What exactly is hybrid bike?

[vickster]

I'd sell the MTB and buy a hybrid...or donate it to charity (24" wheels, 3x5 gears - is it a kid's bike?!)

Something like the £200 Carrera Subway from Halfords would do the trick

 

[wisdom]

I view my hybrid as a do-it-all bike, it gets me across countries with luggage, does trail/track/towpath riding in West Yorks with my family, it's also used to transport the weekly shopping home and is used daily for commuting all weathers in all road conditions, it does everything apart from provide fast fun, for that I have a road bike which is useless at any of the former.

I think that sums it up very well indeed.
Mine is a quality hybrid and i can reach speeds just below my roadie if i choose to.

 

[ufkacbln]

It is a historical reference

When mountain bikes came out at first, the advances that accompanied them meant that things like gears were easier to manage, and braking arguable better. ALso flat bars were mpre "normal" for the average cyclist than drops

So there became an interest in buying them for the gears and brakes, but found that the mountain bike philosophy of fat treaded tyres, and the frame angles were an issue

Some companies such as "Caribou" (Avon Valley in Bath) started experimenting with road versions (RTB) which had more road friendly frames wheels and tyres than the ATB or MTB versions

The big companies then picked this up and produced bikes which were a hybrid of the Tourers and MTBs featuuring what was thought to be the best of both worlds.

 

[midliferider]

OK, now you have had your answer. As we expected, you need to to buy a new bike. In this situation I actually agree.
Find a bike which you find comfortable when you sit and ride.
It has sleeker tyres and good gear ratio, minimum of 18 gears (3 and 6)
Then look at whether you can get that on e bay or gumtree cheaper. Next month is likely to be good one as New Year resolution bikes will hit second hand market.

 

[Over The Hill]

What about the touring bike!
I love my supergalaxy, it has road tyres that will cope with a bit of mud or an unmade track. It has gearing to get me up any hill and I never seem to run out of gears going fast. Great for a quick pop to the shop and comfortable for a 100 miler. (Plus it will take a load of equipment or shopping too).

 

[Beebo]

Interestingly enough I was cycling today with a guy who was involved with off-road cycling 25 or so years ago (I think the organisation was/is called The Rough Stuff Fellowship - yes, I know, ). Anyway he was telling us how back then everybody went off-road on what were then known as 'touring bikes', and not many of their members had mountain bikes - nowadays people say, as I did, that they wouldn't take their touring bikes on anything remotely rough, muddy and off-road.

We decided this was down to marketing, as Rickshaw Phil says - the industry has invented more and ever narrower types of bikes and needs to sell them to us by persuading us we need lots of bikes for different uses. Then we need 'hybrids' for intermediate uses like tow paths and comfy shopping trips.

Erm. Well, I thought it was interesting anyway .

I agree, it is all marketing. When MTB's took-off in 1980's no one had suspension, my old Dawes MTB was a rigid steel frame and apart from the smaller wheels the geometry isnt much different from my Trek Hybrid. And I gave that bike as much punishment as a 15 year old could muster, it's still going stong today with the original wheels, my dad uses it for pootling about. Any half decent hybrid should be able to take all manner of rough stuff, not just towpaths.

 

[Bromptonaut]

Interestingly enough I was cycling today with a guy who was involved with off-road cycling 25 or so years ago (I think the organisation was/is called The Rough Stuff Fellowship - yes, I know, ). Anyway he was telling us how back then everybody went off-road on what were then known as 'touring bikes', and not many of their members had mountain bikes - nowadays people say, as I did, that they wouldn't take their touring bikes on anything remotely rough, muddy and off-road.

Erm. Well, I thought it was interesting anyway .

Thee RSF is still going http://www.rsf.org.uk/.

Touring with YHA group in the early eighties we used to take to tracks occasionally. All of us were on 27' *1.25 (or the odd 700C* 30). Usually over well drained Chiltern chalk or in prolonged dry periods. Soft ground gums up mudguards very quickly.

 

[Old Plodder]

The RSF was started around about 1956, 'for cyclist who love the byways & tracks', at that time it was quite usual to ride 'offroad' on a normal bike, & some still ride fixed over rough stuff.

 

[Weeloubylou]

H

In the shops, I find that hybrid bikes look same as mountain bike but with slightly sleeker tyres.

So is that all?

HiYa, if your interested in hybrids have a wee look at the hoy bikes, I have one and it flys