Road bike or Hybrid?

[mayanorange]

Guys in bike shops often tend to think all women need hybrids because they are not 'serious riders' enough to be on road bikes, or some such cliche. And sometimes it's true, some of their women customers are new hesitant riders who might feel more comfy on hybrids --especially if they do not do long rides.

But if you are always going to be on paved roads and aim to ride over 30 miles at a time- I'd say definitely go for a road bike. Or a touring/road bike. A road bike will feel very odd to you after riding a mtn bike, but you will get used to it quickly. Important to get a frame that fits you to start out though. Go to a bike shop that does thorough fittings of the bikes they sell.

+1 Yeap, bike shop guys love to steer us to the hybrids!

And +1 on the fittings!

[Biciclista]

I had two hybrids in a row before I caved and bought a road bike. helped me go faster; it took some to get used to it; but now it's second nature, just like the old hybrids were.

[NbyNW]

I love my road bike, but I sometimes think a hybrid would be great for trips to the grocery or an errand to the University, which is super close to me but I'm afraid to lock my road bike there, even to drop something off for 5-10 minutes.

That said, it sounds like you're looking for a road bike.

[carinapir]

It sounds like you might be more ready to move to a road bike that I was when I was looking for my bike, but here are my thoughts.

I have a hybrid (a 2008 Giant FCR3) and I bought it rather than a road bike because of my budget at the time. Hybrids are generally cheaper than road bikes of similar value, though that might not be the case if you look at the high end hybrids. My FCR3 was $450 and the lowest end Giant road bike with Sora components was $650. If I was going to get a cheap bike, I figured I might as well get a cheap bike. :-) But even so, on my FCR the shifting is better than what I had before and the bike is about 23-25 lbs-ish which is plenty light for the price. I can lift the bike easily and manhandle it into the car or on to a bus bike rack.

I also chose the hybrid because I had not been riding for several years and I wasn't sure how I would handle the unfamiliar riding position, drop bars, and thin tires of a road bike. I had only ridden mountain bikes before. The tires on my hybrid are 32mm rather than the 23mm or 25mm of a road bike. So, I have much thinner tires than a mountain bike but I don’t have to obsess over balancing on very thin tires. This is probably more of a mental hurdle than anything else.

A few months after getting my hybrid I added clipless pedals and bar ends. The bar ends allow me to achieve an aerodynamic position sort of similar to that of a road bike. I can get into a crouched position, tuck my elbows, and increase my speed by a few mph. Then when I'm ready for a road bike, I hope to be more familiar with what I would like the fit to be and how to ride in that position.

So I guess the bottom line for me was that when I bought a road bike I wanted to have the money to buy a higher end road bike (minimum 105 components and carbon fork & seat stays is what I'm currently thinking) and I wanted to be prepared to make use of my investment. A road bike like I would want to get would cost about $1500-$1700. That's a lot of money for me and I didn't want to waste money on a cheap road bike when I could get a less expensive hybrid that I could train on until I had the money for a decent road bike.

Personally, I would recommend at least looking at the Giant hybrids/flat bar road bikes if you end up considering something other than a road bike. Many people like the Trek FX series but I think that the Giant geometry is more road bike and the FX. I could be totally wrong but as I compared the Giant FCR to the FX's (even the 2008s which is what I'm familiar with due to my research) the effective top tubes are longer, the seat/hand angles are bigger, the wheelbase is shorter and so is the chain stay. When I test road the FX I felt scrunched up and I immediately wanted my handlebars further out. It felt closer to being on a cruiser than a road bike. I did test a few road bikes as well so that I could approximate the feel on a hybrid.

So, this is just my experience from the researching and shopping that I did. Hope it helps.

[Lakerider]

Great advice so far. Does anybody else have a comment?

[uforgot]

Yup, I do. How about both? Scour Craigslist for a hybrid you can knock around on for a few miles at a time, get groceries, and buy a new snappy road bike for those long trips. I don't think I'd want to do a century on a hybrid. I love having both.

Let's see, that would make 3 bikes? You have a long way to go to catch up with some of us!

And as always, whatever you decide, we're behind ya! As long as you post pics.

[azfiddle]

I got a Trek hybrid on Craig's list in early July. I realized after about 6 weeks, and increasing my range to 15-25 mile rides that I was working too hard. I'm usually extremely deliberate about spending money, but decided that I wasn't going to find a used, women's road bike that would fit me and forged ahead with getting a new one.

The hybrid was good for shorter trips and doing errands, and I'm afraid to leave the road bike locked up at the store but I really enjoy how the road bike has expanded my range.

Sharon

[aeiea]

Yup, I do. How about both? Scour Craigslist for a hybrid you can knock around on for a few miles at a time, get groceries, and buy a new snappy road bike for those long trips. I don't think I'd want to do a century on a hybrid. I love having both.

Let's see, that would make 3 bikes? You have a long way to go to catch up with some of us!

And as always, whatever you decide, we're behind ya! As long as you post pics.

I like what this poster said.

I was like the OP -- started with mountain bike, found I would be primarily going on the road. I felt so slow on my mountain bike. I just bought a really nice and new road bike (very sick of car commuting), but now it's so nice that I don't feel safe just taking it out for random errands.

If I had to do it all over again, and had more patience, I would get 2 used bikes ... a road bike for long commutes, and a hybrid or cruiser or touring bike for short commutes and groceries.

I'd grab a road bike first though. If you haven't tried road biking it yet... omg... it is such a beautiful difference. Such a lovely speedy ride.

I might still get a used "grocery" bike, and just keep the mountain bike for off-roading. The extra bikes are also great for when guests visit.

[Yelsel]

Personally, I would recommend at least looking at the Giant hybrids/flat bar road bikes if you end up considering something other than a road bike. Many people like the Trek FX series but I think that the Giant geometry is more road bike and the FX. I could be totally wrong but as I compared the Giant FCR to the FX's (even the 2008s which is what I'm familiar with due to my research) the effective top tubes are longer, the seat/hand angles are bigger, the wheelbase is shorter and so is the chain stay. When I test road the FX I felt scrunched up and I immediately wanted my handlebars further out. It felt closer to being on a cruiser than a road bike. I did test a few road bikes as well so that I could approximate the feel on a hybrid.

So, this is just my experience from the researching and shopping that I did. Hope it helps.

+1 on the Giant flatbars as a more road setup. I consider the Giants to be similar to road flatbars brought out by most manufacturers for those that don't want drop bars, they've just brought them down into the sweet spot price-wise overlapping higher-end hybrids. I've always considered the FX geometry as midway between a typical hybrid and a road bike -- a very sporty hybrid as it were. Not to denigrate the FX line - I have two friends where the FX fit the budget and they love the bikes - this is really the best geometry bike for longer road riding in the $500 range. And it is great for people to have the option of a really nice sporty hybrid configuration at the higher end of the line. People should just know what they're getting is what they want, or something like that.

[Lisa Holman]

Lakerider, do you know the frame size on your new bike?