Hybrid Bicycles - Suggest a hybrid - price point around $850

Hello all,

I'm looking to purchase a hybrid for both commuting and fitness. I haven't developed any brand loyalties yet so I'm open to all suggestions and I have about $850 to spend. I'll be spending more time on the road then off and I'm looking for something that's sturdily built and comfortable to ride. I'm looking to ride about 50 miles a day, up to 100 a day on weekends.

Thanks for any suggestions!
-Scott

I might as well be the first since somebody will say it....for centuries, you may want a road bike. Otherwise, there are so many choices out there it's hard to know where to begin. All the major bike makers have hybrids, Specialized, Trek, Giant, Jamis, etc.

^ I concur on the road bike. I love my hybrids but to make them comfortable enough to ride 100 miles would...well it would be expensive and probably not be too successful.

Hello all,

I'm looking to purchase a hybrid for both commuting and fitness. I haven't developed any brand loyalties yet so I'm open to all suggestions and I have about $850 to spend. I'll be spending more time on the road then off and I'm looking for something that's sturdily built and comfortable to ride. I'm looking to ride about 50 miles a day, up to 100 a day on weekends.

Thanks for any suggestions!
-Scott

Specialized Sirrus Sport is a good way of going. http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=45858&eid=4356&menuItemId=12189It can also be converted to drop bars and it would work well as a sport tourer..

I am a relative newbie to this forum, but I am always amazed when someone asks for a recommendation for a hybrid in a hybrid forum,(not in a general biking forum or a road bike forum,) and the first response is 'get a road bike'.

I have last year's version of the Giant Rapid 2
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bikes/model/rapid.2/3875/36256/
I think of it as a flat bar road bike, but it is essentially a hybrid, and I plan on doing a century on it next week.

^^^Probably cause road bikes are more efficient at centuries than hybrids, eh? Hell I know I could do one on a trike if I had to but why?

^^^Probably cause road bikes are more efficient at centuries than hybrids, eh? Hell I know I could do one on a trike if I had to but why?

What he said.

It's technically possible to ride 100 miles on a hybrid but...hell you could ride 100 miles on a skateboard if you were masochistic enough.

Some people just don't get it!

These people don't know what they are talking about until they have tried it. First of all, terrain plays the MOST important factor in the type of bike aside from type of riding. You will find you might do some of everything, so don't limit yourself to a road bike if you want to run fire trails. Where I live, (don't get me wrong I have a couple of road bikes) you can't go too far without some need for a slighter wider tire. I did much of my touring on Rails2Trails and a flat out road bike would be killer. In regards to the terrain, your gearing is going to play the biggest factor and road bikes just simply won't offer the available options that a hybrid will.

Secondly for 850 dollars you can get a pretty decent hybrid where as that is limiting you to an absolute entry level road bike. It is all a matter of preference and applicability to ones needs. I started with a Giant FCR3 (around 500) and with 850 could have gotten the FCR2, and a few others. Specialized makes some really nice Globes now that are more commuter hybrids, which is why I personally went with Giant. As soon as I sat on the bike, I know I was going to go places.

3k miles a couple centuries and a lot of touring experience later, I can honestly say, I could not have made a better choice. (At the time) I have since moved on to buying a dedicated road bike for roading and upgrading that Giant and dedicating it as a touring/commuter type of bike.

Good luck and enjoy the ride no matter what you buy.

Up to 100 a day on weekends, plural. One or two centuries on a hybrid is one thing, but if this is going to be a frequent occurrence, do yourself a favor and get a bike that is built for long miles. I got a hybrid myself and would and could definitely take it on a century but I prefer my light weight, narrow tired, comfortably positioned, properly geared, carbon framed road bike.

How about giving us a more accurate picture of the miles you'll be riding. Centuries every other weekend or something?

I agree, Road bike is faster, probably what is looking for in the long run. But to just assume he is not going to use this bike for anything but road riding is ignorant and could be a complete waste of money for him. He did find his way to the hybrid forum and seems to understand what he is looking for to a degree. Please give him enough credit to not just not throw away what the OP had asked for in the first place. Aside from all this, in his original post he says he will be doing more on road than off, which clearly implies some off road.

To the OP: If you will ONLY be riding on the road, do yourself a favor and buy a road bike. If you have any concept of riding on light trails, fire roads, things of this sort, stick to the original plan/thoughts.

Also, there could be a fair bit of misunderstanding as people refer to road bikes differently. Some people will consider anything with drop handlebars and non-MTB tires a road bike. This is not true either. For example, on my hybrid, I have drop handlebars and ride on 700x32 or 28's, but my bike is clearly geared as hybrid mix road/mtb bike. It has a MTB derailleur, friction bar end shifters and long pull brakes which are all more MTB traits than road. But, the bike looks like a road bike as it is a road frame (compact) and utilizes 700c wheels instead of 26 inches.

Until I geared it properly, I would have trouble ever calling it a true road bike.

I'm guessing we are wasting our time talking to this guy. Obviously a newb with 2 posts, probably came on for a day for the heck of it and we'll never hear from him again. Band geek? YOU THERE?

He he. Yeah, you're probably right. without knowing more of exactly what he's looking for, we might be just wasting our time. But he'll probably check it later tonight or something.

As said before, Hybrids make excellent do it all bikes. Road, errands, MUP's, rides with the little ones, or significant others. Comfortable tires and riding positions, easy to talk from, etc, etc, etc.

If you are looking for Hybrids, ride as many as you can find. One will rise to the top. Buy that one.

I love my Hybrid, BUT, I only speak for me.

Oh heck, I love my hybrid, too and my hybridified MTB. I managed to ride my hybrid 60+ *kilometres* (not miles) in a day once and it hurt. Everywhere. My backside, my back, my arms etc etc. This bike was adjusted for me btw. I know that it is possible to ride that bike 100km but...even with my bar ends (thanks Les) it would still hurt.

This stuff about hybrids limiting distance is getting kind of old. My wife and I regularly rode 50-60 km. (30 - 40 miles) last summer. She rides a Trek 7300 WSD and I ride a matching 7300. We didn't get tired, sore or discouraged at all. Actually we enjoyed these rides and plan to go further distances next riding season.

Furthermore there have been numerous posts about people doing self supported tours long distances on hybrids. So are we talking effeciency, time, or distance? I think those factors have a lot of bearing on the matter. Hybrids are never going to be as efficient as road bikes but that doesn't mean that centuries, for instance, can't be covered comfortably and in reasonable time. IMO it all depends on what one wants from the ride.

I was one of those people and posts. Let me tell you, I think hitting some of the climbs over the Appalachians, heading into The Rockies, and the Allegheny would have been even more brutal if I was on a road bike standard.http://www.alphabluetech.com/kjhanlon/images/Picz/Albums/Tour08/slides/P5310121.JPGhttp://velospace.org/files/LoadedRig.JPG

This stuff about hybrids limiting distance is getting kind of old. My wife and I regularly rode 50-60 km. (30 - 40 miles) last summer. She rides a Trek 7300 WSD and I ride a matching 7300. We didn't get tired, sore or discouraged at all. Actually we enjoyed these rides and plan to go further distances next riding season.

Furthermore there have been numerous posts about people doing self supported tours long distances on hybrids. So are we talking effeciency, time, or distance? I think those factors have a lot of bearing on the matter. Hybrids are never going to be as efficient as road bikes but that doesn't mean that centuries, for instance, can't be covered comfortably and in reasonable time. IMO it all depends on what one wants from the ride.

+1 It also depends on which Hybrid. The late model Specialized Sirrus is equally at home with drop bars as with flats. I saw a few on the MS150 so the whole not as a efficient over distances is patent horse hocky.

There are may be better purpose built bikes out there for road racing; however, if it was all I had I would drop bar my '07 Sirrus and use that. It also would work just fine for touring. I'm not going to differentiate heavy or light as I think the bike is capable of both. The only place I believe it would fall down is Cycle-crossing due to the geometry being too tight for fat (greater than 38c) tires.

I am 60+, and I am a long way from a daredevil. I use the upright posture of the hybrid to slow me down! Yes, slow me down on a long and or steep descent; 30 mph is plenty for me. My balance is not as good as it was when I was 30 or 40 or 50. I am more comfortable and more secure on more rubber.

In addition one of the reasons I ride is for exercise, so more efficient just means I am burning less calories for the same distance. If a skate board was as enjoyable to me as a bicycle, I would ride it without feeling either guilty or foolish. So I go slower, I don't really care. If I ask a question, it is because I would like to know the answer to my question, not to the question you think I should have asked or simply the question you felt compelled to answer.

I am 60+, and I am a long way from a daredevil.

at 60+ I'm sure you've heard the phrase names can be deceiving. It was given to me as a joke based on my occupation.

gotta love the forums, the OP posted and ran yet the thread has a life of its own. Everybody arguing about nothing.

Nobody has any idea what kind of riding the guy does or wants to do yet we all seem to know what's best for him! :lol:

Take a look at the Jamis Allegro 2.0, it's well within your price range and I think it would fit your needs very well. I bought a Jamis MTB, then decided not to do much singletrack off road, so I converted it to a more roadworthy touring hybrid but I'd have been very happy with a Jamis Allegro 2.0, that I'm sure of, LOL, hindsight is 20/20.

http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebikes/street/allegro/09_allegro2x.html

If all of us would just try to stick closer to the original question, we wouldn't frighten so many people off. And, in the process, maybe even help answer his question.

Many go right to "the road bike is always the best" without even finding out if they are actually interested in one.

There are many reasons to prefer a Hybrid. Just try to help, and let the buyer decide.

Rant over!

Take a look at the Jamis Allegro 2.0, it's well within your price range and I think it would fit your needs very well. I bought a Jamis MTB, then decided not to do much singletrack off road, so I converted it to a more roadworthy touring hybrid but I'd have been very happy with a Jamis Allegro 2.0, that I'm sure of, LOL, hindsight is 20/20.

http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebikes/street/allegro/09_allegro2x.html

Looking at the sample above, it looks like my Hardtail MTB with slick tires. Sure the bar grip may be more ergo and the seats maybe more softer, however the overall frame geometry looks similar.
In fact most hybrid gearing I find shares similarities to my hardtail mtb. That Jamis weighs 28.5lbs! That's lightly based on the smallest size too! :twitchy:

OP should go to Target and get the Schwinn Tourist.

one more time for good measure.....THE OP IS GONE and likely never to return is my guess! We don't know what he wants or needs. Why are recommendations still coming?

I'm guessing we are wasting our time talking to this guy. Obviously a newb with 2 posts, probably came on for a day for the heck of it and we'll never hear from him again. Band geek? YOU THERE?

Yes, I'm here. I was put off by the original reply by you suggesting a road bike when I had a specific HYBRID question and the subsequent pig headed posts by yourself reaffirming your original post and the rudeness of this post that I've quoted.

I thank those of you who actually took the time to answer my original question.

FWIW, I upped my price range and bought a Trek 7.5 FX
-Scott

Ah, the century rider returns! Welcome back. Sorry I offended you. A bit sensitive in the new year are we?

..and if I'm not mistaken, I suggested a Trek in the opening response...you're welcome. ;)

Specialized Sirrus Sport is a good way of going. http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=45858&eid=4356&menuItemId=12189It can also be converted to drop bars and it would work well as a sport tourer..

I agree :)

http://members.cox.net/midorix/Specialized%20Sirrus.JPG