Hey there Eugene,

Somehow I missed this post. However, in general most hybrids come stock with at least 32mm wide tires. There are a few exceptions like the Trek 7.7FX and the Giant Rapid 1, but most come with the standard 32mm or slightly wider. No1mad pretty much hit it on the head with his description of hybrids. MNT bikes automatically come with much wider tires and can handle any type of terrain more handily. However, the price paid for wider tires is always going to be speed with the MTN bikes. It's because of the MTN bike's wider tires that it can venture to go places that neither the road bike or hybrid would dare challenge. The MTN bike's efficiency as a bicycle actually increases, as the terrain becomes more challenging. Therefore, you don't want to go racing a mountain bike on a rock embedded mountain with thick roots sprouting up everywhere, that has more holes and crevices, than can be imagined.

OTOH, once you've exited mountain country, the MTB becomes the sloth of the bicycle world when on smooth pavement. The nonsuspension rigid forked hardtail MTN bikes are faster than the suspended fork hardtails, and the suspended fork hardtails are faster than the dual suspension MTN bikes. Apparently, some of the cyclist's forward energy is lost due to countering the opposing forces related to the MTN bike's suspension system. That's why the rigid MTN bikes do so much better!

Finally, both hybrids and MTN bikes fair well in the winter. However, the worse winter weather gets and the more challenging road conditions become with heavy snow accumulation, guess what kinda bike does better?

That's right!...The mountain bike!

- Slim

mountain bike = MTB