Road or Hybrid Bike?

tendjose

I need a bike for transportation in Dublin city centre.

The area covered is the Spire and a radius of 4 Kilometres.

By one side I don't like to see the road bikes passing by me at the double of speed even when I'm trying my best, by other side road bikes might be slippery/not safe enough/too fast for this busy town specially when it's raining?

Give me your reasons.

I currently have a mountain bike with slick tires and it's old and the gears almost don't work.

Muahahaha

I'll probably get flamed for this but if you're comfortable on the MTB but want more speed then check out models like the Boardman Comp Hybrids. They are road bike in every sense except for the handlebars which aren't dropbars like a road bike but wider like a MTB. I've had a Boardman Comp hybrid for almost a year now and am very happy with it for speed (narrow road bike tyres make a huge difference to going quick) and also comfort. Drops aren't really for me as I prefer wider handlebars. Test ride one if you can.

Danjamin1

I've been on both in Dublin city centre, you can get hybrids with flat handlebars and narrow road tyres so you can still get great speed on them. I'm currently using my road bike for commuting but for short distances around town I miss my hybrid (it was stolen before Christmas). Will definitely be picking up a new one next year under the bike to work scheme

not yet

Something like the giant rapid is the best of both worlds, have a look at it..

tendjose

Danjamin1 wrote: »

I've been on both in Dublin city centre, you can get hybrids with flat handlebars and narrow road tyres so you can still get great speed on them. I'm currently using my road bike for commuting but for short distances around town I miss my hybrid (it was stolen before Christmas). Will definitely be picking up a new one next year under the bike to work scheme

Why do you miss your hybrid, if the road bike I faster?

tendjose

Any more opinions? Will the road bikes be not safe enough but cause of the small tires that can slip in the rain?

tendjose

tendjose wrote: »

Any more opinions? Will the road bikes be not safe enough but cause of the small tires that can slip in the rain?

Road bike tires are fine in the rain.
Having rode a hybrid and roadbike I don't think there is much of a difference.
Rode my roabikes 23s in torrential rain plenty of times. Slippy manhole covers and braking distance are the only real issues. They are an issue no matter what your tyre size.

OldBean

Thinner tyres doesn't have to mean slipping in the wet, it's more about how you're going to cycle and handle your bike in the wet that'll dictate slipping, ie; if it's pissing out, don't ride your bike to work as if you were racing.

That said, most road bikes can take wider tyres anyways - 25's or 28's with mudguards, which will be more comfortable on Dublin's streets. It'll be worth finding out what tyre sizes will fit under mudguards on whichever model you're buying.

I'd say get a road bike. Hybrids can be neither here nor there, and if you're enjoying your commute and want to go further in the weekend/evening, you've got the road bike to do it.

I also prefer drop handlebars for scooting around the city, I've a better idea of available space, good visibility from the hoods and don't have to manoeuvre longer straight bars around wing mirrors.

Danjamin1

tendjose wrote: »

Why do you miss your hybrid, if the road bike I faster?

I preferred the brake position on the flat bars for sudden braking in tight traffic, my road bike's got clipless pedals too which means carrying a spare pair of runners on me, though to be fair that's a personal choice. Just prefer the road bike for longer journeys & the hybrid for shorter ones. I'll still use the road bike for commuting as it's faster over the longer distance, but for shorter casual journeys I'd like a hybrid. The hybrid can be just as fast in and around town as well, you only really notice the faster speed of the road bike over longer distances.

Hu Deman

You could also try something like the Giant Escape, comes with 32mm tyres and they are 700c,so it would be comfortable and faster than a mountain bike

smacl

Cycling in a 4k radius from the spire, I'd say the traffic will be more of a determining factor for speed than the bike. Personally, for that type of commute I'd be going for something cheap and not particularly attractive to bike thieves. If this is all the bike will be used for, I'd go for hybrid over road bike, as the road bike will attract thieves like flies on shíte. I'd also tend towards 32c puncture resistant tyres, as Dublin's road edges and cycle lanes are pot holed and strewn with broken glass.

Brian?

I would say neither. You want something single speed or with hub gears.

tendjose

smacl wrote: »

Cycling in a 4k radius from the spire, I'd say the traffic will be more of a determining factor for speed than the bike. Personally, for that type of commute I'd be going for something cheap and not particularly attractive to bike thieves. If this is all the bike will be used for, I'd go for hybrid over road bike, as the road bike will attract thieves like flies on shíte. I'd also tend towards 32c puncture resistant tyres, as Dublin's road edges and cycle lanes are pot holed and strewn with broken glass.

At the hours I commute there's no much traffic so I can get speed. Also In all course is going to easier the bike is lighter and faster.

What are the advantages of an hybrid over a road bike except thieves?

Plastik

tendjose wrote: »

At the hours I commute there's no much traffic so I can get speed. Also In all course is going to easier the bike is lighter and faster.

What are the advantages of an hybrid over a road bike except thieves?

None. But for such a short distance in around town I would also pick up a single speed above either of the others. I've spent the last few months commuting a 46km round trip almost daily on one and its perfect for around town. I changed it from flat bar to drops for added comfort over the distance I'm doing but for what you would be using it for flat bar would be fine.

Its not slow either. I'll easily clip along at 40/45kph with any sort of tailwind on the 46x16 gearing before I start to spin out. You'll cruise at 30 easily.

jimmycrackcorm

tendjose wrote:

What are the advantages of an hybrid over a road bike except thieves?

I value disc brakes on a hybrid in the city. There's no comparison when it comes to stopping as pedestrians run out in front of you

smacl

tendjose wrote: »

What are the advantages of an hybrid over a road bike except thieves?

Pros for hybrid

• Cost. A reasonable hybrid costs a good bit less than a reasonable road bike.
• Wider tyres give you more comfort on crappy road surfaces (i.e. cycle lanes) as they run at lower pressure. They're also easier to re-inflate with a mini-pump in the event of a puncture for the same reason.
• Many people like flat bars and a more upright position in traffic and find it easier to turn the head to look for oncoming traffic in this position.
• Can also be used for hacking around rough paths like the canals, Coilte tracks etc...

Cons

• Slower
• Heavier
• Uglier
• Less fun to ride
• Drop bars are more comfortable than flats for longer spins, and distributing weight more evenly also soaks up a lot of road buzz.
• The wrong bike if you get into cycling at a later date and don the lycra.
• Lower resale value should you sell or upgrade

tendjose

Danjamin1 wrote: »

I preferred the brake position on the flat bars for sudden braking in tight traffic, my road bike's got clipless pedals too which means carrying a spare pair of runners on me, though to be fair that's a personal choice. Just prefer the road bike for longer journeys & the hybrid for shorter ones. I'll still use the road bike for commuting as it's faster over the longer distance, but for shorter casual journeys I'd like a hybrid. The hybrid can be just as fast in and around town as well, you only really notice the faster speed of the road bike over longer distances.

So if I go for Boardman Comp Hybrids (Road bikes except for the handle bar) it solves the bar handletr problem, the pedals I'm sure ill find a model with the pedals I want.

What do you think?

Danjamin1

tendjose wrote: »

So if I go for Boardman Comp Hybrids (Road bikes except for the handle bar) it solves the bar handletr problem, the pedals I'm sure ill find a model with the pedals I want.

What do you think?

Yeah I'm not familiar with that exact bike, but it looks good to me

park500

Hybrid is good decision there.You can go equally fast on it and have better control.
The grips are important - ideally ergon/ergon type.

smacl

park500 wrote: »

Hybrid is good decision there.You can go equally fast on it and have better control.

Disagree. Drops get you more aero, where wind resistance significantly affects speed particularly going into a head wind. Drops also give better control over the bike due to lower centre of gravity. The cost is visibility.

petethedrummer

For those kinds of distance just get the bike you have serviced and sit on the money. It's nice to have a cheap run around that you can lock up around the city centre.

Then decide if you want to buy a bike for longer stuff. If you do, make it a road bike.

tendjose

Another though came through my mind:

Many times I have to carry 15Kg of food on my back when going shopping. My weight with clothes is already 80Kg.

Having the drop bars will help me distribute this weight on my back between the front and back wheel and will be more comfortable to me.

By other side 95Kg on a road bike might be to much weight?

beauf

smacl wrote: »

Disagree. Drops get you more aero, where wind resistance significantly affects speed particularly going into a head wind. Drops also give better control over the bike due to lower centre of gravity. The cost is visibility.

OVer 4k its hardly going to make a difference. Thats about 10mins.

Where will it be parked/stored?

desertcircus

95 kilos on a road bike should be fine. I did Gaelforce West in 2013 on a road bike while weighing 110 kilos, and I'm doing it again this year on the same bike (hopefully weighing a good deal less). If a road bike can survive a gravel road with me on top of it, you'll be fine.

smacl

tendjose wrote: »

Another though came through my mind:

Many times I have to carry 15Kg of food on my back when going shopping. My weight with clothes is already 80Kg.

Having the drop bars will help me distribute this weight on my back between the front and back wheel and will be more comfortable to me.

By other side 95Kg on a road bike might be to much weight?

Panniers would make more sense. Cycling any distance with any weight on your back is quite literally a pain in the hole.

tendjose

beauf wrote: »

OVer 4k its hardly going to make a difference. Thats about 10mins.

Where will it be parked/stored?

Garage! No robbers!

tendjose

tendjose wrote: »

Garage! No robbers!

I went to Cycle Ways and the cheaper road bike they had was 700€.

Shops in Galway have Road bikes by 200€ and in Halfords I found the following one, with no complains on the reviews:
http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductMobileDisplay?catalogId=15551&langId=-1&categoryId=212536&productId=1115680&storeId=11101

That's what pisses me off in Dublin is that people try to rip you off everywhere if you don't look for more shops, in all kind of shops and services, not only bike shops.

And when I'll find the bike to buy I'll do the final comparison in Amazon uk looking for the exact same bike.

desertcircus

tendjose wrote: »

I went to Cycle Ways and the cheaper road bike they had was 700€.

Shops in Galway have Road bikes by 200€ and in Halfords I found the following one, with no complains on the reviews:
http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductMobileDisplay?catalogId=15551&langId=-1&categoryId=212536&productId=1115680&storeId=11101

That's what pisses me off in Dublin is that people try to rip you off everywhere if you don't look for more shops, in all kind of shops and services, not only bike shops.

And when I'll find the bike to buy I'll do the final comparison in Amazon uk looking for the exact same bike.

700 for a new road bike is pretty standard. The Halfords bike you've linked to is quite good for the price, but it's still a step down from what you'd get for 700 - the fork is alloy instead of carbon, and it weighs a hell of a lot. As for the 200 quid road bikes: there's no way anybody is selling good quality road bikes new at that price. It's genuinely impossible.

tendjose

desertcircus wrote: »

700 for a new road bike is pretty standard. The Halfords bike you've linked to is quite good for the price, but it's still a step down from what you'd get for 700 - the fork is alloy instead of carbon, and it weighs a hell of a lot. As for the 200 quid road bikes: there's no way anybody is selling good quality road bikes new at that price. It's genuinely impossible.

Agree, but I won't give 700€ for a bike for general use....Maybe I will because with the cycle to work scheme it costs me 350€

tendjose

desertcircus wrote: »

700 for a new road bike is pretty standard. The Halfords bike you've linked to is quite good for the price, but it's still a step down from what you'd get for 700 - the fork is alloy instead of carbon, and it weighs a hell of a lot. As for the 200 quid road bikes: there's no way anybody is selling good quality road bikes new at that price. It's genuinely impossible.

BTW on the carbon frame bike can you go twice faster or just a 1/3 rd faster?

beauf

That depends if you mean in real time or when talking about if afterwards.

tendjose

beauf wrote: »

That depends if you mean in real time or when talking about if afterwards.

In real time, please.

Fian

I have a (cheap) road bike and a hybrid.

I use the hybrid to go in and out of work in Dublin city and leave the road bike for the weekends.

My commute is only 7km so a road bike is definitely not needed. Visibility is better from a more upright position. I don't use clipless pedals on the hybrid which is probably handy in traffic, especially if a sudden unexpected stop is required. My hybrid has (cable) disc brakes and full mudguards.

It is horses for courses, the hybrid is designed and optimised for commuting. There is a reason sometimes hybrid bikes are described as "city bikes".

Having said all that if I could only keep one of the two bikes, I would keep the road bike and commute on it. No contest. And I have ordered a new road bike, i am trying to decide if i will keep the existing road bike and get rid of the hybrid or do the other way around. Honestly not sure.

So clear as mud then. Road bikes are definitely better bikes. Hybrids are optimised for commuting though.

N+1 applies - get a hybrid bike and sooner or later you may end up adding a road bike anyway :P

beauf

tendjose wrote: »

In real time, please.

I think that would be an ecumenical matter

Some discussions of it below.

https://www.google.ie/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=carbon%20fork%20vs%20aluminum%20fork

Its not a need to have but a nice to have for commuting such a short distance IMO.

If you're gazing into a crystal ball and might use it for longer stuff, then you'll probably be buying a better bike that will come with a carbon fork anyway.

tendjose

beauf wrote: »

I think that would be an ecumenical matter

Some discussions of it below.

https://www.google.ie/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=carbon%20fork%20vs%20aluminum%20fork

Its not a need to have but a nice to have for commuting such a short distance IMO.

If you're gazing into a crystal ball and might use it for longer stuff, then you'll probably be buying a better bike that will come with a carbon fork anyway.

If it's the economical matter we get back to the Rip Off's in Dublin.

You don't need the gold, but most of the times they only have gold to sell:mad:

beauf

I don't really get your rip off comment as you're not comparing exact same bike. The costs in running a shop in Dublin vs Craggy Island are not comparable either.

Halfords bikes can also be got in the north, which is sometimes cheaper, but no point with Sterling the way it is. A better alternative is often said to be the Btwin which can be got in NI.

However the local bike shops usually cover servicing, and tweaks for a period after buying a new bike. Something you will often need, and not possible with remote locations.

tendjose

beauf wrote: »

I don't really get your rip off comment as you're not comparing exact same bike. The costs in running a shop in Dublin vs Craggy Island are not comparable either.

Halfords bikes can also be got in the north, which is sometimes cheaper, but no point with Sterling the way it is. A better alternative is often said to be the Btwin which can be got in NI.

However the local bike shops usually cover servicing, and tweaks for a period after buying a new bike. Something you will often need, and not possible with remote locations.

Like I said, if I just need copper, why Dublin shops only sell me gold for everything (not only for bike stuff, but for 90% things you buy in your life)?

beauf

I expect because you're only looking in the gold shops.

Most bike shops these days can't sell anything cheaper then you can get on Cycle to Work scheme, so they are all set up for that. If you hunt around you find smaller places selling cheap bikes, and used bikes. But there's a lot of rubbish cheap bikes, so just because its cheap doesn't mean its good value.

tendjose

beauf wrote: »

I expect because you're only looking in the gold shops.

Most bike shops these days can't sell anything cheaper then you can get on Cycle to Work scheme, so they are all set up for that. If you hunt around you find smaller places selling cheap bikes, and used bikes. But there's a lot of rubbish cheap bikes, so just because its cheap doesn't mean its good value.

That makes sense in part, not totally because like I told you in Galway the 200€ bikes are there and only a sporter buys the ones of 1000€.

I think because Dublin is bigger, is difficult to find what you want (for example shop for making belt holes, good hair dresser that doesn't rip you off, dentists, or if you want cheap food you have to go to 3 different supermarkets ), and according to your budget.

I went to a dentist that wanted 430€ for a root canal treatment, and found online a Polish one in Dublin city centre that made me the same for 180€...

A Taxi driver today charged me 11€ for a trip that normally is 7€ in the same hourly rate. Don't tell me I had to ask if that was a gold taxi, before getting in...ahahah

beauf

Finding two dentists in Dublin has got nothing to do with Galway.

Or bicycles for that matter.

Or prices.

tendjose

beauf wrote: »

Finding two dentists in Dublin has got nothing to do with Galway.

Or bicycles for that matter.

Or prices.

Yeah Im going a little of topic, but you can't deny that people here try to rip you off all the time!

smacl

tendjose wrote: »

Yeah Im going a little of topic, but you can't deny that people here try to rip you off all the time!

Don't know if you've ever run your own business, paid for commercial rent in Dublin, or paid salaries to those that also have to be able afford to live in Dublin, but it can be challenging in the extreme. Don't see many small bike shop owners around the town driving around in this years top of the range Merc or taking weekends away in their South of France villas. Because an item is more expensive to buy in a retail outlet in Dublin than one in Galway, Poland or Timbuktu does not mean anybody is ripping anyone off. You want to live in Dublin, or any thriving European capital city, higher cost of living is the price you pay.

tendjose

smacl wrote: »

Don't know if you've ever run your own business, paid for commercial rent in Dublin, or paid salaries to those that also have to be able afford to live in Dublin, but it can be challenging in the extreme. Don't see many small bike shop owners around the town driving around in this years top of the range Merc or taking weekends away in their South of France villas. Because an item is more expensive to buy in a retail outlet in Dublin than one in Galway, Poland or Timbuktu does not mean anybody is ripping anyone off. You want to live in Dublin, or any thriving European capital city, higher cost of living is the price you pay.

Yeah this like:

"I went to a dentist that wanted 430€ for a root canal treatment, and found online a Polish one in Dublin city centre that made me the same for 180€..."

Or taxi rip offs depending on the driver have everything to do with higher cost of living in Dublin...

Even the gold shops could have copper bikes and they would sell more bikes and have more profit, because the ones that cannot buy the gold ones, just don't buy anything from them :P

beauf

tendjose wrote: »

Yeah Im going a little of topic, but you can't deny that people here try to rip you off all the time!

I think your point is capital cities are expensive than everywhere else.