Bike For Off-road And Road Use?

[Tibz1337]

Hey everyone, I'm looking to make cycling my new hobby (don't get me wrong I already ride but the bike I have is pretty old, and it's from a no-name manufacterer) My budget is around 400€. What should I get? I'll be mostly using it to exercise but also for getting from point A to point B.

 

[ABNPFDR]

If they made a bike that was good off road and on that was also good for commuting for 400 euros I'd sell a million of them.

 

[Tibz1337]

If they made a bike that was good off road and on that was also good for commuting for 400 euros I'd sell a million of them.

Soo what you are saying is that I should get my mind off the off-road part?

 

[blastguardgear]

I would suggest looking into hybrids. If you'll be riding for leisure and on the road, hybrids are a good mix between a road bike and a mountain bike. The tires aren't too thick or too slick.

 

[DancingLady]

I'm not sure what prices are over there, but I don't think you can get a good off road bike for that price. You can probably find a good town bike for general commuting for that price, but for off roading, you'll need something like a mountain bike, which can be a lot more expensive since they have to be built to withstand all the bumps they are put through with off road riding.

 

[oldbobcat]

Off-road or off-pavement?

Either way, though, 400 euro doesn't buy much bike for off-anything. Unless you find a good used one.

 

[kylerlittle]

Hmm, I personally think you can get great things in 400 euro despite the fact of what oldbobcat said. I've had a really good one for less than that.

 

[MotownBikeBoy]

You can get the entry level or next highest level Specialized Crosstrail hybrid for around that amount. Should go anywhere except really rough terrain.

 

[alfeng]

Hey everyone, I'm looking to make cycling my new hobby (don't get me wrong I already ride but the bike I have is pretty old, and it's from a no-name manufacterer) My budget is around 400€. What should I get? I'll be mostly using it to exercise but also for getting from point A to point B.

As already asked ... you need to answer the question as to how far off-road or off-pavement you want to take the bike ...

AND especially, you need to figure out what the maximum tire size is which you want to use for where you want to ride ...

Because you can always put narrower tires (which may-or-may-not need a second wheelset) in a bike which can handle a comparatively "fat" tire but you cannot put a "fat" tire in most Road frames (typically 700x28 is the maximum ... many Carbon Fiber Road forks can only handle 700x25 tire).

ALL Hybrid frames can handle narrow tires.

Some Hybrid frames can handle a 29er tire ...

If you opt for a Hybrid, try to get one which has a RIGID Fork rather than a more-dead-weight-than-not inexpensive Suspension Fork.

If you want a bike with a Suspension Fork, then consider a 29er Hardtail unless you are shorter than 5'9" ...

 

[oldbobcat]

You can get the entry level or next highest level Specialized Crosstrail hybrid for around that amount. Should go anywhere except really rough terrain.

Thanks for that, I stand corrected. Crosstrails are quite capable.

 

[dc31]

I prefer mountain bikes for both off-road and road use. They perform significantly better off-road with the only disadvantage being a slower speed on the road. However this is nothing compared to the discomfort of riding a hybrid on rough terrain.

 

[neednoexcuse]

My hobby is cycling and I am really happy to read that you are choosing cycling as your hobby. Your budget is very high and I believe you can get a bike of a reputed version at the price of four hundred euros. Just search the bikes on the Internet and you will be able to find many good companies.

 

[north woods gal]

Going offload is actually very complicated, due to the wide variety of offroad surfaces you may encounter. Even if we restrict the discussion to mountain bikes, only, there are some types of surfaces that will require some fairly specialized mountain bikes. Have trails in my area where even a standard 26" mountain bike with 2" wide tires doesn't cut it and you wouldn't get 10 feet on a typical hybrid bike.

Before choosing a bike, I would recommend that you analyze the types of trails available in your area and the types of trails you want to ride.

I have to ride pavement to get to a lot of my mountain bike trails and our gravel/sand roads and some of these really are MTB only. Mountain bikes do okay on pavement, but will be slower and require more effort to pedal than bikes with narrower tires. I'm okay with that, though, because I then have the right bike when I do hit the trails. Have also used mountain bikes as commuter and utility bikes on pavement in urban areas with heavy traffic. Pretty tough to beat a standard mountain bike as an all around utility bike. Just don't expect to 100 mile days one one. Not that kind of bike.

 

[sharkantropo]

To put it simply, a bicycle whose build is focused on the rough mountain road, is also good (but not ideal) for paved road of urban areas.