Best off-road orientated hybrid £500ish

[TimC]

I'm looking for a hybrid with more of an off road slant in particular. On paper the specialized crosstrail elite looks pretty good. Can anyone recommend this or suggest an alternative?

Many thanks

Tim

 

[bad boy]

Scott P45 ?.

 

[Tollers]

I'd suggest the Cannondale Badboy V or Disc actually, although they come with fat slicks


Cannondale Badboy Vbrakes 26
Cannondale Badboy Disc 26

 

[MacB]

you've got to look at the wheels and the clearance for tyres, a lot of the sporty hybrids come with wheelsets not suitable for anything but the lightest of trails.

I was looking for an allrounder myself and decided on a 29er, basically a MTB that takes 700c(29 inch in US parlance) wheels. With slick tyres it can be quick enough on the road but it can take huge tyres and deal with most off road conditions as well. I'm not sure what complete bike prices are like but my build will be £7-800. This is starting with a £330 frame and completing it as a 1x9, single chainring and 9 speed cassette at rear.

 

[TimC]

Thanks for the info - I have found some 2009 GT Transeo bikes that evans still have a bunch of at a surprisingly good price of about £339
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gt/transeo-30-disc-2009-hybrid-bike-ec016393

Looks like that will do the job admirably...

 

[RedBike]

Give them all a miss and go for a 29er MTB.
You can still fit narrow slick tyres to these bikes for road use but they'll easily walk all over most hybrids off-road when required.

 

[thegrumpybiker]

I always thought that a 29er was going to be an ultra huge mountain bike ie the outside diameter of the naked wheel rim was 29 inches. Indeed I always thought the wheel size in inches was just that until I actually measured them. It seems the inch size is (very roughly) the overall diameter including tyres, and even that can be a good half inch out. Confused? Look up 29er bikes on Wikipedia, it explains it a little clearer.

 

[Norm]

It seems the inch size is (very roughly) the overall diameter including tyres, and even that can be a good half inch out.

The tyre width has a big effect on the circumference. A 26x1.5 tyre will be just over 2m circumference, a 26x2.0 is nearly 10cm (5%) more.

 

[MacB]

I always thought that a 29er was going to be an ultra huge mountain bike ie the outside diameter of the naked wheel rim was 29 inches. Indeed I always thought the wheel size in inches was just that until I actually measured them. It seems the inch size is (very roughly) the overall diameter including tyres, and even that can be a good half inch out. Confused? Look up 29er bikes on Wikipedia, it explains it a little clearer.

took me a while to understand as well, the american insistance on imperial does make things confusing. Now that I've gotten to grips with the terminolgy the Erto system really makes sense:-

Rims/wheels - in format XXX-XX ie 622-15 where 622 is diameter and 15 is interior width of rim, all in mm's.
Tyres - follow the same format so you need to match diameters first then there is a correlation between inner rim diameter and tyre width.

What I'd like to see on bike and frame specs is a rating for what rims and tyres the frame can accomodate, in the Erto format.

 

[thegrumpybiker]

So there I was wondering about the expense and availability of 29" wheels, tubes and tyres and it turns out they're 700s after all. You really do learn something every day. Looks like building up a 29er (I've got to stop using this confusing terminology now) is a goer after all, and not as much hard work and expense as I thought.

 

[TimC]

Give them all a miss and go for a 29er MTB.
You can still fit narrow slick tyres to these bikes for road use but they'll easily walk all over most hybrids off-road when required.

Thanks for the advice - but I am not looking for anything hardcore and I like the idea of the hybrids out there. That said I am thinking or returning the GT as it is bloody heavy... Pls see post:
http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=1073482#post1073482

hope cross referencing isn't breaking forum rules, this is a genuinely different question.

Out of curiosity - would anyone recommend any 29er MTBs around the £400 mark?

 

[MacB]

Tim, my first bike was a hybrid(Giant CRS Alliance) and weighs in at 22lbs, I bought this thinking it would be a beast for all conditions. As it's a sporty hybrid it came with a sporty looking wheelset. The rims have a 14mm inner width thus limiting them to about a 700x28-32mm tyre max. They also have a spoke count of 28 rear and 24 front. I got this online and paid a local bike mechanic to show me how to set it up and check it over properly. He runs a mobile repair outfit and also teaches MTBing. When I asked him what it would be suitable for he reckoned the lightest off road/ light trails only. He didn't recommend hopping on/off kerbs and didn't rate it for any strenuous use. It functions well as a relaxed road bike and that's about it.

If you want an all rounder, with 700c wheels, then I'd look at cross bikes, 29ers or a tourer. The least versatile off road would be the tourer so, personally, I'd go cross or 29er. If you want lightweight then it costs or you need to go secondhand. Tell us exactly how you envisage using the bike and we'll try and work out what best fits.

 

[TimC]

Fair point - I am looking for a bike to ride on both road and light off-road, i.e. canal tow paths and trails. I don't mind a bit of weight and I would rather something more substantial and comfortable that can be chucked around a bit to a fast light bike with racing position. I also have a budget of £400 max.

I really like the GT - and am not too bothered about the weight if that is the way it is for that price. I am mainly posting because I saw while lurking on other forums that the GT was unnecessarily heavy and the Cube hybrid was a much better option (chain reaction have some 2009s).

Thanks again for all help - most appreciated.