roadies, freak bikers, BMXers and MTB riders are all identified by the types of bikes they ride. hybrids are kind of like the bastard child of road bikes and mountain bikes, and do neither all that well, IMO. I prefer European-style city bikes which are similar to but more than subtly different from US market hybrids. I've got an Irish made Trek L400 city bike built for the European market, which I like a whole lot better than my Trek 7300 hybrid built for the US market.