What makes a hybrid bike a hybrid?

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jnb

Veteran
Location
In a corner
Just been browsing through various websites to look for costs and options for a new bike for someone who's not very experienced.

So I went to evans cycles and did a search on Dawes and started looking in ascending price. Ignoring the ones which have no mudguards, panniers etc their first option is a "hybrid". Specifically this - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/dawes/consulate-2009-hybrid-bike-ec018639?query=dawes.

Not actually something I'd be looking at but it made me wonder why is this a "hybrid" bike? As far as I can see it's just a fairly old fashioned bike with nothing that special about it, OK it's not a racer, or a mountain bike, or a tourer but why then is it not just a "bike"?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/dawes/consulate-2009-hybrid-bike-ec018639?query=dawes
 

swee'pea99

Legendary Member
As I understand it, a hybrid is sort of a cross between a racer/tourer type of bike and a mountain bike. Designed to go on rather than off-road, it uses 'mountain bike' type stuff like flat handlebars and fat tyres, but a more road bike like frame geometry and no overtly off-road stuff like shock absorbers. Supposedly gives a more forgiving ride on potholey roads and more comfort for those who find the idea of dropped handlebars a bit daunting.
 

Ant

New Member
The term 'hybrid' seems to be applied to just about any flat handlebar bike that hasn't got suspension. It covers an extremely wide range of bicycles and is a pretty non descript generic term as far as I can see.
 

stewlewis

Well-Known Member
My hybrid, a Dawes Discovery 401 has:

Fat tubing and MTB geometry frame.
Disc brakes. (MTB)
Front suspension. (MTB)
700c wheels. (Road)
Flat bars. (MTB)
Adjustable riser stem (?)
Higher gearing (Than MTB, lower than road)
Slim low profile tyres (Than MTB, fatter than road)
Shimano Alivio gearing (MTB)

I would say it's hybrid closer to a MTB that rolls faster on the roads.
But thats just this model..............
The model posted looks to me like a flat bar upright touring bike.

If I was buying again I'd choose a flat bar road bike. Disc brakes and front suspension is heavy and just not required on the roads. I have yet to take to a drop bar 'racer' road bike.

It's kind like music: Is it house music, techno, prog house, garage, tech house, IDM, ambient house etc etc etc.

Categories are just there so you know what to ask for in a shop.
There must be a model 'timeline'. Defined bikes at intervals and hybrids are inbetween, sometimes close to one definite than the other.
 
I described my Ridgeback Velocity as a mountain bike orientated hybrid (lower gears, wider tyres and more upright) and used to describe my sirrrus as a road orientated hybrid (higher gears, narrower tyres and road geometry); its now described as a road bike since I fitted drops. Both have v brakes and 700c wheels but they are nothing like each other but they were both a hybrid of types.
 

jimboalee

New Member
Location
Solihull
The first use of the term "Hybrid" for a bicycle was when some clever bike manufacturer decided to put 700c slim wheels and tyres on a bike which had MTB gearing.

The joke at the time was 'for people who can't decide whether they want a MTB or a tourer".

The first 'Hybrids' were constructed from Hi-Ten so were useless for serious touring; and had 700 x 28 tyres, so were useless for off-road dirt trail and woodlands.

The customers were town folk who didn't want to ride a MTB round town and didn't want to pay the premium price of a fully blown tourer.

As 'old school', we laughed, but the concept was revolutionary as it brought back the 'town bike' with extremely low gearing for steep little climbs with a bag full of shopping.

I once considered a Specialized Sirrus, but plumped for the Subway 8 from Halfords because of the Nexus brakes and hub gearbox.

Since then, the Subway has been stolen and I have acquired a Halfords Apollo County from 1982 with Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub, steel rims and leather faced brake blocks. A far superior bike altogether.
 
I describe my Giant M Zero as a hybrid, mtb frame & wheels, disks, no suspension, road(ish) gearing and slick tyres. More mtb than road, but definitely a cross between the two extremes.

My last 'hybrid' was a road bike with flat bars and fatter tyres.

Poles apart, but still both mashups of the two types of established bikes.

'Hybrid' means a million things unfortunately.
 

Randochap

Senior hunter
Yeah, it's a meaningless term that reintroduced the "city bike" after the MTB craze thankfully headed back into the hills.
 

Garz

Squat Member
Location
Down
HJ said:
Basically it is what jimboalee said...

Adding that some places call them 'town & trail' and to a lesser extent 'commuting' categories I have noticed.

I wont knock the style of bike as it introduced me to cycling again after about a ten year break, and did the job well.
 

jimboalee

New Member
Location
Solihull
Having scratched my head some more, I remember when the 'hybrid' first appeared.

There were MTBs, and some pretty fancy ones were becoming available. There were tourers, and some pretty expensive ones were already available.

The mid-ground was occupied by what was then called the 'city' bike. It was a very heavy upright with extremely high gearing **!!**! Much like my Apollo county was when it was new.
Manufacturers HAD to call their new creation something. "Town & Country" makes me remember Romany for some reason. They were touring specialists. Something is ringing bells in my head that Romany presented a bike that was based on a MTB, but had 700C wheels and flat bars ????
 

HJ

Cycling in Scotland
Location
Auld Reekie
There is also the classification of Trekking Bikes which are lighter and good for commuting and light touring...
 

Randochap

Senior hunter
Garz said:
I wont knock the style of bike as it introduced me to cycling again after about a ten year break, and did the job well.

I don't think anyone -- certainly not me -- is knocking the "style" of bikes in question. It was a welcome sight to see commuting bikes return to showrooms, after the mountain bike had crowded everything practical for road use out of shops for years.

It's just the meaningless "hybrid" nomenclature in question.

I've noted before here that I was amazed to see on my last sojourn in UK (2007) how many crappy dept. store MTBs there were on the road, in a country I grew up in and where I learned what a functional bike looked like.

While there are still plenty of MTBs on the streets here, by far the greatest number of bikes sold recently are in the hybrid and road category, and MTBs are most often seen to be ridden on the street by kids, indigents and those unable to afford to move into the new era of sensible cycling.

It's great to see in stores now, a bicycle for every occasion and use. That includes MTBs, but they are moving back where they belong: as a niche machine for a relatively small cadre of offroad enthusiasts.
 
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