Fast hybrid for newbee

[wideload]

Hello everyone,could one of you enlightened souls come to my rescue.I am thinking about buying a hybrid,for mainly road ,occasional dirt/muddy track.Need to plough a few miles to build mass round knees after surgery.have looked at TREK 7500,SPECIALISED SIRRUS.A

[markhr]

where are you based?

If you're in London then I highly recommend you go into Condor cycles and talk to the guys there.

http://www.condorcycles.com/

http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&hl=en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGIH_en-GBGB250GB250&q=wc1x+8pp&um=1&sa=N&tab=wl

If not, then have a look through Evans cycles website, work out which bike you want, go to the nearest shop and test ride the bike. Then find a real bike shop, i.e., not Evans, to actually make your purchase.

edit: you're in/near Birkenhead - although judging by how few bike shops there are there Liverpool/Manchester may be a better option for you?

http://www.thomsonlocal.com/BusinessFinder.aspx?phrase=bicycle+shop&where=birkenhead&searchid=c3606de3-9fe4-9d48-9a1f-a56b6230b88d&origld=&ld=&originalWhere=

[wideload]

thanks for the info.just had a look at a boardman in the dreaded "halfords".lovely bike though.good frame and spec is first class.just a shame it seems to have skinny road tyres,with so many mtb features.google boardman bikes or go to halfords direct.if youre not a snob of course.

[markhr]

thanks for the info.just had a look at a boardman in the dreaded "halfords".lovely bike though.good frame and spec is first class.just a shame it seems to have skinny road tyres,with so many mtb features.google boardman bikes or go to halfords direct.if youre not a snob of course.

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/

total snob :D - if cycling plus gave the Performance road 8/10 it's probably worth test riding. I wouldn't go for it but only because of the flat bars (easy enough to change). Check other bikes (either 700c cyclocross/hybrid or 29" mtb - they're effectively the same wheels) if you're worried about tyre sizes and clearance.

I can't really see that much to separate boardman bikes from any other brand though - they just seem to be fairly conserative "industry standard spec" bikes.