Well, he's got nice legs! :D

Think of your Hybrid as a commuter,has a trendier ring to it. The term Hybrid seems mundane,Commuter has it's own appeal these days. Example : roadie, fixie, tri .

I would say it is a road bike with front suspension, not a hybrid.

Un huh. I've got a Cypress 2005 model, and keep it for improved, but rough trails. I love it. I recently got a touring with drop bars (Randonee), and couldn't handle the drops. I switched to a moustashe bar, and am starting to love it too. It does work way better on pavement, but it's kind of become a hybrid, too. On those flat bars, by the way, the size is slightly different, so you may have to choose between replacing the shifters to match the bar, or compromising on the bar. I was very tempted by the On One Midge, but couldn't part with the cash without being sure it would work for me.

I guess I'm saying I have two hybrid bikes, one with one set of compromises, the other with a different set.

Of coure they are bad.....Super Bad!

I think the idea that with a suspension front fork your going to get a better ride or maybe bomb off a cliff, naw. The front fork adds alot of weight and you are starting to see some of these bikes with solid forks again, which is good. Raleigh for one and Jamis.

Responding to a few comments:

1) No, putting a North Road or similar handlebar on a road bike does not make it a hybrid. It makes it a customized/modified road bike.

2) The gearing on many hybrids is exactly the same as many mountain bikes. In fact, hybrids often use the same front cranks, rear cassettes, front and rear derailleurs as used on mountain bikes. However the gearing can run from standard mountain bike to standard road bike, or be anywhere in between. Most will tend to have the more hill friendly gearing of a mountain bike.

3) Hybrids are not "fragile." Many have quite rugged frames. The shocks are lighter duty than a mountain bike, of course not all hybrids have shocks. A cheap hybrid might have cheap wheels that could get beat up, but you get what you pay for. They might get beat up on tough mountain trails, but a decent hybrid be fine for just about anything else.

4) A hybrid weighing 40 pounds is a rare beast. Most are around 30-32 pounds. Fitness hybrids tend to be closer to 25 pounds, with some of the higher end, road bike-oriented ones being down around 21-22 pounds.

One need only look at the different types of hybrids available from Specialized to see how much variety exists in bikes classified as hybrids.

Specialized Sirrus Pro:
- Lightweight A1 aluminum frame with carbon fiber fork, seatpost, and seat stays
- flat handlebar with slight sweep
- 50/39/30 front crank
- Shimano 105 12-27t rear cassette
- Shimano 105 rear derailleur
- Crank Brothers eggbeater pedals
- 700x28 tires

i.e. a lightweight, flat bar, near-road bike with road bike gearing.

Specialized Expedition Elite:
- A1 aluminum frame, heavier weight
- Relaxed geometry with slight crank forward pedal position
- Suspension fork w/63mm travel
- Suspension seat post
- Adjustable stem
- Wider, more padded seat
- 42/34/24 front crank (super granny gears)
- 11-32t rear cassette
- 26"x1.95" tires

i.e. several pounds heavier, cruiser-type gearing & tires comfort bike.

Both are considered to be hybrids. The Specialized Globe and Crossroads hybrids lie between these extremes.

Other companies have different takes, some being very close to mountain bikes.

Thus it is hard to generalize about hybrids as there are so many different types.

Wait until Jet Travis shaves his legs!!!

Unfounded claim. Don't worry about it Yen. One of the things that hybrids are known for doing best is running errands.

Most of the commuter or "practical bikes" in Amsterdam or Japan look suprisingly like hybrids.

Echoing a couple of others here, you've answered your own question: ride what YOU like!!:) 'Hybrids', including slicked-up mtb's, get little love on bike forums mainly as a result of a bit of snobbery mixed with several oft-repeated half and un-truths. In my case, I'm still on my 'roadified' mtb, although I've extensively tried/tested, even at one point bought, other bikes including full-on road bikes. ("My name is X, and I'm a bike-insecurity addict!") Why? Simply because, for the kind of riding I do, and in the conditions in which I ride, I've found that (so far, anyway), the 'slicked mtb' is what works, AND enables me to cover my typical routes as or more quickly, more reliably (no punctures!), and more comfortably than any other option. The bike cost a bit to get it to the state it's in now (alu. hardtail frame, rigid carbon fork, discs, 1.5" slicks, weight about 22lbs.), but it simply works: it's, FOR ME, the most effective form of bicycle I've discovered so far.

It's still too *%##@ cold!!! to wear shorts. I'm waiting til my race on May 13. My bet is no one will notice, probably not even my wife.

Not fragile in the sense of likely to break in half, but fragile in the sense of not optimized for utility riding and requiring much more maintenance and general tinkering per mile than a typical car, while delivering less reliability. Keep in mind that the whole point of a hybrid is that it's not optimized for anything. That's both the good part and the bad part.

Problems that I have experienced: Derailleur gears that get fouled by road sand and salt during the winter and require adjustment. Tires with the flat resistance of Formula One rubber. No fenders. Brakes that require a new set of pads every month or so and wear out the rims every winter. An exposed chain drive that eats clothing and catches spray, salt and road crud. In summary, a better gear range than the British 3 speeds of the 1960s, but inferior in all other respects.

Most of these problems are only a factor during daily use and particularly in winter cycling. If you don't use your bike like this, a hybrid is fine. My Specialized Crossroads drove me nuts when it was my primary daily transportation (I compare the experience to using a violin to drive nails), but is a joy to ride on weekends and as my emergency backup bike. It also cost less than a third what my primary bike did.

Paul

The current Specialized Crossroads Elite comes with Armadillo-casing tires, one of the most flat-resistant tires you can buy. A number of hybrids now have flat-resistant tires.

The Crossroads line changed a lot in the last year or two. It is now a slower, more comfort-oriented bike. A couple of years ago it was a fairly standard hybrid. It now uses the same relaxed geometry, a mild crank forward design, as the Expedition. The seat tube angle is now 69 degrees, where it used to be around 73 degrees.

Hybrids can be based on MTB's Or road bikes. As an example -In the UK we have the Giant SCR- the road bike that I have. There is also the Hybrid FCR. Both use the same frame- In the "Grade" within the range the bikes have similar specifications and the weight is around 21lbs for both.

For the SCR link to

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-GB/...oad/124/15146/

For the FCR link to

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-GB/...oad/125/15054/


Then if you really want a hybrid that is road based then follow the link to

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-GB/...oad/125/15166/

Now who in their right mind will spend $2,000 on an 18lb hybrid. Apparantly lots as the CF. FCR1 is the bike that is in demand.

These are similar moels to the US OCR and FCR range- but I think you will have to wait a while for the CF. FCR to reach you.

So are hybrids bad?

Well hybrids are compromises. They are not good off road and they are not good road bikes.

I would suppose that if one rides trails with gravel or those nasty bumps where every road crosses the trail, hybrids could really shine.

Also with the limit on hand positions, I would think that a hybrid would be terrible on a long road ride or into a head wind. Personally, I use the hand positions on my road bike and I think anything much over 20 miles on a hybrid would drive me nuts. But that is me. You usage can vary.

I would think that for riding on the road or for riding on paved trails, a road bike with dropped handlebars would work better than a hybrid. One can go with one of the comfort bikes and larger tires like 25 mm or 28 mm if ride comfort is really important to you.

But road bikes are intimidating to many people and hybrids have a nice touchy, feely demeanor to them. The thing is that a bike is good if you ride it and enjoy it. No one else has to like it. It is your opinion on the matter that is important here.

Hybrids v. road--pro/con
 

My girlfriend got me into biking. We were both 47 when we did. She had a Trek 7700--a nice hybrid with a triple chain. I had a 25 yr. old steel frame road bike that weighed 24 lbs. (61 cm Panasonic sport touring model) that rides like a dream and which was given to me. I still have it and will keep it for baggage touring--it has loops for tieing on luggage bags, the friction shifters work great, and the ride is very, very comfortable.

30 miles was about the effective range for a comfortable ride for her. After that, sitting upright the whole time jolted her back and the lack of different hand positions left her stiff and cranky. (I lucked out incredibily when an acquaintance gave me a Trek 5500 that I outfitted with a compact double, mtn. bike gearing, and a mtn. bike rear derailleur. All told, its a little over 18 lbs. My bike shop advisor is a serious racer/bi-athlete and liked my idea of the altered gearing setup for the Hudson Valley which has some significant hills.) The Trek is super--more bike than I deserve but now I have no excuses--good enough for Lance in the 2002 Tour gives me no right to complain. Finally, long rides on a road bike leave my back feeling warmed up, stretched out, and feeling better than I did starting out. BTW, I also ruptured 2 disks in a car accident 4 mos. ago, and have almost completed chiropractic treatment--the DRX 9000 which is basically a motorized version of the Medieval rack. That treatment is great--and riding helps me.

I've fixed up an old Japanese steel road bike for her which has friction Suntour shifters, and drops. She's tried it and is excited about its responsiveness, lighter weight, and greater speed and less rolling resistance. Total investment was about $30 for new tubes and new 27 1/4 inch tires. The gearing is reasonable--if she needs more range, I'll drop on a wider range 7-speed 14-34 sprocket, with the same model 2d hand Shimano mtn. bike derailleur that I have on my Trek. I'll need to spread the rear forks to accomodate the wider axle of a 7-speed versus its current 5-speed sprocket but this is no problem with this type of steel frame.

Bottom line--see if you can ride both, maybe try a demo road bike for a day. The road bike=back pain issue is a false argument, at least in my experience. The road bike is a thoroughbred--the hybrid is a quarter horse--pretty good at everything, but not the best at anything. If you go the road bike route, there are many ways to do it without breaking the bank. (Its funny that many of the "touring" models offered now are steel frame bikes that are not significantly different from a lot of the 1980's Japanese models that are still out there.) On the other hand, maybe you can ride a hybrid for long distances without it bothering you--if so, your present hybrid seems fine.

One final note: consider investing in clipless pedals. There are many Shimano SPD models available for 2d hand for almost nothing. Buy, or borrow, a 9/16 pedal wrench, go get yourself measured for shoes and have the shop install the cleats. The added efficiency you'll get on your pedaling stroke is probably more significant that an upgrade from a hybrid to a road bike, should you go that route, plus you can keep the shoes, pedals and cleats for future bikes of whatever sort--until those finally wear out. Figure $75 for shoes, $20 for cleats and installation, and maybe $20-$30 for a 2d-hand pair of SPD clipless pedals.

Good luck--the biking/cycling world is full of conspicous consumption which is mostly meaningless for the recreational rider. (On the other hand, I love being able to pick up bargains, hee-hee, as compulsive fetishists fall over themselves buying the latest/greatest/newest super-duper accessory/technology.) Can't wait until ceramic bearings become standard--should be a lot of good deals as people jettison their steel-bearing wheelsets!)

Instead of buying a hybrid, I own a Schwinn mountain bike, a Peugeot commuting/touring road bike, and a fast Bianchi road bike. There is nothing like having the right tool for the job. :)

For me the hybrid is the right tool for the job. My primary riding is on crushed limestone bike trails. A hybrid is faster on these than a mountain bike, and better built & more comfortable to handle the surface than a road bike.

Uh, yes. I ride what I enjoy. So does the 80+ yr old guy in our "road bike club". You should too.;)

That's way cool, may I use it for my personal motto?

It's okay with me, if it's okay with Dr. Seuss!

Location, location, location.
 

Here is an observation. Your location dictates to a large degree what type of bike you'll likely be attracted to. On Cape Cod Ma., it's hilly, windy, long stretches of ROAD, as in road bike.I WILL be riding my road bike this summer!! I love going fast ,and a roadbike is pretty effortless, and quick.I'll be the one on the old "Commie Racer Bike", with my hair on fire.
Fort Myers Fl. on the other hand is an URBAN STREET situation with few, to no hills.Lots of traffic,red lights, stop signs,loose dogs,lunatic rednecks in pickup trucks, curbs, sewer grates,clueless pedestrians, and sometimes you just gotta use the sidewalk, or die (I know, I know). Anything faster than say 18 or so M.P.H., is just not safe here.I put a set of 700/28 Ultra Gatorskin slicks on for a little more speed, but still...Cars darting out from behind shrubbed corners, running stop signs etc.Down here, my hybrid a.k.a. URBAN STREET bike comes into it's own. The front shock actually is really nice after a while, and the heads up position is just safer.I actually have my bars down fairly low, but it's still better to have your head up around here. It doesn't like the headwinds, and that's about the only problem I can find.I wish it were 5 lb's lighter sometimes, but it's not a perfect world, or a perfect bike. I am a closet weight weenie! Most times I ride at around 14, 17 M.P.H. in town. I think the hybrid is a great option for a lot of people, and especially in an urban area. It's also a great way to get...Ignored by fixters on hipsties!! (just kidding)Ride what works for ya!
Billbass

Neither good or bad. I'm guessing that if you were to visit a Corvette Sting Ray discussion forum, you'd see purist (those that think original equipment with no modifications are the way to go), those who like to customize, etc. You'd see a range of taste and preferences. However, you would not likely see much discussion about how to make the car go slower. This is what I think it is like on an open bike forum. You're likely to see most preferences leaning toward faster. So, I don't think it's wrong to like a hybrid, and it sounds like you've found what works for you. Hence, my advice would be to not pay much attention to those who might make negative comments about hybrids. It's just not their cup of tea.

I have a custom road bike, a folding bike, and a hybrid. Each has their own use. I take the hybrid out for errands and my urban adventures, including commuting; I take the road bikes on longer rides, and I take the folding bike on trips that require travel by air or rail.