Hybrid Bicycles - The Touring Hybrids?

OK, who else does bike tours on their hybrid? Or am I alone amid the vast membership of the drop-bar brigade? :)

My hybrid touring list - a couple of times I used a train for part of the day's travel (riding through Camden, NJ, is for the brave.)

October 2007 - overnight from Edison, NJ, to Red Hill and back.

November 2007 - Kimberton, PA to Cherry Hill, NJ and back the next day.

December 2007 - Kimberton to Philadelphia to Doylestown to Bethlehem (on December 24!) and then back to Kimberton.

February 2008 - Edison, NJ to somewhere in Jersey and back the next day.

April 2008 - Kimberton to Green Lane, back the next day.

May - Kimberton to Edison and back - bulk of the trip was by train.

June - Pittsburgh to DC

August - McKees Rocks, PA to DC

November - Kimberton to Elverson, PA and back.

June 2009 - McKees Rocks to DC, then Baltimore to Annapolis, crossing the bay by car, and then through Delmarva up to Wilmington to the PA border.

Me and Roark, my bike, hanging out at Fort Frederick, MD.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3274/2569967211_2f5edcb20b_b.jpg

Mine... all my long rides this year have been done on this bike and it sees some incredible mileage as a commuter / utility bike as well.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/trek2009commute4.JPG

I did a short tour (150 miles) on Long Island, NY on a Trek 7300. Nice ride, but for the future I'm looking at something like a Surly LHT. I think the bike will be more efficient, allowing me more miles in the saddle.

Why no bar ends, Neil? It seems like the ability to change hand position would be welcome on long tours.

There is nothing about the white bike that distinguishes it from a very typical touring bike. The frame, the gearing, the brakes, the wheels, everything about it is very similar to what is found on a touring bike. This is a hybrid only in the very broadest sense of the word.

Why no bar ends, Neil? It seems like the ability to change hand position would be welcome on long tours.


The Fort Freddy photo was in June 2008. I've since added Ergon grips with small bar ends.

You rode a long way before making that change. It seems like it wasn't really a problem for you. I've been riding without bar ends for a couple of weeks now, I don't like it and my longest trip is 5 miles. I've read too many good things about the Ergons to not get some the next time I buy grips.

I notice you changed saddles a few times. Are you using the Brooks under a gel cover now?

You rode a long way before making that change. It seems like it wasn't really a problem for you. I've been riding without bar ends for a couple of weeks now, I don't like it and my longest trip is 5 miles. I've read too many good things about the Ergons to not get some the next time I buy grips.

I notice you changed saddles a few times. Are you using the Brooks under a gel cover now?

Currently I ride a Brooks B-17. No gel cover.

People have been touring on non-drop bar bikes for as long as there have been non-drop bar bikes.

But what really worries me is that you don't have a talisman mounted on the bike...no stuffed animals, no wizard figurines, no Kilroy action figures, not even the first road kill you came across....you can't be a real tourist without one. :D

I never tour without Paddington on my rack trunk, watching my back.

http://stores.amdlcollections.com/catalog/6b9b_1_3583_1.JPG

People have been touring on non-drop bar bikes for as long as there have been non-drop bar bikes.

But what really worries me is that you don't have a talisman mounted on the bike...no stuffed animals, no wizard figurines, no Kilroy action figures, not even the first road kill you came across....you can't be a real tourist without one. :D

I never tour without Paddington on my rack trunk, watching my back.

http://stores.amdlcollections.com/catalog/6b9b_1_3583_1.JPG

I wear a whistle around my neck. Does that count?

I wear a whistle around my neck. Does that count?

hmmm....no...but maybe if you paint evil eyeballs on each side of it. ;)

There is nothing about the white bike that distinguishes it from a very typical touring bike. The frame, the gearing, the brakes, the wheels, everything about it is very similar to what is found on a touring bike. This is a hybrid only in the very broadest sense of the word.

Oh please. 65er's is just a Trek Hybrid he put drop bars on. If his bike can't be a hybrid, let me ask you: Apart from handlebars, what is the difference between a touring bike and a hybrid?

To see what serious touring folks are riding, Adventure Cyclist Magazine is a great place to start. And a short answer is - Yes. Hybrids do comprise many people's bike-of-choice for riding through such far-out places as Tibet or the outback of Australia.

It's a matter of personal choice, familiarity, and comfort.

If I was to do a long trip on bike, I would take my mountain bike. I do love my hybrid (Specialized Sirrus), but my mountain bike has always been comfortable to ride for hours, and I would be doing long distance on the Erie Canal path here in NY, crushed gravel, so MTB tires would be beneficial. Some spots the gravel gets loose in corners!

for a road long trip, yes, the Sirrus, soon as I get Ergon grips/barends for it ;)

To see what serious touring folks are riding, Adventure Cyclist Magazine is a great place to start. And a short answer is - Yes. Hybrids do comprise many people's bike-of-choice for riding through such far-out places as Tibet or the outback of Australia.

It's a matter of personal choice, familiarity, and comfort.

AC's John Schubert, in his annual review of bikes, suggests the Trek 7.2 and 7.3 as good 'hybrid' choices for budget tourers. The strong points about those two models are:

- high spoke count wheels;
- steel forks;
- ease of attaching front racks and panniers.

Yup. I'm just waiting for the smallest excuse for getting rid of the carbon-fork that came stock on the 2007 7.5 FX we both have. Then I'll be prowling for a good steel fork.

Oh please. 65er's is just a Trek Hybrid he put drop bars on. If his bike can't be a hybrid, let me ask you: Apart from handlebars, what is the difference between a touring bike and a hybrid?

Touring bikes, road bikes and mountain bikes are all hybrids. And apparently, hybrids are touring bikes!

If you could use a front rack would you leave the trailer at home for shorter tours?

If you could use a front rack would you leave the trailer at home for shorter tours?

Perhaps. A loaded front rack alters the handling of a bike in a way a trailer doesn't. So I'm not sure I would even if I could.

I've done overnight and three day 'credit card' tours without the trailer. High point of one of them was when I checked into the Hotel Bethlehem and the doorman took my bike up to my room as luggage! :thumb:

Mine... all my long rides this year have been done on this bike and it sees some incredible mileage as a commuter / utility bike as well.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/trek2009commute4.JPG

I really like your conversion, am planning something like that for mine.

Oh please. 65er's is just a Trek Hybrid he put drop bars on. If his bike can't be a hybrid, let me ask you: Apart from handlebars, what is the difference between a touring bike and a hybrid?

This is classic touring geometry... note the slack frame angles, long rear stays, and the fact this bike is steel which is important to most touristas.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/kuwiewhitedoor1.jpg

My Trek is a commutourer.

:)

Heya Sixty_Fiver: On your white Trek convert, what brand of kick-stand do you have there? I'm looking for something similar for my Trek, and I like the stability of a bi-pod that lifts the front-wheel up.

Thanks!

Heya Sixty_Fiver: On your white Trek convert, what brand of kick-stand do you have there? I'm looking for something similar for my Trek, and I like the stability of a bi-pod that lifts the front-wheel up.

Thanks!

Pletscher... makes on the road servicing a delight as you raise the rear wheel too.

Pletscher... makes on the road servicing a delight as you raise the rear wheel too.

Great! Thanks - off to hunt now... :D

I'm preparing my '09 Trek 7.2 for touring. I've been away from cycling for about 12 years, am now 58, but the 7.2 that I bought in May is the most comfortable bike I have ever ridden. First, my '72 Ideale 39 saddle was installed, and a Blackburn rear rack that I had at home. Using a Performance handlebar bag and an old pair of Nashbar panniers, I made a four day, three night 250 miles out and back in September. I tired of waiting on my LBS for "real" panniers, racks, etc. and I ordered Ortliebs and a Tubus Tara yesterday from good old Wayne at thetouringstore.com. I have an old set of Phil Wood hubs somewhere, 40 spokes, I think, and plan to have a pair of wheels, or maybe just the rear, laced up when I start popping spokes on the original equipment.