Choosing an all rounder!
 

Hi!
I'm in the process of picking out my new bike for my cyclescheme at work. After a bit of research, I think I'm after a hybrid. I only see me doing fairly light trails, no big mountain stuff but I like the idea of a lockable front shock. My range is about £500-600 and I've picked out a specialized crosstrail sport 2013. Is there any other models in this range which are similar?
It'll be used mainly for fitness, commuting(15miles) and trails.
Cheers!

IMO, it doesn't seem like you'd need a front shock at all, unless you wanted it for comfort.

Agreed you don't need a shock to do light trail riding. Front shocks make the bike heavier and less efficient and on less expensive bikes they are usually rubbish. If I were you I would start looking at bikes with no front shock.

Cyclocross and touring bikes are often good all around bikes that excel on the road and on light trails.

I don't know what brands your favorite bike shop sells.. just Specialized?

you will need service after the sale , buy local.

There should be a sticky saying "you don't need or want a suspension fork". Big tires=smooth ride. Cheap suspension fork=misery. Why not a used bike?

don't know the current cost - sounds like you are describing a Thorn Sherpa.
ps. put quite a few km on a Surly Crosscheck set up as a 1x9, over time it evolved into my son's campus bike - still going strong. Hope it will soon be his commute to work bike.

As several have suggested, front suspension on road bikes are somewhat silly.

Used bikes can be a great deal if you or a friend know something about bike mechanics and can check things over. If you aren't and don't have access to such friends, a LBS who will take care of you after the purchase are a good idea.

Cheers,
Charles

iI agree that you should avoid a suspension fork on a bike intended primarily for road or less demanding path riding. A bigger fatter front tire will get you close to what a suspension for will do but not add 4 pounds to the weight of the bike.

My main ride in the summer is a fully rigid bike with 35mm wide tires and I can ride 96% of the trails that I do on my mountain bike.

You ride in the rain? Look at a Trek FX with disc brakes. Or if you ride cobbled roads a DS w/front fork. The DS 8.5 has remote lockout and a very stiff 63mm of fork travel+20mm of very stiff rear wheel travel that will save the rim..
My DS 8.6 is my exercise bike and car, as I am car free.

Hi guys, thanks for the replies. The reason I was looking at a front shock was so that I could go along with my mates who do mountain biking and take part. I was told these shocked hybrids were good for most mountain biking situations without big jumping. I visited my local dales cycle shop in Glasgow and I've ordered a Giant Roam 2. The guy there said this and the crosstrail, which was also in stock, were very similar- but the giant was better looking to me. I'm now waiting 3 weeks but I can still change my mind.

This is kind of true but not really, if you know what I mean.

The actual truth is you can ride any bike with medium-width tires on most trails, and the suspension fork will be less of a benefit on trails than it is a drag on roads and paths.
THose 1.5" travel suspension forks are not really helpful for 'off roading.'

When I started mountian biking ~20 years ago, ~2 inches (50mm) of travel indeed made a big difference.

It made a difference but did not make any trails rideable that were not previously rideable...
...unless I am just far superior to all the early adopters, as I was along on the rides while they used their RS-1s, Manitous, and Duo-Traks. I went everywhere they went (1st) fully rigid, then (2nd) with an Allsop/Softride susp. stem.

Interesting. I found the fork helped me pop over errosion logs, roots, rocks and allowed for greater speed and control on decents. Long rocky decents weren't nearly the b!tch they with a rigid fork.

There were certainly advantages, but the obstacles you mention were generally ridable at considerable effort... the susp. forks reduced the amount of effort required.

Which in turn meant you could ride longer and access trails you might not otherwise access and made the decent much more enjoyable. :D

I suppose you could look at it like that.

I was also thinking the suspension fork that comes on most new hybrids are as bad as cheap suspension forks of old, with which you get a choice of rigid and has a tiny amount of rough sticky travel. But I assume even many hybrid suspension forks are decent now.

That's how I settled into a full-suspension mountain bike instead of a hardtail 29er. :p The bonus was that both shocks have a lockout, so it's nearly as efficient as a fully rigid bike on pavement. I also threw some 700c wheels with 28mm slicks on it one day and it rode like any other rigid hybrid.

Not all of them are rough and sticky. Some of the RST ones were pretty bad, but the newer Suntours I've encountered are decent shocks, they're just a little heavy.

The shock on this is a Suntaur NEX 4610. Here's the bikes full spec: http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/...specifications .

It's the same shock that's in the model above. Ideally this bike is gonna be my all rounder without having to swap tyres and stuff too much. I wanna be able to ride on the road a little as well as go mountain biking. In the shop, I was told since this has a lockable shock, it'll be a bit better on road than a non locking shock. And the bike should be rugged enough to let me go offroad. Is it all just personal preference between the shock and no shock?

Cheers for all the input.

Personal preference. Shocks will make it ride smoother on "rough" roads and trails and can help you negotiate obstacles. As others mentioned you're paying for it in additional weight compared to something like the Giant Seek or Escape.

The real limiting factor that will allow or prevent you from riding off road is tires.
Make sure you have enough clearance to put at least a 45mm (or 1.9" or so) wide tire, with fenders if you are getting them, if you might want to go on a legitimately rough trail.

Unless you have carpal tunnel. Wanted front suspension on my first bike because I wasn't sure how big of an issue it would be. Turned out I was ok as long as I had a decent fork and tires,but YMMV. Prolly also some folks with back issues who would like it.