Road Bike VS Hybrid Bike

[jugglingphil]

Paul,
your bike looks good and is obviously well sorted to mixed terrain cycling. Before buying another bike (or changing the one you have) you should think about the type of riding you'd like to do.
If you'd like to carry one with the riding your doing, then stick to the same bike, when a roady whizzes past your when your on the tarmac, simply wave and carry on with your ride.
On the other hand if you'd like to do some touring, sportives, audax, club runs etc etc then get a bike to help you achieve that goal.

 

[wiggydiggy]

...............
what is the real difference between road and hybrid bikes

Are Road bikes faster than hybrids and if so why or is it tat road bikers are fitter

Is the gearing on road bikes better that the gears on hybrids

Are road bikes much lighter than hybrids and is that why they are so fast

...............

Thanks Paul

Road bikes are mostly used on the road and this is what they are best at. Hybrids can be used on road/trail and cope well with both.

Sometimes faster, sometime slower. The fitness of the rider affects the speed more

The gearing on road bikes will generally have some very high gears to put the speed down.

Weight is more affected by price than type of bike.

-----------------------------

 

[paulb55]

Paul,
your bike looks good and is obviously well sorted to mixed terrain cycling. Before buying another bike (or changing the one you have) you should think about the type of riding you'd like to do.
If you'd like to carry one with the riding your doing, then stick to the same bike, when a roady whizzes past your when your on the tarmac, simply wave and carry on with your ride.
On the other hand if you'd like to do some touring, sportives, audax, club runs etc etc then get a bike to help you achieve that goal.

Hi Phil,

500% agree with you and that's what i will do, best advice so far on this debate and simplistic in its nature, spotives, audax and club runs just aint me, love to ride my bike where it takes me and if that means going from road to canal towpath on same ride, then happy that i can do that with my bike.

saying that on a Tuesday and Thursday i do about 15 miles training rides up a few hills etc and they are 99% on the road so i may look at getting a cheap road bike just for those rides but come the weekend i will be out on my Hybrid pounding the roads and the off roads with delight

 

[Rykard]

Weight is more affected by price than type of bike.

-----------------------------

Sonmething I read a while back was that it would be better to see whether the rider could lose weight (lbs) rather than paying a lot more for a lighter (ozs) bike.

i.e. why pay another £200 for a bike that is a pound lighter when the rider could lose 3-4 (or more) which would make more difference.

hopefully that has come across right... law of dimishing returns..

 

[paulb55]

Sonmething I read a while back was that it would be better to see whether the rider could lose weight (lbs) rather than paying a lot more for a lighter (ozs) bike.

i.e. why pay another £200 for a bike that is a pound lighter when the rider could lose 3-4 (or more) which would make more difference.

hopefully that has come across right... law of dimishing returns..

Hi Rykard,

absolutely, common sense really

 

[007fair]

For a specific example
On my commute I have road and canal path sections and I do it on quite a light MTB (Scandium Kona 12kg)
The road is quite hilly and last week I caught a guy on a road bike on the up hill... on the down hill he came right past me Next uphill I caught him
I think (IMO) that I was fitter than him but on the down hills his lower weight and narrow smooth tyres made all the difference


Also I would like to stand up for Hybrids here..
Yes its a loose term but this means choice! Confusing at first .. but it means you can buy a bike that exactly suits your needs - Once you know what those needs are If you want one nearer the MTB end fine.. or one thats almost a road bike also fine!

For the OP he sounds like he needs what I want I light, flat barred hybrid with disc brakes and 700*28 or 32 tyres with clearance for mudguards - and no suspension.

 

[Rykard]

Hi Rykard,

absolutely, common sense really

sometimes commen sense isn't all that common, especially when confronted with a nice new shiny bike.... (not speaking from experience btw )

 

[paulb55]

sometimes commen sense isn't all that common, especially when confronted with a nice new shiny bike.... (not speaking from experience btw )

LOL - SO TRUE

 

[Rykard]

Hybrids tend to fall into 3 categories in my mind.

1) Based on an MTB with maybe more road orientated gearing and road tyres
2) Flat bat road bikes - like the Sirrus - basically a road bike with flat bars
3) Something in the middle which is a bit of a mish mash of the two above

I would go for 1 or 2 depending on what the majority of the use would be...

 

[JonnyBlade]

For a specific example
On my commute I have road and canal path sections and I do it on quite a light MTB (Scandium Kona 12kg)
The road is quite hilly and last week I caught a guy on a road bike on the up hill... on the down hill he came right past me Next uphill I caught him
I think (IMO) that I was fitter than him but on the down hills his lower weight and narrow smooth tyres made all the difference

I think you'll find that if he was heavier he would have blatted you on the downhills! You may of course have 'done him right royally' on the ascents

Fitness will have an impact but so will distance travelled and personal targets

 

[PpPete]

I'm just baffled by the modern idea that a "road bike" cannot be used anywhere other than roads. Most canal tow-paths and cycle tracks are perfectly smooth enough.

But then I grew up in an age before MTBs and if you had a "10 speed racer" and your route took you through the woods, you just got on with it. Stand up on the pedals, relaxed stance, let the bike find its own way through the tree roots & stones. I just don't do this often on my best bike these days because I cba to clean it after !

 

[Rykard]

we were walking around Old John in Bradgate park the other weekend and I was saying to the other half that I used to ride my racer (12spd peugeot on road tyres) up here. She was amazed and to be honest when I looked at the terrain so was I, oh to be young again....

 

[paulb55]

we were walking around Old John in Bradgate park the other weekend and I was saying to the other half that I used to ride my racer (12spd peugeot on road tyres) up here. She was amazed and to be honest when I looked at the terrain so was I, oh to be young again....

Oh rykard

Your as young as you feel mate

 

[Rykard]

Oh rykard

Your as young as you feel mate

and that's pretty old at the minute lol

 

[Norm]

[QUOTE 1512430"]Looking at the pics of the above bikes you have confirmed what I said in my original post. [/quote]One of the bikes which I posted bears some resemblance to what you posted. My point, though, was that both the Sirrus and the Scott Sportster are considered "hybrids", along with the Pashley Princess and the Charge Mixer. Other than the Sportster, they don't have MTB geometry, MTB wheels or MTB slicks and I don't think either the Mixer or the Princess have eyelets for panniers.

I wasn't saying that your definition (which was "Flat barred MTB geometry for comfort and toughness, MTB wheels that can take a MTB slick, higher gear ratio for speed, wider gear ratio for off roading, fitted lugs for taking a pannier") was wrong, just that it's too narrow to cover most of the 1,300 bikes on the Evans list of "hybrids"

Even the Scott Sportster doesn't fit your definition too well, as it has suspension.

[QUOTE 1512430"]edit: with respect to the Scott and it's gearing how can you say that is not ideal for the road when it has a range of 24-117? [/quote] Actually, I said "front suspension, disc brakes, 37mm tyres and a 28x32 bottom gear are not exactly ideal for a bike to be used on the road" Even looking at your narrow selection from that little lot, I can quite happily say that a 24" gear is not ideal for the road.

Going back on topic, though, (remember the original question was "what is the real difference between road and hybrid bikes"), I think that "hybrid" is such a broad definition that it is impossible to say what the difference is. It could be as little as "flat bars", it could be as much as "everything is different, including the bars, geometry, suspension, gearing, wheels sizes, tyres, saddle, pedals, fittings..."