I am deciding whether I should get myself a road bike or a performance hybrid. What's making more sense to you? I mainly ride on the bike path, trail and around the neighbourhood.

With the similar price range like the Jamis' below, which one will be a better choice?


$595, 24lbs, 8 speed - Flat bar, Hybrid




$625, 22.5lbs, 8 speed - Drop Bar, Road Bike

The biggest thing is a good bike fit. Hopefully the shop will do a fit on you to make the bike as comfortable as possible. With the drop bar you have a few more positions to use as you can be on the top bar, the hoods, or drop down. If you are just putting around the bike path and doing short rides then the flat bar is probably fine. If you plan on doing any long rides or maybe some fun racing, then get the drop bar, or better yet, save your money and get a better bike, something in the $1200+ range. If you're going to get serious, then you also need to figure the price of shoes, pedals, bib-shorts, jersey, etc, so lots to figure out. If you think you might want to do that, then get some magazines and check out the stuff so the sticker shock won't kill you, if you're just going to do short, easy rides then either is pretty good, but the flat bar is 1.5 lbs lighter, so that's less weight and more hand positions. Who knows, you may get hooked!

PS, the difference between a $600 bike and a good bike is amazing. Try some good ones and compare them, you'll be amazed!!

This is really hard to answer. Have you tried the road bike? A hybrid will feel more familiar, more like a regular bike at first, and it will be comfortable for shorter rides. A road bike, even a cheaper one, will be a lot more sporty to ride, and ultimately, may be more comfortable on longer, faster rides. But it takes some getting used to, and there is a lot less leeway in terms of having a proper fit on the bike.

No offence to the previous poster, but I wouldn't want to leave you with the impression that you have to be pro racer-like to ride a road bike. I certainly am not, and I've been riding them for 40 years. But I ride for my own pleasure, I'm not racing anybody. And I do ride on bike paths a lot with my road bike. I can't tolerate riding a bike sitting upright on it for anything longer than about 10 miles.

Drop bar bikes are the "normal" bikes, the flat bar stuff is abenormal.

Get a really good used road bike with drop bars. There is no reason to buy an entry level bike new at $600, when you can buy something quite a bit higher up the product line used for the same amount or less.

I like my hybrid for short jaunts and sightseeing, but when it's windy, you can't beat a drop bar (well, unless you get a recumbent...) If you would eventually like to up your speed, go with a drop bar, but don't overbuy. I think you should get the type of bike you like riding *now*, otherwise you won't enjoy it and do it as often. Personally, I think a road bike is a bit of overkill for neighbourhood and bike-path riding.

I second the used-bike suggestion. Depreciation works in your favour here, and you can pick up some pretty decent bikes with very low mileage. Thank you, rich neighbours with your fickle exercise habits!

Ride as many bikes in your price range as possible. I loved the Trek 7.3m but ended up on the Giant Rapid 3. A fine performance hybrid!

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/....3/3875/36257/

I am somebody that converted my Flatbar road bike into a drop bar road bike. I love the drops compared to the flatbar. Just my .02

FYI,both of those bikes have alloy forks and road gearing. The alloy forks could be an issue if you have carpel tunnel and/or your streets aren't in good shape. I wouldn't want either for Wash DC,but YMMV. The road gearing means they're geared tall,so if you have any hills you may be struggling to get up them.

Jamis also has the Coda:
https://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebik...coda_spec.html

It's in the price range of the other two. A little heavier,but it will give a smoother ride,and has wider gearing. Just something you might want to consider.

I recently bought a "performance hybrid" myself, a Fuji Absolute 1.0. The only thing I don't like about it on the road or bike trails is the flat handlebars. They force you into an upright position which is not what you want when you have a stiff headwind and the lack of hand positions becomes a problem after about 25 miles for me. So I am looking at handlebar options. Maybe butterfly trekking bars, maybe a Titec J Bar, maybe ??? . I have been trying Origin 8 drop bar ends for a while and they just don't do it for me. I probably would go with drop handlebars simply out of familiarity if it did not require changing the break and shift levers. That is just too much trouble and expense. On the other hand I did take the Fuji on a dirt trail once with some steep climbs and descents and the usual range of off road hazards. If you plan to do much of that you will want the flat bar or something made for mountain bike use like the J Bar. They really do give you a lot of control and confidence in these conditions.

From every other point of view the performance hybrid is exactly the bike I wanted. The LBS owner had to talk me into it but he was right. The bike was a 2009 model he wanted to get out the door but he had plenty of 2009 road bikes and trail hybrids he could have pushed on me too. He listened carefully to what I told him I wanted the bike for and he gave me excellent advice. The handlebar situation is a fixable problem and in the end I will likely end up with something that I will like better than drops. I just have to figure out what that is....

Ken

Only you can decide grasshopper. Try both.

you gotta try it yourself. i got a hybrid, flipped the stem and i like the stance, halfway between casual upright and dropped over the front aggressive. it's a great blend for me. i have ridden 25 miles comfortably and its just as good for short jaunts. but that is personal preference.

it also depends where you ride. for a busy place like NYC, it makes way more sense to have the quick control of an MTB style stance. quiet rural areas, not so much. etc... for any decent amount of off-road, you want an MTB style stance as well.