Each time this question comes up, it's interesting to see the responses and the reasoning behind them. A lot of it seems to reflect what point in time a person learned about "hybrid" bicycles. For me, that was the mid-90's and a hybrid was basically a mountain bike with 700c wheels and skinnier tires. That's still what I think of when I hear "hybrid". Now, many people consider comfort features like fork and seatpost suspension to be critical components of a hybrid bicycle.

I think now the "hybrid" category is quite broad and includes a multitude of different styles of bikes with some blurring into the "comfort bike" category while others blur into the "flat-bar road bike" category. Now, we even have some that are blurring back into the "mtb" category, although I'm not sure if they are considered "hybrids" or not.

I'm not too familiar with the current market but I still classify bikes as:

road
mountain
touring
hybrid
comfort

Cyclo-cross might even warrant it's own category at this time but I'm not familiar enough with the sport to know the specifics of the bikes.


The bike I'm building up was designed as a commuter/tourer/cyclo-cross bike, which is a very popular combination these days, and I can't decide if it will be a hybrid or a flat-bar road bike. The frame has road bike geometry but with longer chainstays, wider tire clearances and canti brake posts. The drivetrain and brake systems will be MTB, the wheels are touring and the tires are long-distance (Randonneur).

Once it's done, I'll probably post it up in the hybrid sub-forum because that is the category it most resembles, at least superficially. Personally, I lean towards considering it a flat-bar road bike but I don't think that interpretation would go over too well in that particular sub-forum. "All-Rounder" might be the best way to describe it.