I always thought of a hybrid as a cross between a mountain bike and a road bike, with 700c wheels

and flat handlebars, that could be used for urban communting and some types of off-roading.

[QUOTE=dwilbur3;8272715]I think hybrid is a term that's outlived its usefulness. "City Bike" or "Commuter Bike" or "Cyclocross Bike" or "Touring Bike" or many others are better but still not perfect. In the end you have to look at specs and capabilities.QUOTE]

I tend to agree.

I stick by my assertion, although maybe I should rephrase it.

A bike you can ride without wearing lycra, and without getting funny looks.

Try ridding one of these to work with jeans and a t-shirt
http://carlhart.com/dir/571/images/f...ltRacingDA.jpg
trust me, you get funny looks.

A hybrid is something you feel comfortable just riding, and that is reflected in your behavior on it, including manor of dress.

Although I was being somewhat sarcastic at first...

How about:

A hybrid is a bicycle that is built out of parts, some of which would not be out of place on a road bike and others of which would not be out of place on a mountain bike. This combination of parts from the other major categories of bicycles results in a compromise of speed for utility and ruggedness for simplicity.

Any takers?

I think that covers about 95% of bikes. I ride my "racing" bike to church with my family sans lycra and I don't get funny looks. I see people wear "normal" clothes on all kinds of bikes: Cruisers, MTBs, hybrids, fixies, and other road bikes of various sorts (cyclocross, touring, etc). In fact for most of the year, most of the people I see on bikes aren't wearing lycra and majority of them are on something other than a hybrid (though there are plenty of hybrids too).

Lycra is just a material that works well for some folks and I don't think there's much value in splitting the cycling world into lycra and non-lycra camps.

Bingo!

Stop trying to be difficult. Go eat some chocolate or switch to decaf or somehting.

Praxis,in the case of cross bikes,there actually couldn't be a flat bar model because I'm pretty sure regulations require a bike be fitted with a drop bar(as well as canti's and no tires wider than 32mm). A flat bar would make it illegal to race,hence it wouldn't be a cyclocross bike.

[QUOTE
Praxis,in the case of cross bikes,there actually couldn't be a flat bar model because I'm pretty sure regulations require a bike be fitted with a drop bar(as well as canti's and no tires wider than 32mm). A flat bar would make it illegal to race,hence it wouldn't be a cyclocross bike.[/QUOTE]

That may be true at the Pro Level (I know it is for the canti brakes). But for the local race level, pretty much anything goes as long as there are no bar ends. Cross (like the hybrid category seems to be) is a pretty inclusive sport.

I think conceptually these days anything not optimized as a racing bike for either on or off road, like a flatbar roadbike or a hardtail w/ slicks, is a hybrid.

Amen.

And Amen.

Would that make a Cyclocross bike a hybrid also, as it incorporate some attributes from both Racing bike and MTB (i.e. tires, brakes, gearing... I've seen some with front socks too)?

I thought hybrid was an off shoot of the 90's when MTB was huge.
Relaxed frame geometry and mountain bike gearing able to handle city
and dirt roads was the advert. I used a hybrid for that reason as
a commuter.
My tricross seemed like the"new hybrid" but I don't think it is.
A cross bike is on it's own level on the trails,better than a hybrid.
Where I feel a hybrid can handle a busted up road better than
a cross bike which to me rides like a jack hammer over busted up
concrete and pot holes.

You know, I think you guys are far too pedantic.

Compare some of the Rivendell bikes to a CF racing machine, even though both are road bikes. None of these categories are very well defined.

If I was a little more inclined, I'd make a drop-bar full-suspension MTB, just to screw with people. :P

Not knowing all that much about the category, I thought I'd look at the specs of actual racing level CX bikes...other than the fact that some of them are using heavy duty wheels, which wouldn't be all that out of place on a touring bike, the ones i've looked at all use road groupos, carbon frames/forks, cantilever brakes(which originated in touring and tandems). I'd call a cross bike a road bike. The Trek Portlands of the world are not actual racing bikes and therefore don't deserve nor qualify for the Cyclocross moniker...IMHO.