Recreational & Family - Mountain Bike, Hybrid or Comfort ?

have been going back and forth on this one and still do not have a clue what to get.

Right now I am a runner. I would like to get into biking. I also plan on buying my wife and daughter (6) a bike too. Plan on doing it this weekend, possibly.

For my wife, a comfort/hybrid for sure since she will only be using for rides in the neighborhood and not to much use.

I would like to use my for fitness rides on the roads, fun rides with the family and some riding on easy trails. I may do a little off-road riding at times but I doubt anything that serious. Not sure what to do.
May try a duathlon sometime for fun. Not to win anything.

What is the advantage of hybrid, comfort over mountain bike. What is the difference between hybrid and comfort.

The LBS store I like tends to sell a lot of Raleigh bikes. How good is Raleigh, any favorites there.

For my bike, I am looking to spend between 400-600.

Thanks for any help.

Sounds like you need to talk to the folks in Rec and Family.

Hi,

My wife and I switched from mountain bikes to road bikes last month, and both love them. The mountain bikes were getting fewer and fewer miles, and my wifes is set up bascially as a hybrid. As for the road bikes I bought a traditional road bike and my wife selected a Cannondale SR500, basiaclly a road bike with relaxed seating position. She really likes it. And her average rides are 5 - 10 miles so not a hard core rider. I would suggest go to a large or several dealers in your area with enough bikes in your size so you can ride different types and brands. They are all different. As first a hybrid might feel better, but after a few weeks with our road bikes we are very pleased. As for your daughter, I would consider a tag-a-long if you would like to ride together. We use a trailer for our son (2-1/2), and our daugher loves her tag-a-long. It's a Burley, they are nice, but expensive. Adams makes a decent lower cost unit. Multiple speed is a plus. Right now we use the mountain bikes as the tow units, but we also have a tandem and a tandem tag-a-long, so next year when our son is a little older we can cruise in one massive machine.

John

When I had only one bike and would use it for everything from road riding to single track trails, I had no choice but to have a mountain bike. I bought a cheap extra set of wheels and had my 2.5 knobbies on one set and my 1.5 city tires on the other rims. I road centuries on my mountain bike with 1.5 city tires. A comfort bike, even equipped with knobbies will not handle anything but the easiest single tracks. It will do so-so on just about anything else. So, you have to make some decisions on what type of riding you will be doing. You basically stated that you want to do all types of riding and that brings us to a dilemma on what type of bike to buy.

I have a raleigh C40 hybrid - I like it a lot and I use it to commute (8 miles daily) and for weekend rides. I have gone on rides 40-50 miles on it without trouble. The big drawback that I see is that the raleigh seems to be rather heavy compared to other bikes. It has been trouble free for two years (it replaced a hybrid stolen from me) and I ride mostly on pavement - but also have been on packed dirt/gravel roads without incident.

What is the advantage of hybrid, comfort over mountain bike. What is the difference between hybrid and comfort.


First off let’s discuss the difference between hybrid and mountain bikes.
A hybrid is just that, a cross between a mountain bike with some (not many) characteristics of a road bike. The wheel base is longer than a mountain bike, and the gears are usually lower than a road bike. You sit upright, which creates more drag, but you sit upright. It has a sturdier frame than a road bike in case you have to take it on packed gravel, or a smooth dirt path, but it is nowhere as strong as a mountain bike that can do just about anything you throw at it. It rolls faster than a mountain bike, but it would not be advantageous to try and keep up with a roadie. To break it down in a nut shell, a hybrid is an in-between bicycle for the average Joe who wants to ride, but is not interested in burning down the road, or riding in a dried up creak bed.

The difference between a hybrid and a comfort bike is basically a comfort bike allows the rider to put both feet flat on the ground when stopped, and a comfort bike has the more standard configuration. I am not sure about long rides on a comfort bike, but I have two metric centuries on my hybrid, and am going to do another one very soon.

PS if it is a hybrid you are looking for, look at one without seat suspension. On the lower end models (like mine) it will give you nothing but grief. I had an H of a time getting things adjusted until I switched to a solid seat post. Maybe it is all the cushion I carry but I have not noticed much of a difference without it, and I am not sold on my front suspension yet ether.

I am in a similar boat - looking for something more comfy for my back and debating a Raleigh SC200 DX or waiting a bit more and going for a recumbent of some sort.

Arrrrghhhh... buying a bike is not as easy as it seems. I have had easier times deciiding on buying a house and automobile!!

:)

Anyone here thought of recumbents as an alternative to a comfort type bike?

Even then there are so many choices.... th Townies, Rans Fusion style bikes...different recumbents....comfort bikes that seem more like mountain type bikes.... sigh......
:)

For me the only way to go is 'bent. Since going 'bent the road bike hasn't been out of the garage! Fun, comfort, and visibility. Oh, yeah, did I mention fun? For the OP it could be a worthwhile consideration as long as you are not considering entering any sanctioned competitions.

Time for my two cents! I am a total amateur by comparison, and just wanted a better, more comfortable bike to replace my 15yo Giant Sedona Mtn Bike (they didn't have hybrid or comforts back then!).

From my shopping, it seems as if hybrid = 700 tires, and comfort = 26in. Both generally offered a more upright seating position and some rise to the handle bars. As my riding is street or groomed trails, I elected to go the 700 route (after much debate and going back and forth). My tires are 700 x 40, so they have some decent width and tread for loose gravel and the occasional rough trail. After riding if for a couple months my old Giant Sedona feels awful!

Oh yea - I also wanted my bike to look "good". Seems like a lot of the bikes in these categories would look good for my grandparents to ride! I tried to focus on function and components, but don't want to look old before my time!

I'm always intrigued by the "bents", and wouldn't mind getting one someday - but I can't justify the price today given the amount I ride. I ended up getting an REI Novara XR Hybrid on sale for $400. Very happy with it.