DustyD

Hey guys, new here but have been lurking around for awhile now! I am looking into getting a new bike to get back in shape and do something I enjoy on my free time! It has been YEARS since my last purchase of a bicycle so I am pretty lost! I have been throwing around the idea of a hybrid due to the fact I like the upright position and feel like it would be a more comfortable option for me! At first I was considering a road bike but I have talked myself into thinking a hybrid would be better for me! We have a 15 mile trail (paved,asphalt) not too far away from my house so i plan on riding that 80% of the time, and the other time would be taking bike rides around town, which will be on extremely rough cracked pavement and the pretty terrible city back roads! Jumping the occasional curb here and there and also some grass/dirt. But I will never be on dirt trails needing a MTB. Since we don't have any of that around here!

I guess my question here is what is a good beginner bike for my needs and what would you guys suggest? I started off considering the Trek FX series OR the Trek DS ...After test riding these both at my LBS I found that i dont believe DS is the route I am wanting to take! The FX was a lot more comfortable to me and the weight difference of the 2 was very noticeable to me! Im sure the DS could have needed some adjusting but even with that I still don't see that as a good option for me if I wanted to go on a long 15 mile one way ride on our local trail! The thing with the Trek FX 7.4 that I rode is I really really did not like the color options at all! It was by far the ugliest most basic looking bike I have looked at! Now I know thats only cosmetic and a lot of people will jump all over me for making my decision off how it looks, but I am sorry, I would prefer to like the look of the bike I am spending that much money on! SO I guess what I am asking is what would be a good option for a beginner like me? Would a hybrid be ok for those longer rides that I am looking to do, or should I look into a entry Road bike? But also would the Road bike be ok for the occasional late night bike ride around my neighbor hood and just messing around with the kids around town?

My options due to what my local bike shops sell are Trek, Specialized, OR Cannondale! I have been looking at the FX, Sirrus, Sirrus elite etc.. and also the Cannondale QUICK Speed series! I have spent the last couple weeks researching just these hybrids trying to decide between them and trying to find what the better options are from these 3 brands as far as hybrid goes! so I know nothing at all about their entry level road options! I am looking to spend around $600-$1000 give or take a little!

Sorry for the long post and I really appreciate any help or suggestions I can get from you guys! Thanks in advance!

Garfield Cat

What was your previous bike and how did you ride it? I mean what distances, and types of rides, solo or with groups.

Were you a teenager or a young adult on that bike?

GlennR

The FX is a very popular "flat bar" hybrid. It comes in orange and white. Which color don't you like?

Are you sure you want a flat bar bike and not one with drop bars?

I have a DS 8.5, but I also have 2 other bikes, a road and a CX so the DS is my "casual" ride bike.

DustyD

Its been a good 15 years i was a teenager! Of course I had the BMX and everything when I was younger also but the last bike I had which I actually still have in storage somewhere was a cheap walmart mountain bike that was way too big for me so very uncomfortable and a pain to ride! It was mainly for messing around with buddys riding around town before we could all drive! I am now 30 years old looking into getting a bike for fitness and leisure for the first time!

DustyD

Thanks for your reply! First off, I didn't like any of the colors available in the FX, the one I rode was actually red and I believe the new 2017 are only silver as an option! As far as the drop bars, I really don't know, I have never ridden one and just feel like being bent over like that wouldn't be what I am looking for in a bike! I will never actually be riding down the highway at all! Just the bike trail and the normal bike ride around town and around my neighbor hood! a lot of sidewalks and bad pavement! SO to answer your question on the drop bars I really don't know, I just want something I will be comfortable on just riding around!

On the DS this was actually the bike I LOVED and was set on buying before I went and test rode them! My LBS actually has the 2014 8.5DS Gary Fisher model still left in stock they are selling them as closeout special for $800! That bike is BEAUTIFUL I absolutely LOVED the design and the idea of the front suspension! but like I mentioned when I rode them it just felt a lot slower and heavier then the FX. It did need some air in the back tire which probably had a huge impact on it, also the gears where clicking and not nearly as smooth shifting as the much cheaper FX I was comparing it too! I mentioned it to the guy helping me told me that it has been test rode alot and had been awhile since it was assembled and adjusted! What do you think about the DS and the price I can buy it for? I know that bike would be GREAT for my every night bike ride around town here on the sidewalks grass and dirt etc... but I am just worried about it for my longer 20-30 mile rides I plan on doing on my local trail! ...

GlennR

I bought a DS 8.5 thinking I would use it for casual riding and riding some of the local dirt trails. While it's a capable bike fir paved and dirt paths, I found it sluggish and heavy compared to my road bike. It's a 7 mile ride to the state park with paths, so i have to do 15 miles plus the dirt paths. The front fork adds a lot of weight so if you don't plan on doing anything where you'll need one, the FX is a better choice.

After a year I decided that the DS was not what I wanted so I bought a CX (Cycloscross) bike which is basically a road bike (drop bars) with a more rugged frame and can accept wider tires. I can ride it on the road, paved paths and dirt paths. It came with knobby tires which is great on dirt and gravel, but I just put road tires on since they were not that good on pavement and worse on wet pavement.

I'm not familiar with the other bikes you mentioned, but my son worked for 7 years in a bike shop and the FX was the most popular bike.

If you can get past the color, you'll be happy with the performance.

Let me add, I regularly ride 40+ miles on my road bike, the has never been ridden more than 30.

rms13

You're posting on the road forum so I'm going to tell you to get a drop bar bike. Have you seen the Cannondale Slate? If that's in your price range it may be what you want. If not, check out the gravel and cyclocross bikes that the LBS has in your price range

GlennR

You missed this:
I was going to suggest a Cannondale SuperX, I paid $1400 for mine, but it's over his price range.

BTW, pro rider, Dan Martin, has 30mm of spacers on his bike.

DustyD

OldnSlow, your super X is a beautiful bike! I like that alot! ..I need to test ride a proper road bike, is it uncomfortable to try riding sitting up on one like I would be if I were to go with a flat bar bike?

I guess the proper question would be , what is a good beginner road bike in my price range? $600-$1000 give or take a little? From Trek, Cannondale, Specialized, and also one of my LBS does sell Felt

Stratocaster

I was sort of in your shoes last year. I just wanted a decent bike for fitness...I was looking at a Cannondale Quick. Nice bike.
But then I sort of got roped into the idea of a road bike...I don't even recall why, although I think I was considering getting into racing.
Anyway, I'm glad I went the road bike route (twice - lol).
I didn't have any desire to wear "the kit". I felt like a dork the first time I put on my road shorts.
Now I just love it all. The clothes, the colors, the workouts on the road. Yeah, I might be considered a "wanna-be"...so what? I don't care.
I'm enjoying myself, getting fit, meeting people on group rides.

yes, I'm glad I took the plunge and went the road bike route.

rms13

Every manufacturer has endurance road bikes which have a much more upright geometry. Gravel/adventure bikes also have more upright position and just about every manufacturer has one of those as well

Astrozombie

Get both.........if you can't, I would test ride them, but generally say if you have a beer belly and will be uncomfortable hunched over for long periods of time, get the hybrid.
They also say if you want to do long rides the road bike is better, but are you really going to do that that often? They also have skinnier tires and can give you a rougher ride.

Maelochs

Decide your budget---firm---and then go look at what is available. All the major manufacturers offer about equivalent bikes with about the same components ... but each might offer a slightly better deal on slightly different bikes, one of which might be the bike you want.

Also some shops might have some older merchandise---2017 bikes are coming out soon---which they might sell for a deal. A year- or two- or three-old bike might be a third off.

Also,, until you ride a few you won't necessarily know what feels right, despite all the prior research you might do (and you should do a Lot of research--look up all the bikes online, check their specs, make all your comparisons at your leisure, instead of with a salesman busily trying to get you to buy what the salesman wants to sell, not what you want to ride.)

Personally I am a fan of the Giant Defy, and a couple people here who have bought them like them (I assume you have been reading related threads? (https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...road-bike.html) (https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...ecision-2.html))

A huge part of being comfortable on a bike is fit---a lot of people set up road bikes with the bars really low to look like professional racers, and then most people cannot bend that far, or rode comfortably bent that far over, and it puts too much weight on the hands and stress on the shoulders and neck, and after a short while people say "I don't like road bikes."

Set the seat far enough back, the bar height and reach proper to the rider so the weight is on the pedals and not the hands, and suddenly road bikes are comfortable.

The Sirius and the Defy in the two linked threads are two approaches to upright riding. I strongly suggest the Defy over the Sirius, having ridden bikes of both types for many thousand miles ... But .... you have to buy the bike which speaks to you.