[Closed] Erm, hybrid, commuter type bike - cheap ?

Had a cheap Kona Dew for a couple of years and a few thousand miles.

Was tough, sturdy and did the job. Could do towpaths and gentle off road in the dry, probably the best value per mile bike I've owned.

I've just sold my road bike and am currently building up a commuter/2nd mtb.

Using an on one parkwood 29er.

Quite like my Pinnacle Lithium - cheap, colourful, with surprisingly good Tektro disc brakes and last time I looked, on sale at £399. It's like a rigid 29er really, complete with moderately wide bars and room for up to 2" tyres, so tons of room for guards if necessary.Could definitely do worse, though part of me still hankers for a road/cross bike.

Hybrids between £300 and £700 or so are the most fiercely competitive part of the bicycle market (if you discount the Argos/Halfords/Tesco crap), so some of the best value for money to be had. For under £500, you can get a lightweight alloy frame with carbon fork, and fairly decent components. My wife has a Trex 7.5FX, and it's a fantastic bike; unbelievably light for the money (was ca. £450 in a sale). The big manufacturers have been churning out millions of this type of bike, so know what they are doing, pretty much.

the decathlon £250ish hybrid got very good reviews

My boss has a Ridgeback Speed, it seems good for the money, it's not that light but it's pretty bombproof. Comes with guards and a rack, too.

Unless you commute is [i]very [/i]hilly then the small difference in bike weight is almost irrelevant, my commute is pretty much the same speed regardless of if I'm on a light road bike or my tourer with an extra 20lbs in the bags.

Over 6 miles I'd say its a pretty moot point either way, it's < 30mins even if you dawdle, and unless you have big hills a couple of lbs either way on the bike weight will make very little difference. Some decent fast rolling tyres (whatever the wheel size) will make the bigger difference.

I commuted on my Kona Dr Dew for 8 years. The frame, forks and wheels are still going strong. The miles and winter just turned the drive train to mush, but then it will whatever you put on it.

It's now been turned into a flat bar CX bike (hybrid), and it handles that with ease. Even counting the robust rider and the lack of skill.

this is like going onto a real ale forum and seeing a topic about Fosters... I HATE HYBRIDS ! argh!

6 miles each way but more in the summer, but there's a few hills and it gets really windy sometimes along the coast where I commute. Quite a few people on road bikes but part of my route is right on a seafront path and it usually gets covered in sand/stones/chalk, salt water in rough weather

Amedias is the voice of reason here. You'll not notice the difference over six miles.

my issue with a hybrid is that you end up with a riding position like jeremy corbyn's bike and when it's windy that makes a difference. the fact you see people on road bikes is a clue, they are tougher and more capable than you'd think and can easily handle a seafront

There are hybrids, and there are hybrids.

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Well, they both fall under the 'hybrid' category on Evans' website. Point is, there's a range of designs to suit different riding styles. Drop-bar road bikes are simply not as versatile as a flat bar hybrid, plus they are generally not as tough. In my experience, commuters using 'road' bikes tend to suffer more mechanical issues and crash more often than hybrid users.

I went from a Carrera Kraken (with slicks and rigid fork) to a Boardman Hybrid Comp for my 8 mile round trip commute and the hybrid is loads better. Not faster or more comfortable, just better.

I've 1x10'd it with spares gleaned from my other bikes as my commute route has the grand total of 40ft of climbing so only need gears to get up to speed from lights and if I have a particularly nasty head-wind otherwise it would be singlespeed. The only thing I need on a commuter is discs, rim brakes in the wet are not my cup of tea.

Thanks, there's a few things I can look out for there.

6 miles each way now turns into 14 miles each way in the spring summer, during the winter I drive half way as the first bit in the mornings is a bit grim in winter. More hills on that longer route too. Wind is a problem here, always seems to be a strong headwind coming right off the sea, it's been interesting the last week or so! Anyone in the Newhaven - Brighton area will now what I'm on about.

I'm near. Inbred 29er fine, rigid fork, big bald tyres. I do windy coastal rides on my ss Inbred w/flat bars and also big bald tyred London Road w/drop bars.

More weight the better, stops you flying away 😀

Well there's not much you can do about wind, a lighter bike won't help there, nor will bigger wheels. How hilly is hilly, 6 miles with 600ft of up/down?

And bike weight really isn't the be all and end all, do you carry any gear, bags/panniers etc? They will almost certainly negate any minor weight savings in the bike, hell, even your lights and a water bottle can end up weighing a couple of pounds combined and I can't say I really notice the difference without them.

Fair enough if your bike is 30-35lbs then losing a few lbs might be nice, but the difference between and Alu frame vs steel will make precisely diddly squat difference.

Comfort, reliability and fitness-for-purpose (ie: gearing, guards, racks if needed) are chief concerns on a commuter, that doesn't preclude doing it on a nice light road bike (which will be more than capable) but don't be under the illusion that it will suddenly be 10x easier or faster, especially over such short distances.

There are some very very good hybrids available these days if you do want to splash out, but have a think about what you're really trying to achieve.

edhornby - Member

my issue with a hybrid is that you end up with a riding position like jeremy corbyn's bike and when it's windy that makes a difference.

Come and ride mine- hybrids don't have to be shopping bikes, mine has low wide flats and a ride somewhere between an XC race bike and a road bike, no problems with wind. You can't tuck quite the same but you can still make your sails small.

Maybe I'll just try the on-one 29er and see if it's different. I run out of gears last night, strong tailwind on the way home but can really feel it slow down going up out of Saltdean, maybe the larger wheels will be better gearing, or change the chainrings.

I put some slick tyres on my hardtail and it's working brilliant! 2012 boardman team mtb so many about due to the Halfords cycle to work so there not to expensive.

This is half price at the moment 🙂

[url= https://www.merlincycles.com/drossiger-tiagra-speedbike-62360.html ]https://www.merlincycles.com/drossiger-tiagra-speedbike-62360.html[/url] Drossiger Tiagra SpeedBike was £1000 now £500 (59cm)

From what you describe, a road bike would be fine, they're much tougher than you think and with reasonable tyres they'll lap up that kind of surface. At that price point, Decathlon is worth a look, [url= http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-500-se-road-bike-black-id_8306187.html ]this [/url]one for instance. If you prefer flat bars, [url= http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-520-flat-bar-road-bike-sora-id_8322799.html ]this [/url]is worth a glance.

Surely your old Kona with some upgrades would be much better if not as good and miles cheaper. some new bars/tyres even wheels? and miles cooler!