposed to the wind, so the wind on any given day could make a massive difference to how long my commute took. At the end of 2012, I had to move for work, and I had to sell my hybrid, since it wasn't economical to move it.

In 2013, I got a new hybrid. I didn't know anything about road bikes at the time, I just knew that my previous bike had been a hybrid and I had liked it. When I went to the LBS for a C2W quote, they asked me three questions:

1. What are you going to cycle on? Mostly road, maybe over a green or on a canal towpath once in a while.
2. What are you planning to use it for? Cycling to work.
3. How far is your commute? 2.5 miles.

Those questions pointed me squarely at a hybrid--which I had already been thinking about. I was out of that LBS in 15 minutes. They didn't suggest a selection of bikes to choose from, test riding each one to decide... no, they didn't even recommend I take that one bike for a test ride.

They didn't ask me "do you try to ride fast?" They didn't ask "do you try to push yourself?" If they *had* asked those questions, I might have been convinced to try out a road bike or a cross bike. If I had tried one of those out, I suspect I would have fallen in love with road riding far earlier.

I came back a few months later, having gone down a hill and spun out my 48x14 setup, and said "I need higher gearing, what can I do" and they said "pedal faster."

In 2014, I bought a road bike and I have barely used my hybrid since. The only thing I use my hybrid for now is towing my kid's trailer. I only do that because I don't think my rear wheel is designed for taking the extra load of a trailer. I have a spare rear wheel, though, so I'm seriously contemplating buying a cassette and a tyre and getting rid of the hybrid entirely.

I guess I can take solace in the fact that the LBS that sold me my hybrid has closed that location now.

 

[mjr]

Fair enough. Personally, I am always pushing myself to go faster, to improve.

Faster ≠ improve, not to everyone... but yes, probably not a surprise that shop closed

 

[beany_bot]

Fair enough. Personally, I am always pushing myself to go faster, to improve.

Fair doo's mate.
Thing is, cycling isn't my hobby. Don't think it ever will be.
I commute cycle because, It's cheaper than the train, I don't get delayed like with the Train, I get fit, I enjoy the scenery and being outdoors. It's just a no brainer.

As for actually pedaling my legs and going faster. Nah, not for me. I don't get any kick out of it.
I do have other hobbies where I push myself to improve all the time (wakeboarding). But cycling is a means to an end for me, a mode of transport. (all be it a pleasant one).

N.B. I have gone off the idea of fixing this bike. After I buy tires and tubes for it i'll be at £50. mudgaurds, im at £70. Not worth it when I can get a new £200 hybrid through the cycle to work scheme.

So that's my plan.

I considered a more road focused hybrid bike but having a road bike already I thought it would be best having a hybrid that errs on the side of comfort and off road. That way I cover more bases. And the MTB style hybrid will burn more calories on the road too so thats a win. As long as I am not massively slower all in.

This is my commute BTW. Only about 1/4 of it is canal path. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/B...4cc9403e9f7!2m2!1d-4.2325374!2d55.8650035!3e1

 

[annirak]

Faster ≠ improve, not to everyone... but yes, probably not a surprise that shop closed

Yes, that's just how I see it. If you want to trundle around on a Dutch bike, go for it. If a hybrid suits you, awesome. If the best thing for you is to ride a Brompton to the train, then ride from the station at the far end, great. That's not me.

For anyone else who's ridden a hybrid but not a road bike, *does* enjoy going fast, or performance or whatnot, and is considering buying a new bike, I simply suggest test riding a road bike first. I wish I had.

For me, the initial draw of the road bike was the lower position. After struggling on some group rides from my work, i just wanted anything to improve on the aerodynamics. I tried aero bars on the hybrid, which helped, but I hated being so far from the brakes & shifters. Soon after getting the road bike, I came to appreciate the additional hand positions too.

 

[beany_bot]

What about putting wider tyres on my roady, and maybe flat bars?

 

[mjr]

What about putting wider tyres on my roady, and maybe flat bars?

Have you got clearance between the forks and stays for wider tyres?

Flat bars will change the riding position, so you may need to change the stem too, plus you'll need care to check that the control levers fit because most flat bars (often 22.2mm) are probably narrower than your drop bars (often 23.8mm) although it's easier to pad a flat bar out than force a flat bar lever onto drops.

 

[beany_bot]

Right. Cycling home. (Road bike) Was trying to think "what's wrong" what don't I like about this. Because the overwhelming opinion is that road bike is the way to go. I Felt I was over stretched and bending over too far. Had a sore (tired sore) lower back. Got home and checked the bike. Turns out my handle bars were way lower than my saddle... Now that's fine for tour de France riders but not an unfit 30 something year old guy who's just got back in the saddle! So I've brought them up in line with the saddle. They were also rotated way round forwards. So I had to reach right round to be on the hoods. So I've sorted that too. So hopefully that will help a lot! Looks like I have loads of space for bigger tyres. What size would you recommend for comfort on gritty canal paths? Thanks. My current tyres are 700C 23. savagely narrow. Im looking for lots of comfort over speed.

This is the space I have to play with. Quite a bit. What you think? 35? 38?

 

[mjr]

Turns out my handle bars were way lower than my saddle... Now that's fine for tour de France riders but not an unfit 30 something year old guy who's just got back in the saddle! So I've brought them up in line with the saddle

That will probably help, but if it's an older bike and you did this by beware any "minimum insertion" marking on the stem.

They were also rotated way round forwards. So I had to reach right round to be on the hoods. So I've sorted that too. So hopefully that will help a lot!

That's OK for testing but I think it's more usual to move the levers/hoods back up the bars and keep the bars so you can reach both tops and drops comfortably as well as the hoods. Moving the levers means redoing the tape, though.

Looks like I have loads of space for bigger tyres. What size would you recommend for comfort on gritty canal paths? Thanks. My current tyres are 700C 23. savagely narrow. Im looking for lots of comfort over speed.

I'd go for 32s if you've got space. My road bikes have generally been the old 27x1¼" which is 32-630 and not particularly slow, but I know racers back then would swap to narrower tyres. Personally, I don't feel much difference between 28, 32, 35 and 37... once it gets up near 50, even I can feel that's bouncy

 

[jim55]

Is it 23s that's on it now, Ul b limited by the width of ur rims as well and don't forget bigger tubes too,iv ran 23s on y road bike but on my single speed I run 28s and it's much more comfortable , it seems to roll better and it is not much slower ( but that's not down to tyres , it's the gearing /my legs ), check how wide ur rims are and go onto Shelton brown site and it'll tell u the widest tyre you can fit , buy the widest u can , by the way it's not always the width that's the limiting factor it's the height of the tyre too ,I had to file the brake bridge as 28s were too tall but there was plenty of room width wise

 

[beany_bot]

Thanks all. My current rims are ~20mm wide. (Outside rim width, unsure inside diameter just now.)

At the narrowest point between the tyre and the bike (on one side) I have ~13mm clearance. So with a safety factor of 3mm that leaves me 10mm. So I should be able to get up to a 43mm Tyre If I like. Obviously that is massive so will probably go for a 35 or 37. Should be much comfier on the cobbles than my 23's.

Just checked my headset. Yeah sadly I am way above the minimum insertion line now. So Will need to replace that.

 

[KneesUp]

I got back into cycling by borrowing/rescuing my dad's road bike from his garage. It has 23s on it. I rode it once - the combination of bartape a nanometre thick, tyres not much wider, hills, terrible road surfaces and a 42/24 bottom gear made it thoroughly unpleasant. At the time I'd say that the worst thing was the gearing being too high for my legs, which hadn't turned a pedal for over a decade. But what stops me getting it back out again is the memory of how thoroughly unpleasant 23s are to commute on if you're middle-aged and on less than perfect roads (or in the case of where I live, far, far from perfect roads) I feel your pain OP.

For reference my dad's bike is now sitting on a pair of 37s (on wheels from a scrapped hybrid) which fit just fine, although mudguards might be a struggle. I haven't ridden it with them on as the BB threads need chasing out, so I can't fit cranks - but I'm sure it will be much better.

On that frame, the chain stays thin where the tyre of the rear wheel sits - I think this was originally to give room for wide guards, as the thin tyres would fit with no problem without the thinning. However, the fat tyres have a higher profile too (the distance from the tread to the wheel is bigger - they have a larger diameter) so the tyre actually goes beyond the narrowed part of the chain stays. It fits fine, but when I ride it I will find out if there is enough flex for the tyre to contact the chain stays under power. Something to bear in mind.

I now ride a drop-bar converted MTB, and one thing I also found was that you need to get your hands 'fit' again - I used to get wrist pain after half an hour or so, but the fit of the bike was fine I think, it was just getting used to it again.

 

[BrumJim]

When I first started on here, I was looking for a new bike for my daily commute.

Some bike shops directed me towards something sensible and hybridish, with front suspension and fat tires. Others, on hearing my desire to beat my car, saw no problem with a full-on race-oriented road bike. In the end, went for a Specialized Allez - alu frame road bike with agressive geometry. This has taken the best and worst that winter and summer have thrown at it. Not always without complaining - the bolts are looking rather rusty, and other components have taken a hammering (particularly the chain), but I enjoyed it.

Recently I have bought a touring bike with hub gears, and converted it to disc brakes. Regrets? None really. I have calmed down a bit (after doing a few Sportives and Audaxes), and no longer treat every communte as a TT. The touring bike combines the practicality of a hybrid, with much wider tyres, more relaxed geometry (takes a bit of getting used to if I have been only riding the Specialized for a while), and stopping power of the disc brakes.

So I'd say yes, as long as:
1) You can get used to the idea of not TTing every commute
2) You've considered a touring bike or Cyclo-cross option as giving you a bit more go-anywhere, stop anytime practicality, but retaining dropped handlebars.
3) You don't get freaked out by two very similar machines (both bikes with 2 wheels) behaving completely differently.

Practicalities:
1) I've got one saddle bag and two retaining clips, one for each bike.
2) Track pump that will take both Presta and Schrader
3) Either stick with one valve design across both, or stick with one valve for each inner tube size, or get lots of practice swapping your pump parts over before you get your first puncture.

 

[davidphilips]

beany bot, know i would change the brake calipers to duel pivot calipers the difference in braking power would be great, some secondhand from a online auction may be picked up for a few pounds just check the drop to make sure you buy right calipers i think looking at picture you would need long drop calipers ie 57mm.