CoderWalker

Background:
I have had a mountain bike that I have rode 347 miles on so far. I got it July 21,2009. I have been riding with my Uncle about 20 miles a day when we both have the opportunity. (I know not a professional rider) About a month ago I fell off of my bike and warped my rims into about a 100degree angle (taco if you will). So I straitened the rims but they still have a slight wobble (unrepairable). Anyway I bought me a Schwinn hybrid bike. It has thin tires and is made for roads. I have been riding it and yes it's easier but when I get done riding it was hardly any work at all, while my Uncle is wore out (I use to be just as tired as him). I kinda miss the being able to jerk around, cross ditches, hit roots, and turn quickly without falling, and have no problem going off roads. We usually ride around 8-10mph. What I am considering is taking this bike back and instead getting new rims for the mountain bike.

Question:
Would it be smart to give the Schwinn Hybrid bike back and use my mountain bike instead for road riding?

Considering:
I ride in the summer on roads.
I ride around 20miles per day.
I ride at an average speed of 8-10mph.
I ride with my uncle who is about 60.
I ride about 6:15 when its cool outside.
I ride in the spring and fall with my cousin in the woods (dirt and loose sandy roads)
I ride at an average speed of 5mph at that time, going only 8.7miles per day
I ride late afternoon in the woods.

Any opinion is welcome and appreciated. I have to decide by July 28, 2010 7:30am EST

Also this is my first post and have just registered, so I hope its appropriate and in the correct category.

tagaproject6

Consider that you are in a "Road Cycling" forum. So, HTFU and get yourself a road bike

Erzulis Boat 

Your parent's purchased you a gift, why would you exchange it?

What if your Mom picked the color special for you? How would that make her feel?

Kids nowadays are nuts.

Swap it , do whatever you want.

CoderWalker

She didn't pick one special, I picked one out. I really appreciate the bike but she said its totally up to me what kind I want and I am unsure. I got this "Hybrid" just to try it

I thought the people on this forum would be a little more professional

I posted in the Road forum but thats because the new bike is a road bike.

The Weak Link

If you like off-road cycling a lot, then get new wheels for your mountain bike. You can get serviceable wheels for not a lot of money. Riding a hybrid on singletrack wouldn't be much fun.

Otherwise keep the hybrid.

gazelle5333

Ummm....

hybrid =/= road

which one is it? And at 5-10 mph avg, it isn't gonna make a difference. I don't know if I could stay upright at that speed. I run faster than that.

ptle

What kind of mountain bike do you have right now? And what's you budget? You could put some slicks on your mountain bike and use it like a hybrid.

If you can get a full refund on the Schwinn, do it. There are better bikes you could purchase with your money.

Also how off road do you ride? If it's just gravel roads, or dirt roads you could do it on road bike. If it's a singletrack made for mountain biking, or just roaming through the woods, a mountain bike would be better. A cyclocross bike is a mix between a road bike and mountain. They're very versatile, but cost as much as a road bike new.

Lastly, how bad is your rim. I've trued some really bad rims off cheap walmart bikes. If it's really bad (like an inch off), I usually bash the rim back in, then true from there. Not the best, but it works.

CbadRider

Welcome to the Hybrid forum.

thompsonpost

Trade the thin tires in for thick ones.

AdelaaR

If you are going to do just 5-10 mph, it wont make any difference if you have a more road oriented bike or not.
In that case you can just stick with the mountainbike and still be able to do rough stuff.

qmsdc15

If they will take it back, return and get a new wheel for the mountainbike. Put fat knobby tires on it. If you can't return the hybrid, can your uncle use it? You should be o a mountain bike so you can jib on the ditches and roots and stuff and your uncle should be on a lighter, faster bike so he can keep up.

irclean

My advice, if you're allowed, is to keep both bikes. Fix or replace the wheels on the MTB for when you know you're going off-road and keep the hybrid for when you're cruising around on surface streets and paved bike paths. The road bike will come in time, if you decide you want to go faster while using less energy (kind of like the difference you described between your MTB and hybrid). That being said, a MTB or hybrid can get going at a pretty good clip when properly equipped and the engine (you) is well tuned.

CoderWalker

Its a Hybrid, guess I am in the wrong Category whoops. sorry mods
It is a mountain bike with front and rear shocks, big tires that fill to 50psi, 21 speed. My budget was around $100 but went over getting the Schwinn
Threw the woods, loose sand, woods full of sticks and roots and 1 small paved road.
I bent the rim back as close as I could then tightened the spokes. However some spokes will not turn, so it still isn't perfectly strait.
B below. What happened was I tried to joke around and scare my uncle by jerking myhandlebars. I was going about 15mph when I jerked I turnt them to far and fell right over. Was hurt bad.

Thanks thats alot better than "HTFU"
I can return it, I kinda feel that most of that money I spent was paying for the name brand. He already had a Road bike, a "Sun Delray"
No way I can do that. I want to stick with one. Also $244 is a ton of money to me. Especially when I have to pay College tuition and buy books.

Thanks for all of the advice. I believe I have decided to return the Schwinn and use my Mountain Bike. I also found out my Grandfather has 26" rims that I can have for free(I got lucky).
About how much do 26" rims usually run?

meanwhile

Look on ebay and see. It's quite a range.

Two things -

- If you put the right tyres on the MTB it will be much faster. For a mixture of road and off road Marathon Extremes would be very good. But they're not cheap. Maybe $90 for a pair. However, they should last around 5000 miles. Ask on the MTB forum if you want suggestions for cheaper tyres.

- Are the rims steel or aluminium? Be careful of steel rims, they don't brake at all well in the wet.