Road bike vs. hybrid?

[Zen]

Test ride a Trek FX 7.2 (or higher)
Quite a few women here ride them.
Very affordable, the higher you go in the hierarchy the more road-like the bike but you can always switch out the tires for the type of riding you do.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Very affordable, the higher you go in the hierarchy the more road-like the bike but you can always switch out the tires for the type of riding you do.

Many road bikes won't take wider tires- they simply don't have the brake or fork clearance for tires wider than 23cm. If you get a road bike and want to ride gravel roads, make sure it can take at least a 25cm wide tire- then you can get a Kevlar flat-resistant 700x25 tire that will ride over just about any lunar landscape you can dish out.

[mimitabby]

I rode 200 miles in two days on a $700 raleigh hybrid. And yes, there were some hills. I changed over to a road bike because I hoped to close the gap some between my husband and myself. It helped... a little.

But in the mean time, i've been riding A LOT on my road bike and that is helping immensely.
bottom line; what do you need to keep you riding? Do you ride with other people? what are they riding? It helps if you're riding the same style of bike, but like with me, it will not make up completely for your lack of speed and endurance.

[wackyjacky1]

Because I was a newbie, I couldn't justify to myself the expense of a nice road bike. Moustache bars and a Brooks B68 turned my Trek 7.2FX into an amazingly comfortable, confidence-inspiring bike, and kept my spending level at or under the $700 mark. (The Brooks was pricey, but so worth it!)