Originally Posted by
MRT2
more likely explanation is, most people who start out with $500 or $600 hybrids quickly realize the hybrid is limiting them to some extent and they aren't doing as much trail riding as they thought and if they are, they should be looking more for a mountain bike or 29er, not a flat bar hybrid..
In all fairness though, the bikes the OP listed are more flat bar road bike'ish than Hybrid.. To me there is a big difference between what I'd call a Hybrid and what I'd call a flat bar road bike..
Originally Posted by
MRT2
But when I tried to use it for club rides, it had its limitations. 20 to 30 Miles was certainly doable, but much past that and the upright riding position was somewhat limiting because of the lack of hand positions, upright riding position, and scrunched up feeling in the cockpit, and gearing better suited for mountain biking than road biking. on group rides, the gearing was too low to keep up with the roadies on descents and to a lesser extent, flats. Super low gears for climbing, though.
Everyone is different.. I feel like I am beating a dead horse here.. I do distance just fine and I have no issues.. Also, my flat bar road bike has the exact same gearing as a drop bar road bike.. As a matter of fact most of the high end flat bar road bikes have the same frame, gearing = everything that a drop bar road bike has and the ONLY difference is one has a drop bar and one has a flat bar..