Hybrid Bike Advice

[Joe_Clay]

Hi,
Im looking at buying a hybrid bike to use mainly for fitness.
I haven't been cycling for years so don't want to spend a fortune and don't really know what to look for, but i'd been looking at the following bike. Any advice/opinions on the bike would appreciated
Thanks
Joe

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/scott/sportster-55-2012-hybrid-bike-ec030916#BVRRWidgetID

 

[rollinstok]

Hey Joe.... hiya
All depends on the type of riding you wish to do, if it involves a bit of rough stuff then the Scott will be fine
If you are planning to do most of your riding on roads or cyclepaths.. or even gentle off road trails and towpaths, the suspension is really unnecessary.. it just adds weight and saps a lot of the energy that you put into pedalling.

 

[Joe_Clay]

Hey,
Probably mainly cycle down the transpennine trail etc so im guessing the terrain would vary, maybe mix in a bit road cycling now and again which is why i looked for one with lockout suspension

 

[rollinstok]

Yeah, I think the transpennine is quite rough in places isnt it ?

 

[MrJamie]

At a quick glance the Scott looks almost identical in spec to the Giant Roam 2 and Specialized Crosstrail Sport (iirc names properly), so might be worth checking them out for prices and spec comparison

As said above, it really depends on the type of riding youre doing. I like my front suspension for a more comfy ride and you can lock it in position to stop sapping energy on hills and good roads, so the main consideration becomes the extra weight and whether youd make enough use of it.

They make good allrounder bikes, you can ride pretty well on roads and pretty well on trails, not as good at either as a pure road bike or pure mountain bike but very versatile if you want to do everything with one bike. If youre going to be mainly on roads you might want to consider something more roadie, thinner tyres, no suspension etc.

 

[Tiberius Baltar]

Hi Joe Im a relatively new member on here but I will try and gve you a bit of advice that I got when I picked my Hybrid last year. I ended up using my local bike shop as the owner was the only one who seemed genuinely interested in what I was buying the bike for.
I started off wanting to improve my fitness and get back "into" cycling and then I wanted to be able to use the bike to go camping and touring around Merseyside and North Wales.
The shop owner had bikes ranging from £200 to £2000 so I told him I had a maximum budget of £400.

His advice was as follows;

Anything up to and including £500 avoid disc breaks and suspension. The quality and effectiveness of components on a bike of that price will be poor and most likely need replacing within the first two years of use.
If you are going to pick a Hybrid for under £500 then look for a light solid well made frame and good strong wheels.
After taking his advice I picked up a Saracen Urban 2011 for £280 and have bolted on racks and bags and done plenty of touring miles around Wales and have not had a single issue with the bike. My only servicing/maintenance work has been swapping road tyres for bigger tread tyres depending on where my route takes me.

Hope this helps.

 

[Badger1]

Hi Joe - you may like to - cough, cough - look in the classifieds!!!!!!!!