Upgrade Hybrid or go Road?

[I like Skol]

I think the OP already has the bike they want/need. Chasing the elusive weight savings is pointless IMO and doesn't make a difference to a commuter bike. To check the factory weight of my bike I just googled 'GT Traffic 1.0' and spookily up popped images of my hybrid and my MTB
It seems everybody so far has recomended their personal preferance rather than considering what the OP has described as his preffered needs. The mixed use, including some mild off-road, and the otherwise satisfaction with the existing bike suggests to me that the OP might just be better keeping the current bike and maybe spending on some better wheels and maybe dropping down a tyre size.
By the way, the factory weight for my bike was 27-28lb and I know it is more with the junk I have bolted to it but I never find it particularly heavy, even after riding my road bike.

 

[Min]

I think the OP already has the bike they want/need. Chasing the elusive weight savings is pointless IMO and doesn't make a difference to a commuter bike. To check the factory weight of my bike I just googled 'GT Traffic 1.0' and spookily up popped images of my hybrid and my MTB
It seems everybody so far has recomended their personal preferance rather than considering what the OP has described as his preffered needs. The mixed use, including some mild off-road, and the otherwise satisfaction with the existing bike suggests to me that the OP might just be better keeping the current bike and maybe spending on some better wheels and maybe dropping down a tyre size.
By the way, the factory weight for my bike was 27-28lb and I know it is more with the junk I have bolted to it but I never find it particularly heavy, even after riding my road bike.

Yeah I have been toying with the idea of switching to thinner tyres on my current bike/change wheels, but after talking to some of my cycling club friends, trying to "roadify" something thats not will never end quite well - I will end up wanting a proper road bike in the end.

The ideal situation would be to keep my current one for bad weather/muck and keep a road bike exclusively for roads, but thats a luxury I cant yet afford, and if I get a new bike, I will have to sell my current one to use those funds towards the new bike.

Now most of my use (about 80%) is on the road, but I live in the UK where it rains quite a lot at least for a quarter of the year, and last winter was crazy with snow. And the remaining 20% being some towpath riding along the river and some light trail when I ride through parks. Thats why ideally I'd like a road bike that can travel very fast back and forth work but at the same time want it to be able to handle any weather and some light offroad (the remaining 20% of my use). I'd like the drop-handles as well to be able to tuck into more aerodynamic position especially on long stretches of flats and windy days.

My LBS advised some models like the Ridgeback Radium or Advance models to be quite a "tough" road bikes compared to e.g. the Giant Defy which they advised to keep away from offroad as they cant take as much abuse. If not CX bikes seem to be good as well, but expensive...

 

[Longshot]

A lot of this is purely down to self-perception. As a fat, middle aged bloke, I'm never going to look like Wiggins, whatever bike I ride and no matter how tight the Team Sky replica kit I wear. It doesn't stop me from deluding myself occasionally.

My 'hybrid' is probably a good choice for me. I commute sometimes, I cycle for fitness and recreation at the weekends and do the occasional longer jaunt - I did the Moonriders L2B last year and I'm doing the RideLondon 100 this year. I occasionally do some canal paths and similar.

However, since signing up to the RideLondon event, I've been hankering after a road bike because I want to 'look the part'. I just know there's going to be 19,999 whippets on carbon wondering how the Michelin Man got past the guards. I'm also interested in whether I can get more miles for the same effort out of a road bike. My earlier post explained that after a very limited trial, I'm not convinced that the potential benefit is worth the financial cost. I'd be better off spending half of that money on a personal trainer frankly. Even with my personal spare tyre, I average 14-15mph on 20-30 miles rides on my Sirrus. Getting fitter and a bit lighter will produce similar results, in my opinion, to me trying to buy my way to a quicker average speed.

The final and possibly most often discussed advantage of drop handlebars is the hand position issue and I do see the reasoning behind that. Strangely, riding on the hoods of my borrowed racer on Sunday gave me worse hand pain that I have with my flat bar. That might change with time I guess.

I'm rambling, I know but back to the point... I like my bike and need to stop caring about what others might think. Thinking about it another way, I'm probably going to be less embarrassed pushing my hybrid up Leith Hill than a whizzy racing bike! At least if I look like a useless amateur, I can get away with riding [or not as the case may be] like one.

Someone has already said that if you only have one bike and use it for a variety of rides, a hybrid is no bad choice at all.

 

[Min]

A lot of this is purely down to self-perception. As a fat, middle aged bloke, I'm never going to look like Wiggins, whatever bike I ride and no matter how tight the Team Sky replica kit I wear. It doesn't stop me from deluding myself occasionally.

My 'hybrid' is probably a good choice for me. I commute sometimes, I cycle for fitness and recreation at the weekends and do the occasional longer jaunt - I did the Moonriders L2B last year and I'm doing the RideLondon 100 this year. I occasionally do some canal paths and similar.

However, since signing up to the RideLondon event, I've been hankering after a road bike because I want to 'look the part'. I just know there's going to be 19,999 whippets on carbon wondering how the Michelin Man got past the guards. I'm also interested in whether I can get more miles for the same effort out of a road bike. My earlier post explained that after a very limited trial, I'm not convinced that the potential benefit is worth the financial cost. I'd be better off spending half of that money on a personal trainer frankly. Even with my personal spare tyre, I average 14-15mph on 20-30 miles rides on my Sirrus. Getting fitter and a bit lighter will produce similar results, in my opinion, to me trying to buy my way to a quicker average speed.

The final and possibly most often discussed advantage of drop handlebars is the hand position issue and I do see the reasoning behind that. Strangely, riding on the hoods of my borrowed racer on Sunday gave me worse hand pain that I have with my flat bar. That might change with time I guess.

I'm rambling, I know but back to the point... I like my bike and need to stop caring about what others might think. Thinking about it another way, I'm probably going to be less embarrassed pushing my hybrid up Leith Hill than a whizzy racing bike! At least if I look like a useless amateur, I can get away with riding [or not as the case may be] like one.

Someone has already said that if you only have one bike and use it for a variety of rides, a hybrid is no bad choice at all.

The hybrid is probably the best all-rounder for most people. But road bikes do go a lot faster, especially on long distances, when you want to go really fast (esp on flats and downhill) - with my experience of using my hybrid, it really does feel slower especially on windy days. As for the hand positions, I think thats a matter of getting used to really.

I think I found the perfect bike for me though - the Ridgeback Advance 4. They're currently on sale at my LBS for 599. They're not full race-style road bikes, but more like commuter-road bikes that have larger 28mm tyres and geometry design made to deal with bad weather conditions including light touring/offroad/trail. Its closer to a CX bike, very versatile. The other options are Ridgeback Radium and Genesis Vapour...will have a test ride on those later.

 

[Cyclist33]

Looks a nice ride, that, and seems to tick the boxes you drew earlier