After the Hybrid ...

[pooks]

It seems that a lot of people start with hybrids but eventually switch to either a true road bike or a true mtn. bike. Is that right?

Who started with a hybrid? Do you still ride it, or have you moved on to another bike?

I can't believe I'm already thinking of another bike -- won't buy one anytime soon, that's for sure.

Are urban bikes (like the Breezer, for example) the same as hybrids? They're not road bikes, and not mtn...?

[7rider]

It seems that a lot of people start with hybrids but eventually switch to either a true road bike or a true mtn. bike. Is that right?

Who started with a hybrid? Do you still ride it, or have you moved on to another bike?

I can't believe I'm already thinking of another bike -- won't buy one anytime soon, that's for sure.

Are urban bikes (like the Breezer, for example) the same as hybrids? They're not road bikes, and not mtn...?

Story 1:
I started with a hybrid - a 1992 Miyata. My chiropractor recommended one, as he felt the upright riding position would be kinder to my bad back. After about 3 years of steady riding, the bike was stolen from the driveway of a friend's house. She filed a claim with her insurance company and with the money, I bought a road bike - a 1995 Bianchi Eros. It was a solid, middle-of-the-road touring/road frame when integrated brake/shifters and triples were just starting to come out. I loved it. It was the best thing that ever happened to me as a cyclist. I was able to log longer, faster, rides with greater efficiency.
I did ultimately pick up a flat bar road bike for commuting (some versions of "urban" bikes with 700c wheels are flat bar road bikes), but I felt the hybrid was not for me any more.

Story 2:
I used to do the MS-150 from Boston to Provincetown with some friends. A friend of the team leader was from the San Francisco area and rode a hybrid. Lord, she was a strong rider! I asked her what she was doing on a hybrid, she'd do so much better on a road bike. Well, she actually took what I said to heart, as the next year I saw her...she was on a road bike, and beating the socks off all of us!!! She thanked me for the suggestion, got a road bike, hooked up with a local group and was doing all sorts of crazy rides and enjoying every minute of it!!

[eclectic]

I started out on more of a leisure bike than I hybrid. I used it for about 4 summers. Last summer my riding style was changing (longer and I was more concerned about distance, cadence, shifting and getting more speed), I was ready for a different bike. My rides were consistently 15 miles and up.

Interesting note: in 3 summers I put 336 miles on my leisure bike, in 4 months I put 600 on my new road bike - it was just so much more fun than the leisure bike.

Difference with my leisure bike however and most hybrids is I had mountain bike style wide tires on it, along with a regular curved handlebar so I was sitting pretty upright (murder in the North Dakota wind)

Now to get to your question. My BF has a hybrid he has ridden for 10 years. He has done some touring on it. When we go out riding I have to push to keep up a lot of times and I am on a road bike. He has no interest in switching because it suits his style of riding, 10 - 20 miles on nice days

Had I gotten a hybrid instead of a leisure bike I probably would still be on a hybrid - they definately have their advantages. We are thinking of doing a rails to trails ride - the Mickelson trail in South Dakota, and hybrids are ideally suited to that road surface.

So not all people change over, it all depends on your riding style and goals. A girlfriend of mine wanted to buy my leisure bike and I tried to convince her not to because I told her she would soon outgrow it. She bought it, she loves it and is not thinking at all about moving to a different bike.

I don't know anything about urban bikes so no comment there.

[Cassandra_Cain]

Pooks I'm guilty

I started with a trusty trek 7200 hybrid. Rode it around for a couple of months, got in decent shape - but every imaginable accessory for it (clipless, etc). Then graduated to a full-on MTB.

I think hybrids are good bikes to start on - they are reasonably priced, accessible, wide set of gearing - and when you first start out, nobody knows for sure that they are going to be sucked into this sport the way we have!

[Thistle]

Story 1:
I did ultimately pick up a flat bar road bike for commuting (some versions of "urban" bikes with 700c wheels are flat bar road bikes), but I felt the hybrid was not for me any more.

I think that's what the CRX 4 (giant) i fell in love with yesterday is. i too want to move on from my hybrid. I love it, but i've been thinking of moving on, and i found something i love more in the bike shop yesterday, and i'm too scared to go right to a road bike. I'm overweight and scared of being on skinny tyres and dont think i can "drop" down to the handlebars. but oddly enough, i'm more nervous about losing my little "shocks" in the front fork... although mimitabby (another thread) thinks it's fine unless i'm jumping.... and i'm definitely not jumping

[mimitabby]

the hybrid bike is really the closest thing to what i rode when i was a kid with modern conveniences built in.
it's lightweight and inexpensive compared to the mountain bikes;
and not daunting to the inexperienced rider like fancier mtb's and road bikes.

I wanted something i could be comfortable on, on gravel and on the road; i live in the city; i'm not going to be dancing over a mountain trail anytime soon.
If my husband didn't ride road bikes (and fast ones) i would probably still be happy with my hybrid Raleigh (I had a fantastic trek before that too a hybrid)
but i couldn't keep up with him and i dont ALWAYS want to be on the tandem.

a hybrid is a perfect starting bike. You can use it off the road with the right tires and on the road with the right tires; and find out what you like to do.
I did my first double century on that hybrid bike... 200 miles in two days.

[Thistle]

Pooks I'm guilty

nobody knows for sure that they are going to be sucked into this sport the way we have!

boy you got that right, i bought the cheapest bike i could because i was so scared it would just get dusty in the garage, but i cant stop riding now

[HipGnosis6]

My bike is (was?) a Specialized Sirrus, which lists as both a "comfort" bike and a road bike on their website. It's perfect for what I was doing - commuting in town. I have a road bike jones, though!

[mimitabby]

well, hip, let's hope that the wheel took all of the hit!

[DrBee]

I, too, started with a hybrid - a Trek 7200FX. I put quite a few miles on her and then bought a roadbike (10 months on the hybrid). I must admit that I don't ride the hybrid much anymore. It's on a rack up high in the garage. I do take it out when my daughter rides her bike and when we toodle around the neighborhood. My plan was to use it for short commutes in town (to haircuts and the like). I do this in cool weather, but it's been so hot lately that we haven't done any neighborhood rides in a while.

Some people do not like the geometry of roadbikes and stay with hybrids and ride gazillions of miles. I kept feeling the need to be more aerodynamic and was riding resting on my handlebars with my arms. It was time for me to get a roadbike.

I bought my hybrid because it was relatively inexpensive and was a good way to test out my knees and if I would stick with cycling without dropping a ton of money on a roadbike. It was well worth it!

[HipGnosis6]

well, hip, let's hope that the wheel took all of the hit!

If it didn't I would be OK - I could get that Kona Jake I've been drooling over!

[KnottedYet]

Talk to Andrew at Recycled Cycles! He sold me my Kona Dew!

(a hybrid, which I love and used in a triathlon, and I just bought a steel Waterford for longer rides)

[HillSlugger]

I'm riding a Raleigh C40 hybrid (see my avatar) but I'm ready to move to a road bike. When I bought it 3 years ago I was just getting back into riding after a 15+ year break. At that time I expected that I might ride a combination of paved roads and packed trails and figured a hybrid was what I wanted. Three years later, the bike has never been off the asphalt and I'm more interested in increased efficiency, etc for road riding. My needs have changed.

I've loved my hybrid but I'm ready for a new bike.

[mimitabby]

I'm riding a Raleigh C40 hybrid (see my avatar) but I'm ready to move to a road bike. When I bought it 3 years ago I was just getting back into riding after a 15+ year break. At that time I expected that I might ride a combination of paved roads and packed trails and figured a hybrid was what I wanted. Three years later, the bike has never been off the asphalt and I'm more interested in increased efficiency, etc for road riding. My needs have changed.

I've loved my hybrid but I'm ready for a new bike.

uhoh.. you're in dangerous territory.. have fun trying to find the perfect bike for you!

[CycleChic06]

So my story just sounds like everyone else's. I started on my Jamis Citizen Hybrid that I've had for about 5 or 6 years. But I used to just ride around for fun. When I started riding more seriously, longer distances, trying to get my speed up, I decided it was time to switch to a road bike. It was the best decision ever, I bought a Specialized Dolce Elite. I kept my hybrid, though I don't ride it, but my friends use it when I drag them out on short rides.

I'm riding the NYC Bike Tour in a few weeks and am deciding if I want to ride my road bike on the city streets, but the thought of going back to my hybrid would be awful! I'm still deciding which to ride.

My road bike was one of the best purchases I've ever made!