Originally Posted by
remiarcs
First of all, thank you both of you for having taking the time to reply to my question.
In my mind, Hybrid bike was considered as a bike who can go on AND a little bit off road...Mhmmm... guess i was wrong on this one (with the word "Sirrus sport" i can be forgiven
).
You can take any bike off road. But some require more skill and attention to ride there than others. Hitting an unseen tree root with a 28mm tyre is not a joyous experience unless you're a masochist with a mud fetish and lots of cash for repairs.
Buzzbait, the crosstrail might be more suited for what i'd like to do, and Meanwhile you are right, the Cotic Roadrat is a little expensive. On a top of that you have to build the bike as well...i'm not really comfortable with that yet.
Oh - it's easy to order a Cotic frame package and have an LBS or local mechanic build the bike up. You might just squeeze it into your budget if you used lightly used components bought on ebay.
The sirrus has 28mm tyres and i thought it was big enough for a bit of off road.
It can fit some 35s, but 40mm are better. And frame angles matter a lot - the Sirrus's are set too twitchy for off road work. Plus it isn't a bike designed to have the strength I like in an off roader. I remember talking talking to a courier who trashed his original Sirrus and
two warranty frames before Specialized gave up on him. Courier work is tough and he might have been very unlucky - but if you're buying a bike to take off road occasionally, I think everything adds up against the Sirrus.
Three strong suggestions:
1. Wanderer is right about those Supremes, and the stock tyres and most bikes are awful. There's a version of the Supreme with improved offroad abilities called the Dureme: fit these (in 35 or 40mm - go wider if in doubt) to your bike. Ideally get one that can take a 40mm tyres and still fit fenders in case you want them
2. Go to a UK bike site and ask for advice there. Prices are different to the US and some of the best bargains are store own brands. Tell people exactly what you want to do with the bike. Remember that some of the people who answer will be idiots!
3. Repeat the same at a good bike store if you can get a recommendation for one. If you can't get a strong recommendation then don't - most stores are eager to shift whatever has the highest profit margin.
Other than that, I'd suggest these:
http://www.kenellerkercycles.co.uk/p...6s2p1117&rs=gb
http://www.kenellerkercycles.co.uk/p...6s2p1118&rs=gb
I've not ridden one (my bike is a drop bar cyclocross bike; I'm "slumming" here) but Trek and Fisher both have a high reputation and the spec seems very sensible. They're a little heavy, but that doesn't really reduce performance much. They're tough brutes with the same disc brakes and frames as real Fisher mountain bikes but with modifications that make them faster on the road. The disc brakes are a nice feature to have in the rain. If you buy one, remember to change the tyres - I've heard the stock ones are especially poor. Otherwise, on paper, they are a great buy.
But, obviously,
don't buy one until you have test ridden one!