briney11

Last night as I'm about ready to make a decision on what bike to go with, I find out that the trail that I would ride a lot is actually not paved as I thought that it was (I'm new to this area). And then my wife reminded me that I would need to ride on gravel in order to get out of the way of vehicles too. So maybe a road bike isn't the best choice??? I mean I don't have to ride on that trail. Just thought that it would be nice. Unless there are tires that I can get for a road bike that can handle gravel and a bit of off roading???? I never knew that getting into biking would be so stressful

acidfast7

I'm not convinced that a road bike is the optimal choice for commuting.

briney11

What would you suggest? I want to eventually work myself up to be able to ride to my gym which is a 28 mile round trip. That one is all on concrete. Would a hybrid be best or should I go mountain bike? In fact my wife suggested that if I get a mountain bike then I could get some road tires for it and then buy new wheels with mountain bike tires mounted to then if I wanted to go off road.

briney11

If I go the hybrid route, what kind of tires would fit the bill for concrete and off road?? I would say around 75% concrete and 25% gravel/rough trail.

acidfast7

28 miles of concrete? That sounds very Stalin-esque.

Are you in Europe, if so, you haven't different options that most people from the US on here won't know about.

Cyclocross bikes are good for covering some distance.

Let us know where you are and if you're going year round and what the budget is (I.e. do have have the bike already and want to modify it or would you rather buy a new bike.)

briney11

I'm in Iowa. Most likely won't ride when it gets crappy in the winter. I don't have a bike right now. Looking to stay under $250.

gear64

I can't remember the exact brand anymore, but for years I used a style called inverts on my mountain bike. They could be pumped up to about 80 psi to primarly ride on smooth center bead, or deflated to abut 60 psi. to make use of the inverted knobbies covering most of the tire. I was doing way more city/gravel riding than pure trails, but didn't work too bad on the rare trail either. Eventually I got a CL city bike, and CL road bike, then put true mountain tires back on the mountain bike. Still the mountain bike mostly just gathers dust though.

acidfast7

hills or flat?

and 28 miles round-trip or each way?

that's not so much money ... people in the US will direct you here:

Save up to 60% off Road Bikes, Free Ship 48, Schwinn, GT, Kestrel, Fuji, Motobecane and more Road bikes. Authorized dealer for Schwinn, GT, Kestrel, Fuji, Motobecane, Mercier, Gravity, Dawes road bikes. Shimano Carbon Road Bikes, Titanium Road Bikes,

which, i must admit that I am not so familiar with.

just some quick advice: buy helmet, lock and lights first ($100 will be quite tight for all)

if it's flat think about a single speed bike.

I drove through Iowa once (lived in Texas) and it was quite flat, IIRC.

briney11

28 mile round trip. It's pretty flat. The few hills that are on this route are a small grade but they are long. So you aren't going up anything steep, but are a a constant uphill grade for a mile or better.

WestPablo

Either fix or replace the shifters on your mtb and get some new tires. The wider and slicker, the better!

hybridbkrdr

If you're in Canada, then the CCM Excelsior is close to $250 CCM Excelsior 700C Hybrid Bike | Canadian Tire
Otherwise, I'd be looking at minimum $450 for the Diadora Treviso at Sports Experts.

TransitBiker

I have never thought that road bikes were good for commuting. In my opinion they are for competition and fitness, not personal transportation.

Hybrids and commuter specific models are what peope should START with, and if they need a more offroad capable model, you have some hybrids with front shocks and seatpost shocks. My bike has a seatpost shock, and while normally it stays rigid, if it goes over a pressure threshold, it will absorb the movement vs transmit it into me the rider.

The Fuji Crosstown would probably be a better thing for you.

- Andy

PaulRivers

Your road conditions aren't the biggest thing then, the price for a decent new hybrid bike is around $400, the price for a decent new road bike is around $800 - in other words, for buying new your budget is to low, but a hybrid is closer to your budget. If you can buy used you can probably find a hybrid at that price.

You're in Iowa, where all the highway road shoulders are made of gravel rather than paved huh? It's definitely a dilema...

rpcleary

Personal take: Go hybrid or Mountain. Many hybrids are effectively mountain bikes with a slightly lighter frame and with slick "road" tires. I'd suggest either a hardtail mountain bike and swap out the tires with less knobby ones or Road tires, or go the hybrid route. Cyclocross is another option, but it may be outside your price range.

briney11

That definitely looks like the roads I'll be traveling on.

TransitBiker

Just get some lights & tape & ride on the right quarter of the pavement.

Whomever thought gravel shoulders was a good idea needs to be pasted with honey and left in bear infested woods.

- Andy

rpcleary

Amen to that. On those roads, drivers will have plenty of room to pass you when they need to. I'd say just go with a hybrid. It'll be great on the pavement, and will still leave you the option of the gravel if you need to get off the road for any reason.

JoeyBike

Get a fat tired road bike. Like Surly LHT. You can put skinny tires on it, or up to 2.1 fatties. Two bikes for the price of one. Strip it down - you have a road bike (not a racing bike). Load it up and you have a grocery getter supreme or hit the road for five years on it. Trucker can do it all when it comes to road surfaces.

I run Conti Traffic 2.1 tires at 65 psi for paved roads and about half that pressure for the worst rutted farm roads and trails. Pumped up to max pressure the contact patch is about like a road bike 1-2 cm. Tires will be hard as concrete too. And honestly I almost never let pressure out. If the surface gets too rough I just shift up a couple of gears and get up out of the saddle for a while. The Trucker is a Looooong bike frame - lots of shock absorbing steel. Beautiful ride.



Gravel. I laugh at gravel.



I can even plow through a fair amount of loose sand with this setup.



A cyclocross bike would be another obvious choice if you want something more elegant and light weight (and expensive) than a Trucker. High end cyclocross bikes generally don't come with many braze-ons for racks and such. They are racing bikes, not utility bikes.

WestPablo

If you can handle going slightly uphill for approximately one mile, then a single speed with a wide tire (that can handle the occasional swing off road) is all you need.

Checkout the SE Draft single speed at www.performancebike.com. It's classified as a "Fitness" bike @ $290

If that costs too much, then just go to Uncle Wally's and checkout the Mongoose Sinsure @ $130

* I still say that your mtb is the best way to go, if you're strapped for cash!

PaulRivers

Technically that's true, but unrelated to anywhere near the price range the Op is asking about. Lower end cyclocross bikes do usually come with braze-ons for racks, fenders, etc.

PaulRivers

There isn't really a practical difference between a front suspension mountain bike and a hybrid, except I think the hybrid has in a cheaper price range.

This reminds me that there are 2 things I think the OP should avoid:

1. Do not buy anything with rear suspension. Cheap rear suspension eats up a lot of your power, and more sophisticated rear suspension that doesn't do this is not in your price range at all. Seriously, riding with my dad on my $1500 full suspension bike, rear suspension on vs rear suspension off is the difference between me struggling to keep up with him, vs him struggling to keep up with me.

(I find front suspension unecessary, because it absorbs big bumps but not so much small ones (fatter tires are more effective at absorbing small bumps), but it's doesn't eat up your power badly like rear suspension does)

2. Larger tires ride of road stuff much easier than smaller tires. Most hybrids use the larger 700c (road bike sized) tires, I wouldn't buy something with the smaller 26" tire for your uses - it's a little slower and it's a bumpier ride.

rpcleary

Great advice. Stick with hardtail, anything that has rear suspension and is sub-1000 is just a liability generally.

treadtread

You may have to look at used bikes, unless you buy online (which has its own set of problems). I'd suggest getting something like the Trek FX 7.1/7.2, or Specialized Sirrus, or Fuji Absolute. Those should be available easily on craigslist in your price range, and you can test ride them to make sure that the size is correct and the bike isn't too small or too big etc. Bikes like this usually run 700x32 tires, and those should be okay for gravel (you can fit fatter tires too, 700x35 or even 38).

puckett129

For roads like this, I'd want a road/touring bike with the ability to take some wider tires. That can be done for $250 in the used market if you know what you're looking for and have patience. If you need a ride right now or can't increase your buying budget this could be an issue.

WestPablo

That's just it! The OP has no idea what to look for in this situation. He's a complete novice. Sending him into the used market, is like tossing him out of the nest to fly. It's gonna be a total crap shoot for a novice, without a bike savvy friend to assist him.