Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,786
Likes: 749
From: Winslow, AR
Bikes: '83 univega gran turismo x2, '85 schwinn super le tour,'89 miyata triple cross, '91 GT tequesta, '90 yokota grizzly peak, '94 GT backwoods, '95'ish scott tampico, '98 bonty privateer, '93 mongoose crossway 625, '98 parkpre ariel, 2k'ish giant fcr3
i'll add, firstly, there's a hybrid subforum you might want to peruse.
the sizing is that way to keep the standover height appropriate while the reach is tuned to the type of handlebar they're intended for as well as riding position. for someone like me at 5'6 (mostly legs, too), i need a 22-23 top tube before getting too stretched out and to keep from needing a long ars stem. otoh, the standover has to remain at most 32 inches. in the world of hybrid "comfort", less standover is ideal so it's not an effort to dismount and also be safe
one of my hybrids has a 19" seat tube and 23" top tube, just as an example
also, out of the three hybrids i have, they all came with low end parts (tourney and altus, respectively). i've upgraded two of them to mid range stuff, though