Worth upgrading from a hybrid to a road bike?

[Twilkes]

That’s a very common misunderstanding.
Stand with your back plumb against a wall and lean forward and you’ll need to lean on something or fall.
Now step away from the wall and lean forward your backside can now stick out and you won’t need to lean on anything and you won’t fall over. Think of the cantilever effect.

Interesting, that does make sense, although I guess there would be an optimum distance of your feet from the wall to balance everything out.

In any case, the nose of the saddle is set back around 10cm from the bottom bracket, which seems to be at the high range of things, the angle of the photo and bagginess of the clothes is probably deceptive.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

There's no shortage of nice Reynolds 531 vintage steel road frames around in 25" sizes if you keep your eyes open - and they are often surprisingly cheap to buy as most riders are too small to fit them! One Forum member recently picked up a 25" Dawes Galaxy for £50 which was an absolute steal.

 

[G3CWI]

I upgraded from a Kona Dew Hybrid to a road bike. It was like moving from a family car to a sports car.

 

[Twilkes]

I upgraded from a Kona Dew Hybrid to a road bike. It was like moving from a family car to a sports car.

Sounds good - which road bike, and what size tyres do you use? Are you doing the same kind of journeys on it?

 

[vickster]

I upgraded from a Kona Dew Hybrid to a road bike. It was like moving from a family car to a sports car.

An electric sports car?

 

[G3CWI]

Sounds good - which road bike, and what size tyres do you use? Are you doing the same kind of journeys on it?

I got a Decathlon Triban 3. Great fun. 25mm gp4000 tyres. It was the start of my journey back into proper bikes. This was a few years ago.

 

[PaulSB]

I'm probably completely wrong on this and I'm sure someone will correct me. To my mind that you have to use butterfly bars to extend the reach and drop means your riding position is very wrong. The image you've posted just doesn't look right to me. Your whole body looks to be too far forward which is caused by the butterfly bars forcing you forward by 4-6"

Is the current bike the right size for you?

As regards the specific question, yes moving to a road bike will bring tangible benefits if it is the right size and properly set up. When I moved from hybrid to road 20+ years ago it was immediately worth 2-3 mph on my speed with no extra effort.

I reached a point where I knew the bike was holding me back. I spoke to my LBS and after a lot of discussion moved to a road bike. If you feel you've reached a stage where you can't get more speed and response from your bike it's time to change to something which will allow this.

 

[JohnHughes307]

I used to ride a flat bar hybrid (Giant Escape) and then bought a 2nd hand road bike nearly a year ago (Specialized Allez). Telling thing is that I haven't ridden the Giant since 😁

The most marked difference to me is that I can accelerate when I want to - even when going uphill!!!

 

[Twilkes]

I'm probably completely wrong on this and I'm sure someone will correct me. To my mind that you have to use butterfly bars to extend the reach and drop means your riding position is very wrong. The image you've posted just doesn't look right to me. Your whole body looks to be too far forward which is caused by the butterfly bars forcing you forward by 4-6"

Is the current bike the right size for you?

I'm 6ft5, It's a 61cm frame, which seems to be the right size according to both hybrid and road bike sizing charts. Again, the photo is deceptive, not everything is exactly side on, the jumper is very baggy and hanging down and the head is an oversized cut-out of Greg Lemond.

I took a photo of the upright position at the same time, the butterflies were just so I could get lower on the bike to cut down on wind resistance. I'm sure a photo of me on a road bike would look very similar in terms of riding position to the first one. Maybe I need larger than 61cm but very few makes seem to do that, now that I'm looking.

If you feel you've reached a stage where you can't get more speed and response from your bike it's time to change to something which will allow this.

That's where I'm getting to - I've got some older faster tyres that I'll try with this bike to see what difference it makes, but I semi-seriously visited a bike shop yesterday.

 

[Kajjal]

Going by the photo it looks like your saddle is too high as your leg is locked out and your foot pointing downwards. This would make your body tense up on the bike as you over stretch to the pedals. I had this myself and it gave me various muscle strains until corrected.

 

[PaulSB]

@Twilkes I agree your upright position makes the whole fit look much better. Which still leaves me questioning if the position you have chosen for this bike is correct. If you get my drift.

 

[Twilkes]

Going by the photo it looks like your saddle is too high as your leg is locked out and your foot pointing downwards. This would make your body tense up on the bike as you over stretch to the pedals. I had this myself and it gave me various muscle strains until corrected.

That photo was to compare body angle to a road bike position – that leg is helping me stay upright against the fence, and it isn’t locked out, there’s still an angle at the knee as there is when I’m pedalling, and I don’t shift in the saddle while riding or get any knee pain. As people feel concerned I’ll try dropping it a centimetre, if I don’t notice any difference then no harm done. If I did buy a road bike I would get basic measurements done to make sure the shop were happy with the fit.

 

[PaulSB]

@Twilkes I hope my comments are coming across in the right way. I am looking to be helpful not critical.

On today's ride I watched myself more closely and fellow riders. All of us on road bikes. In terms of position our chins are either slightly behind or directly above the stem. In your first image it appears you are some way forward of this position.

Whatever your decision on buying a road bike I feel you need to check your riding position. At a guess you need to move the saddle back and adjust the height accordingly. This should eliminate what appears to me that your position is throwing you too far forward.

From this I feel you will get more power in your pedal strokes, a more balanced position and probably greater comfort. I appreciate it's difficult to judge from a photograph.

 

[Twilkes]

No it all helps for the future, I'm just not sure how accurate bike fit tips can be from a photo. I sat on the bike with pedal at 6 o'clock and there was still a good 20 degree bend at the knee so I'm happy that the saddle isn't too high, even though I could probably afford to drop it a little. I would move it back if it would go any further, which is probably a sign that it's not a perfect fit, but that may be the angle of the seat tube, a road bike might have more of a natural setback, achieving a more balanced chin/tube alignment.

It's a commuter bike, including having a child seat on the top tube most of the time, and for that it's fine, it's only when doing longer distances that I've thought of switching to a road bike, but only if the difference would be significant, which it sounds like it would be, including long distance comfort.

 

[swee'pea99]

There's no shortage of nice Reynolds 531 vintage steel road frames around in 25" sizes if you keep your eyes open - and they are often surprisingly cheap to buy as most riders are too small to fit them! One Forum member recently picked up a 25" Dawes Galaxy for £50 which was an absolute steal.

If you have any mechanical skills/tools, this is definitely the way to go. As SDJ says, freak sizes like yours tend to go for pennies, and they can be great bikes. I have an old Claud Butler that I picked up for £70, added brake-shifters for an extra 30 or so - £100 and it's an absolute joy to ride.