Mountain Biking - Hybrid or Mountain Bike??

Hi All -

Dual Sport Neko or the Skye from Trek? The neko is a new wsd hybrid and the skye is a a hardtrail mountain bike. I have heard from fellow riders that I can turn the skype into a road bike by changing out the tire and that getting a mountain bike would be better in a case like this.

I want a bicycle that can do it all - pavement, gravel roads, and bumpy roads. :D

Any advice on which of the two will suit better???

Cheers,
Debbie

Define "bumpy roads."

A hardtail can do pretty much whatever bumpy road you throw at it. It'll be less efficient on roads, though this can be somewhat remedied with slick tires, emphasis on the "somewhat."

A cyclocross bike will be almost as good (but not quite as good) as a road bike on pavement, especially if you put road tires on it, and great on gravel roads. Depending on your definition of bumpy roads, it may not work, since it's not intended for technical trail.

Hybrid...meh. I'd skip it, but that's just my opinion.

I'm rather suspect of suspension forks on sub-$1000ish bikes.

If it has to be a Trek, for those riding conditions, I'd probably roll CX also. Being a steel fanatic I'd go with the Trek Lane.

On the MTB tip a Trek Sawyer might be nice as well, but it only comes in pretty big sizes.

CX bikes have these two problems:
1. toe overlap (sure I got used to it, but I still hated it)
2. front brake shudder (got used to that too, but what a design flaw).

My CX got stolen, I dont miss it.

Front brake shudder often manifests itself on larger frames with canti's. There are V-brakes and more-and-more disc brake CX bikes available.

I have a 26 inch wheel cheap mountain bike for the winter and a hybrid for the rest of the year. I'm leaning forward more on my mountain bike which means I have more control in the snow. I find the hybrid is more comfortable.

Even though I've ridden everything from a 24 inch BMX, 1970's bikes with a banana seat, road bikes, cruiser, etc. I still find it difficult to determine whether I'm going to go with a 26 inch wheel touring bike, 700c or a 29er. One problem I see with the 29er is that all the tires I've seen specifically for 29ers were not available in semi-slicks. And I can't make up my mind whether I'd go with front suspension fork or rigid, V-brakes or disc. But that's for my dream touring bike. My "non-dream" touring bike is going to have rigid forks, V-brakes and 700c wheels.

There are plenty of semi-slicks that will fit 29er rims. Anything over 45mm is wide enough for most niner rims. Schwalbe Marathon Plus, Big Apple and Fat Franks come to mind. Other manufacturers make some semi-slick fatties also.

There are plenty of semi-slicks that will fit 29er rims. Anything over 45mm is wide enough for most niner rims. Schwalbe Marathon Plus, Big Apple and Fat Franks come to mind. Other manufacturers make some semi-slick fatties also.

Eh well, I think those are pretty slick, not semi-slick. I was thinking more along the lines of a Continental Tour Ride or Michelin Tracker in 2.2 inch or something like that.

A hardtail can do pretty much whatever bumpy road you throw at it.+ rep for quote of the week.