Mountain Biking - Hybrid VS. Comfort...Help!!!!

OK. For those of you that might have advised me on another thread I had regarding, keeping my DSB Schwinn Ranger, please bare with me. :p

I road my Schwinn tonight for the last time. I rode it down to Target and returned it for a full refund. The thing was driving me nuts tonight, the way it was shifting. The writing was on the wall. I needed a better bike.

Now I am heading to LBS in morining to get outfitted. However, something has dawned on me. Do I need a Mountain Bike? Or would a Hybrid suit me better? My typical ride involves 25% street and 75% path. It may lean more towards street if you average a longer period of time.

It occurs to me that many in this area are Mountain Bikers that like to Jump, RAmp, Climb etc. That is cool but for me I just want to pedal hard and go fast while getting a good work out. The roughest thing I will ride on is a gravel path that is mainly just flat.

Maybe I should be looking at a Hybrid? My only problem is I don't want to look like Angela Landsbury heading down to buy a tin of muffins. The Hybrids look a little more like they were designed for the geriatrics. I am only 34 and still get carded for buying beer sometimes:beer:

So I don't want to look like a dork. But I also want to buy the right bike for my riding style. I am strongly considering the Trek Voyager 200 http://www.trekbikes.com/bikes/2004/citybike/navigator200.jsp (http://) Whoops...I guess that is a comfort bike. Oh well, it looks like Hybrids are about the same.

Again, I know this is the Mountain Bike area of the forum. THat is why I am asking, "Do I need a Mountain Bike?"

Well, it all depends on you really.

Do you see yourself ever heading off into the woods to tackle some singletrack (thin narrow trail through the woods), or are you gonna be a tarmac terror?

If you're going to be mostly road, go all the way and get a road bike. For a person your age (mine too) you're going to quickly get bored with a hybrid. You're either gonna want to go fast and pedal hard or go off-road. You're too young to be on a hybrid.

Seriously, if you're going to devote your free time to cycling, you should go ahead and get a full fledged road bike. Decent ones start at $600 and go up from there!

L8R

My biggest problem is I don't have the time to devote myself to much of anything but work and family. I can only manage to carve out 30 minutes to an hour per day to ride and during that time I want an agressive work out.

I think you are right, I don't think I want a Hybrid. I think I will look at Mountain Bikes for now.

I'm in the same boat. Wife, 3 year old son, 8 to 5 job, lawn care, paying bills, Church. Time is a precious thing. Another thing. The closest trails are a good 45 mins to 1 hour away. That leaves little time.

I have a road bike too. I get up before work and depending on how early I do get up, I have a good 45 mins to 1 hr to ride before I have to get in the shower. I'm NOT a morning person, but it's the ONLY time I have to exercise.

I suggest you eiher get an entry level road bike, or a used mid-level road bike. The endurance you'll get from riding a road bike is incredible. Your fitness level will shoot through the roof if you ride 45 mins a day.

Now, if you want a bike that's a little more versatile and one you "could" take off-road, buy a decent mountain bike and an extra set of tires (slicks or semi-slicks) put those on for your asphalt rides and then swap out to knobbies when you go off-road. It may not be as fast as a true road bike, but it's a good workout.

BTW, with practice you'll get FAST at swapping tires out. Less than 5 mins per wheel.

L8R

Road Biking appeals to me but I don't think I am up for that right now. We have a nice 6 mile one way bike path on the east edge of our city. It is out in the country side with no auto traffic to deal with. I like that aspect. It is only a 2 mile ride to get on the dike (path) and so it is pretty cool.

I wish I could get up in morning like you. For one thing I hate mornings:o and another, I have to get kids up, dressed, fed and taken to daycare by 8 AM. Kind of puts me in the dark for riding bike. lol

Thanks for your help. I will go check out the Trek Mountain Bikes in morning and likely come home with one.

Oh yeah, I'm riding in the dark! That's what lights are for, and those red blinking lights!

Beats the rush hour traffic.

BTW, where in KS are you? My sister lives in Lawrence (sp?).

L8R

If you're only going to ride on the road, I'd get a road bike. If you're looking at a mixture of road and gravel tracks then you'll need something tougher. If you're not looking at riding anything more extreme than reasonable gravel tracks a tourer or hybrid would be fine. If you think there's a possibility you might want to ride over slightly rougher terain I'd get a hardtail mountain bike with a pair of semi-slick tyres. I wuldn't want to ride a 'comfort' bike for any distance.

It might be worth looking at the Gary Fisher 29's if they're within your budget - I'm not convinced about riding them on more extreme singletrack, but on reasonable tracks they look a good proposition.

The ideal bike for road and gravel trails is a Cyclo Cross (CX), the traditional off-road racing bike. It looks like a road bike, but is designed to take off-road tyres. Modern versions come with triple chainrings, and all the rack/fender/waterbottle braze-ons you need. They are pretty light, but stick a luggage rack on and you can haul a commuting/shopping/light touring load with ease. Has to be the most versatile style of bike around, and is one of the coolest.
It differs from a touring bike in having a more sporty geometry, and higher bottom bracket, for better off-road clearance.

For a good work-out in less than an hour, I take my moutain bike to a trail nearby, importance is not the distance you cover but the speed you move your legs. Five to ten miles to start should work, then increase by increments. I see bikers, mostly road, pushing the largest crank they have with the ugliest frawn on their face, they're pumping iron but not working out.
If I have more than an hour, ideally three hours, I take the road bike. (kept a 24 years old road from my racing days in younger years).
A young kid should not prevent you from riding, have a two year old girl that I bring often along in a trailer (not on difficult trails though :p ). Need to stay away from traffic though. Wife comes along occasionally and sometime represents me at church from Easter to Xmas, while I prey for more bicycle lanes and trail preservation.
A good bicycle roof or trunk rack is good to bring the bike anywhere and escape out of a city (or while the family enters church on Easter Sunday for example...:D ).
Oh yes, the lawn, I get someone to cut it and if it burns during the summer, then let nature follow its course. :beer:

Two bikes I purchased in the last five years I would recommend to the occasional/week-end rider:
Mountain: IBEX Ignition-1 (see www.ibexbikes.com, their trail bikes are awesome bargains)
Hybrid: Bianchi Boardwalk (wonderful hybrid, nothing sissi about it... :confused: )

I'm in Salina KS. It is west of Lawrence a couple hours. We don't associate with those Lawrence people much, they wear to much blue and red (KU) for those of us that bleed purple (KSU). :p

I like to ride by myself. It is the only time during the day wear I can let my brain turn to mush. I also end up going with my 4 year old on a second ride every night while he takes his little bike. I enjoy that one too but it is a different type of deal.:D

Thanks for all of the advice guys. I am going to go look at MOuntain bikes in awhile.

Short answer: Get a hard-tail mountain bike and slowly adapt it for the road.

Long answer: I've been riding a mountain bike (mainly for commuting) for about 10 years. Over that time, I've added a lot of things to make it more enjoyable. These include slicker tires, bars with curved ends, fenders, lighting, clipless pedals, etc.

I recently picked up a nice old road bike at a garage sale ($60 for a bike with Shimano 600 components in very nice shape!). I now ride this more than the old mountain bike which has become my bad weather / utility bike. I enjoy riding this, and I find that I go about 2mph faster for a 2-3 hour ride. However, riding on the roads with the old mountain bike is still fun and enjoyable, and in fact, sometimes I appreciate having the low gearing for hills.

From your previous posts, I get the impression that you need to keep the price reasonable. Also, you probably don't have enough experience to know how much road vs. trail riding you'll be doing 1-2 years from now. I think a mountain bike will give you the flexibility you need to be able to ride both on or off road and give you the best value/money. A new road bike or cyclocross is just too expensive unless you're sure that's what you want.

Update:

For those of you unfortunate enough to be following this story: I just bought a new bike. I bought a Trek 4300 and so far I love it. It has the Alivio Group and alloy pedals. It is flat black with some silver.

Road it 12 miles tonight and........................well it is different from the DPS bike. However not majorly different. It shifts MUCH nicer and is much lighter. I know this bike will last.

I kind of equate the DPS bike to a cheap date. It cost like nothing and was fun to ride. However I new it wasn't anything I would want to marry. I think I have found a wife in the 4300. So please don't come on here and tell me she is trash. :D :beer: LOL

The addiction begins......