Comfort or Hybrid? Trek or Raleigh
Hi all. I'm agonizing over a comfort vs. hybrid. Here's my situation - Did much biking in past years, mostly on a mountain bike because I wanted the exercise. I had a road bike, but didn't enjoy it much for my riding. I ride on the roads of Long Island, and in some parks on bike trails. Used to ride 15 miles per day, and 50 on Sundays with the MTB, and did NYC 5-boro tour on the MTB. Stopped six years ago due to health issues and gave away my bikes. Now I'm aching to get back in the saddle, and purchased a comfort bike (Diamondback Wildwood). One ride of two miles, and I knew the gearing wasn't great, so I'm going to exchange it for another. Thinking of a Raleigh Venture 4.0 or a Trek Navigator 2.0. They both have better gears, but I like the trigger shifts on the Raleigh (Shimano Acera on the rear).
I'm looking at a comfort bike for, well, comfort reasons. I'm now 63 years old, and have wrist pain (arthritis), lower back pain (coccyx injury) and neck pain (herniated disk). Ouch! Now that I think about it, maybe I should just install handlebars on my easy chair, and watch cycling videos So a comfort bike makes sense. I want to do 8 or so miles a day, and I'm not a speed demon. I just want to get exercise and enjoy the sights. I know that the more upright posture will increase wind resistance, but I'm not out to win a race.
My LBS (Brands) suggested the possibility of a hybrid, but I'm pretty sure that the vibrations from a fork without suspension will ultimately hurt my wrists. Leaning more forward on a MTB will likely hurt my neck more than on a comfort bike. And the comfort seat is really comfy! Guess I'm talking myself into the comfort bike. I'd like to hear from you on what you think I should go with. Comfort or hybrid? And if comfort, then Trek Navigator vs. Raleigh Venture 4.0? Is there really much of a difference between the two frames, quality-wise? Sounds like I've talked myself into the comfort bike, but I'd really appreciate your thoughts and experiences on comfort vs. hybrid, and Trek vs. Raleigh. Thanks to all...