Originally Posted by
Dan333SP
I feel like that's the sentiment a lot of people express here when they buy something (new bike, new wheels, new whatever) and think it's going to gain them X time or X speed.
There's no replacement for time in the saddle, and particularly hard efforts/intervals if your goal is to go faster for a given distance.
FWIW, you could just put some clip on aero bars on your hybrid and swap your tires for 25mm slicks. Then the difference between your hybrid and a true road bike would be virtually nill.
+1. I started my "real cycling" on a hybrid. Soon added SPD-MTB pedals, 25mm road tires, and a tighter cassette. After a year of hard riding on that, I bought a carbon road bike. The speed difference on flattish routes was negligible. Hilly routes, OTOH, brought out the ~10-pound weight difference.