What bike to choose - looking for a hybrid (It will be for casual use)

worded

I dont want a mountain bike, as they are too slow and I wont be doing off road.
I dont want a road bike as I wont be doing long distance.

I thinking a hybrid.

Anyone any favourites?
Where is the the best place to see a wide choice of bike in Dublin?

Which is a better choice - Giant or Specialised?

worded

I like the look of these
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-GB/bikes/model/roam.xr.0/4883/39036/

Vélo

It all depends what you want the bike for.

When it comes to Giant or Specialized, there's not really much of a difference. It'll have more to do with which bike you like the look of best. They're both very good brands.

I don't know what type bike you want but I'd recommend you try the bike 1st for size. Different brands have different geometry and the most important thing when it comes to buying a bike is that is fits properly.

If you give us more info on what you want the bike for, we might be able to help.

worded

Vélo wrote: »

It all depends what you want the bike for.

When it comes to Giant or Specialized, there's not really much of a difference. It'll have more to do with which bike you like the look of best. They're both very good brands.

I don't know what type bike you want but I'd recommend you try the bike 1st for size. Different brands have different geometry and the most important thing when it comes to buying a bike is that is fits properly.

If you give us more info on what you want the bike for, we might be able to help.

I want to get a bit fit. I cant see myself getting fanatic about cycling but look forward to some fun. I see limited off road use.

Vélo

OK, so you don't have a specific type of cycling you want to do.

I started back cycling nearly 2 years ago with the same attitude. I was just sick of doing nothing at weekends and decided to start cycling again (I hadn't cycled since I was a kid but loved it back then).

I just had a look at the bike you like. The spec is very good but it seems a bit too much in between a hybrid and a mtb. You'd probably be better off buying both.

I see the bike you like costs €1825 in cyclesuperstore. For that much money I'd recommend you buy a normal hybrid, say for about €500 - €600 and use it for general fitness. You more than likely will get fanatical about cycling (I did) and then you can use the spare money for another one, whether it's a mtb, road bike or fixed gear/single speed.

The chances are in a few years you'll have all the above anyway.

PWEI

worded wrote: »

I like the look of these
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-GB/bikes/model/roam.xr.0/4883/39036/

Have you looked at the Boardman's in Halfords?
I have one of these and I wouldnt change it with any other hybrid;

http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_502579_langId_-1_categoryId_212377

Lumen

Vélo wrote: »

I see the [hybrid] bike you like costs €1825 in cyclesuperstore.

With a bit of shopping around you could get aerobars and deep section wheels inside that budget. Or something like this:

blorg

There is no point spending a fortune on something that is neither fish nor fowl but will be ultimately compromised. You can't really take a bike suitable for road use off road or vice versa. As suggested you would be better off with two bikes of a lower spec. Spec is not terribly important anyway as long as the stuff is of a reasonable quality (e.g. basically all of Shimano's road groupsets and indeed hybrid stuff.)

You can however get a decent bike that will not be optimal for say, road racing, but will do distance and can be taken on light off road. I have several of these myself.

But you say you WON'T be taking it off road but then see "limited off road use?"

Are you a cyclist now or starting from scratch?

You don't want slow but don't want a road bike as you won't be doing long distances?

All very confusing, what are you starting from and what do you want from the bike.

At this point (and especially if you really feel you need to throw money at it and only want one bike) I would suggest a tourer, audax or cyclocross bike- these DO have drop bars and can be reasonably fast but also have a capacity (tyre-dependent) for off-road stuff (not rocky singletrack, but you say you DON'T want to go off-road in the first place!)

More details and maybe we can help.