I’ve been thinking about getting a bicycle for a little exercise and saw a hybrid bicycle on display at Costco yesterday. The price of $170 seemed reasonable, but I’m not sure what made it a hybrid.

Cross between a road bike (think "Ten Speed") and mountain bike. Smooth tires like a road bike, but wider, but not as wide as mountain bike tires. Handlebars and seat like a mountain bike.

Hybrid means it's a compromise design, between a mountain bike and road bike.

I have a 10 yr old Trek 7.2FX, and it's a hybrid. A street/racer bike has (typically) 7/8" slick(ish) tires, a very light frame, and those curled handlebars that require the rider to be bent really low to the frame (better aerodynamics). A mountain bike has 2 1/4" wide knobby tires, a sturdy frame, straight handlebars, and the rider sits upright.

A hybrid is somewhere in the middle. It has the upright riding stance with straight handlebars like the mountain bike, but has skinnier tires (mine are around 1 1/4"), so it's faster. It can also go places a road bike cannot, such as sand, light gravel, grass/dirt, etc.

I love mine. It just suits my riding style better than either a dedicated road bike or mountain bike.

Of course, it's slower than a road bike, and can't go places or take the abuse on hard trails that a dedicated mountain bike can. Like all compromises, you have to prioritize what characteristics are important to you.

I think a hybrid is a great compromise for casual riders. You're not going to outrace road bikes or out ride mountain bikes. Kind of like the jack of all trades but master of none.

I ride a Trek DS hybrid myself. I've had it for nearly 4 years now. Great bike.

Beware though, that biking can get quite addicting.

Thanks for the enlightenment. Sorry, my old one speed mind didn’t think to Google it.

Beware, also, that you most often get what you pay for. I had a $250 Schwinn hybrid, and it was a piece of garbage compared to my $450 Trek. . .

Also, the Trek was fitted to me (they come in different frame sizes - I got my wife the same bike, but with a shorter frame) so it fit better, and had much higher quality construction.

If you plan on doing much riding, you will thank yourself for spending a bit more for a MUCH better quality bike.

IMHO, of course.

I have one of the original Trek hybrids from 1991. I forget the number though it is a higher end (for the time) frame.

Think of it like a mountain bike made for medium/long distance street riding (25 - 50 miles) or a street bike able to take an off-road (ie: trail) shortcut.

I like it as a perfect solution for the typical "never needs maintenance" roads most governments cannot afford to maintain.

if you will be riding it for exercise , more than three times a week,
$450.00 was the minimum, 5 years ago.

and ! if you spend that and walk away from it , it will be gone in 3 minutes , regardless of the three locks you put on it

if you are going to be running errands and parking it , go to the cop bike auction and get an ok one for $75.00

Have you guys seen the electric hybrid mountain bikes? Some of em will go 45-60 mph and can be pedaled like a standard mountain bike. They are expensive but pretty neat.

Just a personal opinion but hybrids to me are kind of worst of both worlds. You can't use them as a straight up road bike, and they don't go off-road well.

Back in my bike shop days I would tend to recommend a mountain bike for people looking at hybrids. Just get a set of road appropriate tires and then you can switch tires to get something that is fine for the street - plus you can actually go off-road with it.

Just my $.02

I have several bikes. A Giant full suspension mountain bike, a road bike, a restored retro, and a 2015 Trek 7.2 Hybrid.

I enjoy riding thr Trek hybrid the most.

No worry about theft. I don’t think I could make all the way into town.
However, my neighbor is an avid hunter and might want to borrow it to use as bait to bag himself a trophy thief.

quote:

Originally posted by Chance:
Just a personal opinion but hybrids to me are kind of worst of both worlds. You can't use them as a straight up road bike, and they don't go off-road well.

Back in my bike shop days I would tend to recommend a mountain bike for people looking at hybrids.

This.

Even if you never plan to ride legitimate single track, a mountain bike is far more versatile than a ‘hybrid’. A hybrid will get squirrelly and become tough to ride on loose pack road shoulder type material or if you have to bail to some grassy terrain to get around obstructions in the road you’re also going to struggle. Essentially it’s only good on pavement and hard pack FLAT material. They generally don’t have much (if any) suspension so roots/rocks/washboard paths get tiresome as well.

If you think there’s a chance you’ll get into more distance riding, and like the ergonomics of a road bike, you could also look into cyclocross/gravel bikes but that pushes you to the road side of the spectrum and will be difficult on trail riding.

I just converted an old hard tail mountain bike to my ‘neighborhood transportation’. You can get tires that are the same width as ‘normal’ mountain bike tires but with smooth (almost completely) tread for sidewalks and the road. A nice cheap add if you decide to go the mountain bike route.

This is how bikes multiply BTW... I was a ‘why do you need more than 1 bike’ guy for a long time, now I have: an ultimate road racer (14lbs!), a cheaper carbon road bike to keep on the trainer all winter but also use for crappy weather, a full-suspension enduro bike, and a hard tail XC bike. Will likely add a fat bike this fall for snow riding and if I run out of other things to waste money on I’ll start to piece together a much lighter ridged/hardtail XC bike because my enduro is a bit of overkill 75% of the time.

quote:

Originally posted by ridja75:

Just a personal opinion but hybrids to me are kind of worst of both worlds. You can't use them as a straight up road bike, and they don't go off-road well.

Back in my bike shop days I would tend to recommend a mountain bike for people looking at hybrids.

I don't have the expendable income right now to have multiple bikes, so my 'jack of all trades/master of none' bike is the PERFECT choice for me. I've been riding it for almost 10 years now (hard to estimate, but based on the odometer I've had on it, I think I have over 1800 miles on it - it zeros out every time I replace batteries), and from the beginning, I have said that if it were stolen, I would go out and buy one just like it tomorrow. I feel the same way today.

It all depends on what you want to use it for. If you are hard-core riding paved roads several hours per day, then get a road bike. If you are doing X-sports mountain trails, then get a mountain bike. If you want to ride roads sitting upright (not hunched over) and have the ability to handle dirt, grass, or light gravel paths, then a hybrid is the way to go, IMO. I will never do the REGRAI (Register (newspaper) Ride Across Iowa), nor do any extreme trail riding. My 'compromise' is perfect for me. I am NOT saying a hybrid is perfect for everybody.

I ride around my housing development (smoother/faster/more efficient than a mountain bike), and some unpaved trails in Colorado (in the city - no back country stuff, that a road bike would NEVER handle). I get around just fine, and have never felt the need for 'more bike' either on the paved surfaces nor on the trails I ride.

Now, if I could afford to have a quality (Trek, Specialized, Kona, Cannondale, etc) road bike AND mountain bike, then I would get one of each and choose the best one for the particular brand of riding I planned on doing at any given time. However, I cannot afford such luxuries at this time (same reason I have telephoto lenses, when many pros and purists rightfully point out the inherent superiority of prime (non-zoom) lenses). You have to work within your budget.

I have the Trek D/S which I have rode for the last 4 years great bike. I leave it at the lake to ride while out there. Just got the Specialized Expert. So far it has been a good ride. I am 64 and ride when ever the weather lets me. Get one and enjoy

Just get on google and search for “Obama, bicycle”....you’ll see what a hybrid bike is....and how they make men look while riding them.

quote:

Originally posted by newmexican:
Just get on google and search for “Obama, bicycle”....you’ll see what a hybrid bike is....and how they make men look while riding them.

That pussy could drive a Lamborghini Centenario and make it look lame.

Buy a bicycle and get a heavy chain and lock and use it, always.

Also, replace the quick release seat post clamp and install a bolt and security nut. Thieves take bicycle seats, too.

Advice I picked up while living in Tucson, the unofficial bicycle theft capitol of America.

Here's my "tweaked" 1991 Bridgestone CB-0 hybrid. As hound dog said, it's a design reflecting features of both a road and mountain bike.

The "CB" stood for City Bike and that is what this puppy is suited for.