Hybrid Bicycles - So, what is a hybrid supposed to look like?

Manly men can ride any damn thing they want...

:lol:



Amen brother!

i think a hybrid is anything that's not just MTB, road, track. in other words everything else. here is a long answer http://bicycling.about.com/od/howtoride/a/hybrids.htm i'm not saying it's the right answer:rolleyes:

Try to find a Trek FX-series bike. Then you'll understand. Some hybrids are more like a mountain-bike. Such as the 7000-series from Trek. Others are more like road-bikes in terms of the speedy and nimble ride.

Hybrids are like a pendulum swinging between a mtn-bike and a road-bike. Some are more toward the road-bike, while another may be more like a mtn-machine. With a little observation, it's easy to see if Trek 'X' is more this way - or that is more like a road-bike. It's depending on which you favor.

Happy Trails!

Great point actually. So, with that in mind do most hybrid owners consider a flat bar road bike a hybrid?

i think a hybrid is anything that's not just MTB, road, track. in other words everything else. here is a long answer http://bicycling.about.com/od/howtoride/a/hybrids.htm i'm not saying it's the right answer:rolleyes:

:crash:

That's a good explanation. I just don't like the bike in the pic. Real men don't ride a mixte.:D

Lots of real men ride mixte frames.

Ya know, speaking of mixte frames... Guys get a top tube that gets in the way...we have stuff to protect too! Girlies get a step through frame and don't have what us guys do to hit, and most are more limber, as well. Never made sense to me!

I think any of the 80's mountain bikes, for the most part, would be considered "hybrids" by todays MTB standards. I have a mid-80's schwinn (forgot which model) 10 spd lower end mtb. Fixed it up repainted frame, and its a VERY upright ride. Comfortable to cruise around town at a leisurely 8-10mph. Really bad for hills, however. My bike has a (factory?) 6in riser bar on it, which aids in the upright position. I dont ride it much because of the huge gearing it has on it, but its great to make my way to the bank or store. Its about as upright as my girlfriends Trek 7100WSD.

put slicks on a mtb and a big riser bar, I would call that a hybrid. Or even drop bars and slicks on an mtb. Knobbies and flat/riser on a road bike would be the same. Cross bikes are kinda hybrids, really. putting mountain gearing on a road bike, would again make it a hybrid.

So many combinations or set ups. too upright and too plush and you step out of the hybrid and get into comfort/beach cruiser though!

edit: I think a true hybrid should have a kickstand. Hybrid is all about convenience, and nothing is more convenient than a kickstand! OK thats my opinion the only bike i wouldnt put a kickstand on is a purely road bike or purely mountain, or anywhere else where they might fall down while riding...bad. cruising around or riding bike paths, they are great (I would know, my mtb/path bike has no kickstand, PITA!)

An eighties Schwinn that came with a six inch riser, although it might look like a mountain bike,
was probably marketed as a city bike or all-terrain, a hybrid category in my thinking. Probably
most people who post here would agree. Most of us would include comfort bikes too, not sure
about beach cruiser. If it has multiple gears, sure.

A nice overview of some of Merlin's Ti cruisers. Click on pictures to make them bigger.
http://old-metal.blogspot.com/2009/06/merlin-newsboy.html
http://gallery.mtbr.com/data/mtbr/1092/medium/IMG_1720_11.JPG

Good picture. A hybrid can any bike you want it to be. The marketing terms don't matter. What matters is what YOU think.

My 80's Kuwahara mountain bikes are really touring / expedition bikes... the frame angles are identical to a touring bike and they are simply designed to run 26 inch wheels (although 700c will fit).

They are a very versatile platform on which to build a bike be it a touring bike, townie, fixed gear, IGH commuter...

http://www.trekbikes.com/images/bikes/2010/large/districtcarbon_black.jpg
Is this your next hybrid? Trek District Carbon. Belt drive single speed city bike. $3359.99

No.

http://www.trekbikes.com/images/bikes/2010/large/districtcarbon_black.jpg
Is this your next hybrid? Trek District Carbon. Belt drive single speed city bike. $3359.99

What makes that a hybrid?

Looks like a single speed road bike with a belt drive instead of chain drive.

Single speed road bike is a hybrid. It's not a normal road bike. Your Sirrus is more of a roadie than this ride! Belt drive single speed with any style handlebars is a city/utility bike, which is or isn't a hybrid. I'll probably do a flat bar conversion.

No.


You know you want one!

Single speed road bike is a hybrid. It's not a normal road bike. Your Sirrus is more of a roadie than this ride! Belt drive single speed with any style handlebars is a city/utility bike, which is or isn't a hybrid. I'll probably do a flat bar conversion.

See, here I'll disagree with you.

The geometry screams road bike. The only thing that makes it not a typical road bike is the single speed and belt drive.

What makes it a "utility" bike? Where's the provisions for a rack? Where's the provisions for a fender? Just how wide are those forks?

After all, what is a hybrid but a combination of things? The belt drive, well, that isn't typical for any bike. Hardly can be considered a hybrid thing.

The single speed part of it could maybe make it a hybrid.

Overall, I wouldn't qualify it as a hybrid. Just a single speed road bike with a special belt drive.

http://www.trekbikes.com/images/bikes/2010/large/districtcarbon_black.jpg
Is this your next hybrid? Trek District Carbon. Belt drive single speed city bike. $3359.99

It's a single speed road bike... it would be easy to see that with derailer gearing or an internal gear hub.

When I think of your classic city bike I think upright... fenders, chain guard, rack, and lighting.

Personal definition of a hybrid: A bike with 700C wheels and gears with a long wheelbase that is capable of riding both paved roads and dirt and gravel trails - for extended periods of time/miles.

Synopsis: No carbon frame. Aluminum and steel. Jury's out on a carbon fork.

Personal definition of a hybrid: A bike with 700C wheels and gears with a long wheelbase that is capable of riding both paved roads and dirt and gravel trails - for extended periods of time/miles.

Synopsis: No carbon frame. Aluminum and steel. Jury's out on a carbon fork.

If a road bike and a mountain bikes can be carbon, why can not a hybrid? If road bikes can be single speed and mountain bikes can be single speed, why can't hybrids?

My Marin Mill Valley has road wheels and road tires. It can go on dirt roads, but no better than a drop bar road bike. Any mountain bike can be ridden on roads as long and far as you want to go. Why is 700 the magic number and no other wheel size can be used to make a hybrid?

My urban bike, a Marin Point Reyes, is clearly a hybrid. But it has 26" wheels. Is it not a hybrid because of this? I think 700Cs would fit on it, but it came stock with the 26ers. And I like them. They roll plenty fast for me.

Mikeshoup, good points. Not much of a utility bike, but most messenger's bikes don't have racks and fenders, either. A bike that is primarily used to deliver goods is a utility bike, right?

But yeah, it's a Madone road bike frame. I was thinking it's kinda a hybrid between road and track, with the freewheel, single speed belt drive giving it an urban bike feel. I don't really know what it is, but I like it. I think when you have to qualify, such as 'single speed' road bike, or 'flat bar' road bike, you are kind of admitting it doesn't exactly fit the road bike category and is something different. I guess I use 'hybrid' as a sort of catch-all. Most of the belt drives I've seen have been on city bikes, so I thought this was actually more a hybrid of road and city bike than road and track.

Mostly road, true, but I think of a road bike as a multi-geared bike.

Lots of real men ride mixte frames.

+ 100:thumb:

Ya know, speaking of mixte frames... Guys get a top tube that gets in the way...we have stuff to protect too! Girlies get a step through frame and don't have what us guys do to hit, and most are more limber, as well. Never made sense to me!

I think any of the 80's mountain bikes, for the most part, would be considered "hybrids" by todays MTB standards. I have a mid-80's schwinn (forgot which model) 10 spd lower end mtb. Fixed it up repainted frame, and its a VERY upright ride. Comfortable to cruise around town at a leisurely 8-10mph. Really bad for hills, however. My bike has a (factory?) 6in riser bar on it, which aids in the upright position. I dont ride it much because of the huge gearing it has on it, but its great to make my way to the bank or store. Its about as upright as my girlfriends Trek 7100WSD.

put slicks on a mtb and a big riser bar, I would call that a hybrid. Or even drop bars and slicks on an mtb. Knobbies and flat/riser on a road bike would be the same. Cross bikes are kinda hybrids, really. putting mountain gearing on a road bike, would again make it a hybrid.

So many combinations or set ups. too upright and too plush and you step out of the hybrid and get into comfort/beach cruiser though!

edit: I think a true hybrid should have a kickstand. Hybrid is all about convenience, and nothing is more convenient than a kickstand! OK thats my opinion the only bike i wouldnt put a kickstand on is a purely road bike or purely mountain, or anywhere else where they might fall down while riding...bad. cruising around or riding bike paths, they are great (I would know, my mtb/path bike has no kickstand, PITA!)

Exactely what I wrote in a different posting a few days ago ( think C&V, "The history of the mixte"). Makes no sense. My son call old bikes w straight toptubes for "nutcrackers". He like my mixtes. Sadly it looks like he is going to be taallll, so no mixtes (unless costum made) for him as an adult I guess.

I, too, look at almost any bike that was converted to "utility" duty, by addition or subtraction of niche defining accessories, a Hybrid. (Put riser bars on a road bike, regear and re-tire a mountain bike, add fatter tires, and more upright saddle, etc, etc, etc.)

Sure makes for a rather broad category - but I think that's where we have gotten to. We just may be the largest category of bikes out there.

I, too, look at almost any bike that was converted to "utility" duty, by addition or subtraction of niche defining accessories, a Hybrid. (Put riser bars on a road bike, regear and re-tire a mountain bike, add fatter tires, and more upright saddle, etc, etc, etc.)

Sure makes for a rather broad category - but I think that's where we have gotten to. We just may be the largest category of bikes out there.

Yup. The numbers back it up.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=584469

The broadness of the hybrid's definition is exactly why we lobbied for a hybrid specific subforum.

That being said, my personal feeling is that there are some limitations to frames and setups, not wheel sizes.

I think this has been rehashed over and again, but the marketing of a hybrid is/was narrow. It was an upright positioned, 700 wheeled, long wheel based bike with riser bars, canti brakes and mtb shifters and gearing. However, a comfort bike is a hybrid too because it mixes aspects of mtb's and cruisers, or maybe even old baloon tired bikes.

But under no circumstances is a track frame ever a hybrid. The geometry, as mentioned before, is of great importance to the classification of the hybrid. Look closely and you will notice that the rear dropouts on a track/fixie frame are neither verticle nor horizontal in the usual way, but they are rear facing and refered to as track fork ends. Where as this does not limit one who wants to build a converted SSFG from other bikes (ie. road, mtb, tourer, city or hybrid), it does not change the type of frame one uses.

My first SSFG conversion (now my wife's roadster) was modeled after my tried and true '95 trek 750 using a nearly identicle frame with horizontal dropouts. This bike will never be a track bike any more than my 750 will ever be a road racing bike (trust me, I had to try).

The long and the short of it is the you cannot change the frame's designation just by changing drivetrain, gearing, shifters etc. For this one can refer to the motorcycle industry, there are many models to choose from with three main drive trains, chain, belt and shaft, all of which may be used on any type of motorcycle, as long as you want to convert it. However this does not change what sort of motorcycle the drivetrain is on.

Mikeshoup, good points. Not much of a utility bike, but most messenger's bikes don't have racks and fenders, either. A bike that is primarily used to deliver goods is a utility bike, right?

That doesn't make the bicycle utilitarian. It makes the rider utilitarian.

If a messenger uses a messenger bag to deliver goods, the he/she could use any bike for utilitarian purposes. A messenger does not prefer a bike for its utility purposes, rather for other reasons.

That being said, some of the other District models would be great utility bikes as they actually have provisions for racks and/or fenders and look to have wider forks.

However, they still do not qualify as hybrids.

Is this a utility bike? No rack, no fenders.
http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/rr147/Rod_Smith/IMG_1470.jpg
Oops, knobby tires. How about with slicks?
http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/rr147/Rod_Smith/IMG_2270.jpg

My urban bike, a Marin Point Reyes, is clearly a hybrid. But it has 26" wheels. Is it not a hybrid because of this? I think 700Cs would fit on it, but it came stock with the 26ers. And I like them. They roll plenty fast for me.

Although I questioned his definition, to be fair to panther, he stated that it was his "personal definition". The working definition of hybrid that we have come to through discussions such as this one is "Your bike is a hybrid if you want it to be."

My personal definitiion of hybrid bicycle excludes only ordinaries and kick bikes.

I think we have to remember to differentiate between what a bike's primary design, how they are marketed, and how individuals utilize the bicycle.

The brain trust at Trek markets the District as a city bike and it could be used as such although it lacks the defining features and design of a traditional city bike.

My Trek 7500 is many things... yesterday it was a touring bike, today it is my commuter, and it is very utilitarian as it is well designed for towing a trailer.

The 28/38/48 mated to an 11-34 in the rear gives it some massive gear range and if I want to treat it like a road bike (and not get blown out the back) I can swap in a tighter road cassette and can also throw on the cross wheels and tyres if I want to get really dirty and see some trails.

Is this a utility bike? No rack, no fenders.

Oops, knobby tires. How about with slicks?



Your bikes pull trailers which is very utilitarian... they are thus defined by what they do but if they were standing alone a person might describe one as a mountain bike and the other as a hybrid.

Folks who see my Trek identify it as a road bike, touring bike, hybrid, commuter, or are just simply baffled as it is such a blend of parts.

My previous post on how I define a hybrid is my personal thoughts. It's not intended to be a law. It is how I look at it. Regards carbon-frames: Fine on the road usually, but I wouldn't take it off-roading. Nope.

But, that 7.9 might be a fun bike to have,,,,, heck, it even has dropouts for fenders and such....

My previous post on how I define a hybrid is my personal thoughts. It's not intended to be a law. It is how I look at it. Regards carbon-frames: Fine on the road usually, but I wouldn't take it off-roading. Nope.

I understand that, see post #78, I was just questioning why in your thinking a hybrid had to have 700c wheels. Also why the ability to ride dirt roads and paved roads for long time/distance would rule out any road bike that can run 28cm wide tires or any hardtail MTB.

I understand your thoughts about riding off road on carbon frame, I am not suggesting this Trek is a capable off-roader, but that is not a requirement to meet my personal definition of hybrid.

But, that 7.9 might be a fun bike to have,,,,, heck, it even has dropouts for fenders and such....

I know a guy who did messenger work for a decade on a Trek OCLV. The paint was completely worn off the parts of his frame that his lock touched regularly. It took a beating and held up well, they aren't as fragile as some think.

... Regards carbon-frames: Fine on the road usually, but I wouldn't take it off-roading. Nope.

While I'm sure you aren't alone in your thoughts, there is the 2010 jamis (http://twentynineinches.com/2009/08/07/jamis-team-carbon-29er-for-2010-sneak-peek/) coming out, and boy is it nice (parden me while I wipe my chin).

Is this a hybrid?
http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/rr147/Rod_Smith/IMG_3078.jpg
Human powered merry-go-round, combining elements of many different bicycles.

Nope^^^. That's a tarantula.