Buying Advice?
 

Hello, I want you guys to give me some buying advice on my first Hybrid and serious adult cycling bike...

If you were me and had no bike, this would be your only one, and you had this amount to spend:

£600 GBP or
$920USD or
$1184AUD or
824 EUR

What hybrid bike would you go for and why?

I'm genuinely confused as to which brands are the 'Fords' and which are the 'Mercedes' in the bike world (or if such comparisons can even be made)

So let me rest on your professional opinions and experiences! Hopefully we can get a good discussion going so that future buyers can read through the thread for reference..

Excited to hear your replies!

- SB739

Specialized Sirrus Sport Disc $700
Specialized Sirrus Elite $820
Cannondale Quick 4 $740
Cannondale CAAD8 Flat Bar Road $870 (A true flat bar road bike)
Giant Escape 1 $670
Trek 7.3FX - 7.4FX Disc $659-$879
Felt V95 $799
Jamis Allegro Comp $799

Fuji Absolute 1.7 $ ~$669
Fuji Absolute 1.3D ~$720

All of these are really solid choices, you can only tell what you like more by riding it. I personally wouldnt spend over $600-700 on a hybrid just because I dont feel you have to. The only big gains come when you jump up to carbon which is easily over $1200.

Personally, I liked the Sirrus and the Absolutes when I was shopping around however there are a ton of Cannondales and Treks in my area. I personally dont like the Treks too much simply because you need an adapter to mount bar ends and a new handlebar to change the grips.

Honestly, there are already plenty of threads running on very similar topics. Somebody starts a thread similar to this every day. Also you did not specify the surfaces you intend to ride on. Personally, I think you are asking too much considering the lack of details you provided.

If you plan to ride primarily on pavement and you are willing to stretch your budget just a touch, I vote for the bike I just bought... Giant Fastroad SLR 1.

I do NOT agree with the Ford/Chevy analogy. Bikes are EXTREMELY competitive. NOBODY is offering Mercedes quality and engineering in the price ranges you are considering. If my new Giant is a Ford or Chevy, I can sleep just fine. I feel I bought the best bike FOR ME for roughly $1,000. Nobody was offering a Mercedes for that money and if they were, it would have lacked key features.

My last two cars were/are German sports cars so I think I have some knowledge of this.

I have worked in the consumer electronics industry for decades. If someone were shopping for a $600 AV Surround Sound receiver I would tell them that all of the major brands are very good and if someone tried to tell me one of them sounded way better than another I would tell them they were mistaken. They are all with 5% of each other if they are in the same price range. After just shopping for a new bike for four months, I feel the same way about bikes. If you are truely comparing apples to apples, no one bike company has a huge advantage.

Yes, this is not at all a new question. Well worth reading past threads.


One item not covered above is the question of what sort of surfaces will you be riding often? Several road focused hybrids have been mentioned, but the same brands also have trail focused hybrids such as Trek's DS dual sport line. The 8.4 is in your price range and considered the sweet spot.

Unlike the auto industry, most bicycle brands don't concentrate on one sector of the market. Each brand has a variety of styles and levels of bikes to meet a wide variety of needs.

Get to a bike shop and try some. Front suspension vs rigid fork? Pavement versus some light trails? Speed versus comfort? These along with other choices are very individual, and not likely to be known by forum dwellers.

Also, don't forget to figure the costs of any tweaks or accessories into your budget. with a $920 US budget, I would probably spend $700 on the bike, and the rest on accessories and/or tweaks (saddle, grips, pedals, shoes, helmet, water bottles and cages, bag, spare tube, multi-tool, CO2 or pump etc) ...

Thanks for the replies guys. I've researched a few of them and I like the following models;-

Specialized Sirrus Sport Disc 2015
Trek 7.4 FX
Fuji Absolute 1.3

I'm looking at the components, which company offers the best components or doesn't it matter as the price of the bike generally will reflect the quality of components?

I have this preconceived idea that Shimano is low quality, and the likes of SRAM are higher quality?

What's your opinion on this?

Also at the sort of price point you're interested in (very similar area that I've recently been looking at) there are always going to be caveats so it comes down to what surfaces you're going to be riding on and what you're generally wanting the bike for....e.g commute, general riding, training.

You'll find that as soon as you go near a bike with front suspension, that will have an effect on the groupset/chainset because some of the cost is used on the front end, a bike with rigid forks will not only be lighter but may have slightly better spec elsewhere - similarly hydraulic brakes may affect the spec of other components compared to an equivalent model with v-brakes or mechanical disc . A good groupset for the price may mean you end up with a frame that's not quite so good or comes in quite heavy. I think like others have said that you really need to weigh up quite a lot of areas and find a bike that suits what you need. I'm sure there are loads of 'generally good' bikes but there may be a hidden gem that caters better for your needs if you can elaborate more.

You may also take into consideration how long you're likely to keep the bike for and whether you'd upgrade parts over a period of time...if that was the case you may be tempted to go for a bike with a better frame and brakes because items such as shifters/front and rear mechs are relatively cheap upgrades and aren't maybe that important at the time of purchase - that may also answer your shimano/SRAM question.

With regards to Shimano/SRAM....you get what you pay for. I wouldn't say that one is 'better' than the other but people do have their preferences whether that be slick shifting, quiet and precise (shimano) or often that little bit noisier but superfast (SRAM). Some people get to the point whereby they swear by a particular brand but most people can appreciate both serve their purpose either way. You can google the tiers of shimano/SRAM to find out which particular range is competing with each other but again at the price bracket you're looking at you're likely to see the same groupsets over and over again, just beware that if you see a bike with what seems to be a better groupset than another bike, it's possibly lacking in another area such as cheap brakes/finishing kit or forks. Now is a good time to look at bikes in the sales as we're only a few months away from new models being advertised and the 2014 and 2015 ranges often get big discounts.

Both make a range of components at different quality and price points. I don't believe you can make a massive generalization like you suggest.

You still haven't said what surfaces you plan to ride on which is CRITICAL in any bike purchase decision. Sorry SB739 but I think you are overthinking certain aspects of your search and you are off track. In the price range you are considering you will not notice any big differences in the shift gear but if you buy the wrong wheels/tires, suspension or style of handlebars you will notice.

If it were me, I'd scrape up another $70US, and buy a Specialized Sirrus Elite Disc...... or, since the 16s are out, maybe find it for my price in a 15 model.

I prefer Shimano over SRAM, really like 9 spd, and carbon forks. The hydraulic discs are a tremendous bonus.

Hello, sorry for neglecting this factor. I will be riding on mostly roads and footpaths but without a doubt I will need to depend on performance on grass, grass hills in wet climates as well as dry. Not 'extreme' off roading terrain but wet grass where I believe full road slim tyres simply wouldn't do. I think hybrids have tyres in between these two extremes, which should work on wet grass adequately would you agree?

I was thinking a hybrid with front shock suspension would definitely make a difference for grass areas and the occasional kerb bumps?

I see you have in your profile that you are looking at a Norco XFR-2 and that absolutely would meet your described needs very well.

Of course there are similar bikes from other manufacturers that should be pretty similar or maybe even preferable to you after doing a test ride, as looking at spec sheets can only tell you so much.

So in no particular order, see if you can ride the following, to help you reach your decision.

Trek 8.4 DS

Specialized Crosstrail Sport Disc

Giant Roam 1

Hi! I'm in a similar situation. My LBS has a Fuji Absolute 1.5 2015 & am leaning towards getting that. I'm not sure what I think about how it felt. I had no idea the seat was supposed to be so high, which really changes the feel of riding when your legs are close to fully extending while peddling.

As a first time bike owner, are there any must have accessories I should get? I'm thinking a water bottle holder & I want a simple computer that shows my current speed & maybe has a timer, is the cateye padrone reliable?

The brakes on it felt pretty mushy, especially the rear one. Is that just a matter of tuning or should I get new pads for it?

Thank you all

There are various threads scattered around, but off the top of my head I'd say:

• You will want an easy way to top up tire pressure before riding. Floor pumps are a good choice, provided you have a place for them, quick and easy. Especially if they have a built in gauge. I picked up a Topeak Joe Blow Sport at an REI Garage Sale and it's been great.
• Stuff to handle a flat tire while out. Pump or CO2 is your choice, both get the job done. See Build a Bike Patch & Flat Kit | The Sweethome
• Half gloves; they add a little more vibration damping and more importantly if you do take a spill they help prevent road rash on your palms. Not expensive, you can get decent ones on sale for under $15.
• Helmet -- up to you if you want one or not, I personally prefer to ride with one. Good, well ventilated, comfortable helmets can easily be had for $60-70. There are whole threads on the topic so I won't go further here.
• Consider eye protection even when not wearing sunglasses. A bug in your eye at 25mph sucks. Clear safety glasses work well and are cheap; search Amazon for 3M products.
• If you'll be leaving your bike unattended, even for a minute, you'll want to lock it up. Again, whole threads devoted to the topic. In summary, all locks can be defeated; just a matter of how badly the theif wants your bike. Scale the level of locking to the situation.

I'm not familiar with that Cateye computer; I'd just suggest thinking about the future when selecting something though. With any speed or cadence sensors I'd choose ones that support both ANT+ and BTLE (Bluetooth) as they'll then be compatible with a wider range of GPS cycling computers and gps multisport watches as as the ones from Garmin and from Polar.

Cateye Strada/Cadence, ,wired, RD200, can still be had for a reasonable price, and the single battery lasts forever. Amazon or E-bay.

Thanks guys