Need help in choosing a Hybrid
- Thread starter am1012
- Start date
Hi there,am1012 said:
I just bought a Trek 7.3 FX for commuting to work. It sure seems fast in comparison to my mountain bike! Time will tell, but it seems to be a bike that moves swiftly on the roads without being as susceptible to punctures as an even faster road bike would be.
To some extent, there's a trade-off between fast and comfortable. More specifically, a bike with front suspension and fatter tires will most certainly be more comfortable (smooths out the bumps), but it will take noticeably more effort to ride at a given speed than a bike with no suspension and skinnier tires. At higher speeds, wind resistance becomes the limiting factor, so a road racing bike that gets your upper body down low (generally considered less comfortable by beginning riders) has the advantage...but I don't expect this will be as much an issue for the average commuter.
All this is to say that this speed-comfort trade-off is something you might consider when shopping around. As for "easy to ride", pay attention to shifter style, if you care...e.g., grip vs. trigger shifters.
My guess is that a Trek FX series bike or something similar would work well for you, as nadom suggested. Consider posting on the commuting board for more advice...
Meanwhile, remember to budget for accessories and other items handy to have for commuting, e.g., mini-pump, patch kit, maybe rack and fenders, pannier if you want to carry stuff on the bike, lights, etc.
A bit off topic, but road bikes are not really more suceptible to punctures. Your choice of tires is probably a much bigger factor, even for a given tire width; there are well-armored tires and poorly armored tires, whether on a mountain, hybrid, or road bike...
All this is to say that this speed-comfort trade-off is something you might consider when shopping around. As for "easy to ride", pay attention to shifter style, if you care...e.g., grip vs. trigger shifters.
My guess is that a Trek FX series bike or something similar would work well for you, as nadom suggested. Consider posting on the commuting board for more advice...
Meanwhile, remember to budget for accessories and other items handy to have for commuting, e.g., mini-pump, patch kit, maybe rack and fenders, pannier if you want to carry stuff on the bike, lights, etc.
A bit off topic, but road bikes are not really more suceptible to punctures. Your choice of tires is probably a much bigger factor, even for a given tire width; there are well-armored tires and poorly armored tires, whether on a mountain, hybrid, or road bike...
The fuji looks like a excelent comuting/hybrid bike with a great price tag. I couldent see the actual specs when I googled but there were a couple of different models with front shock and without.. the one with just seatpost looks comparable to a fx7.2 (good comuting bike aswell). The 7.2fx looks more like a comuting bike than one you will use for fitness/speed.
Im going to buy a hybrid soon but Im leaning more towards a get me to work but go faster durring play (onroad excursions), I have a mountain bike for offroad.
I think it depends more on what your going to be useing it for/on.. for traveling to work and doing some gravel trails I would get a more heavy-duty hybrid, if your just going to work/school elc but want to have fun(go a little further faster) on the weekend go with more of a road bike. either way you cant go wrong, any hybrid will go further and faster than my moutain bike!
Im going to buy a hybrid soon but Im leaning more towards a get me to work but go faster durring play (onroad excursions), I have a mountain bike for offroad.
I think it depends more on what your going to be useing it for/on.. for traveling to work and doing some gravel trails I would get a more heavy-duty hybrid, if your just going to work/school elc but want to have fun(go a little further faster) on the weekend go with more of a road bike. either way you cant go wrong, any hybrid will go further and faster than my moutain bike!
The fuji looks like it has a better wheelset than the fx, maybe componants aswell I never seem what they use.. except for the Alex wheelset. I dont know to much about parts I mainly rode mountain bike for fun, but the alec wheelset looks higher end than most of the fx wheelsets. When I googled fuji crosstown I seen someone saying they bought theirs at a local shop for $285, it dident have suspention like the other crossroad I seen, but the price looks amazing.
Kevlar tires are cool but mountain bike ones are alot heavier than regular mountain bike tires.
From what I seen the fuji crossroads seems more of a true hybrid bike, "like" the 7.2fx but better quality.
Kevlar tires are cool but mountain bike ones are alot heavier than regular mountain bike tires.
From what I seen the fuji crossroads seems more of a true hybrid bike, "like" the 7.2fx but better quality.
Yes, but I wouldn't recommend hiding behind a kevlar-belted tire in a firefight.Japheth said:
In tires like Specialized's Armadillo series and Panaracer's TourGuard and T-Serv tires, kevlar (a.k.a. Aramid) fibers are layered into the tread, making it harder for pointy things to get through and pierce the tube. It's typically a thin layer, though, and it is possible (if very unlikely) for particularly sharp, tiny slivers of glass to get through. (Every tire is a tradeoff among weight, puncture resistance, and ride quality.)
Puncture resistance aside, you will also see tires with kevlar beads, making them foldable and lighter. That's an independent design feature from belt protection, although the Panaracer Pasela TourGuard and T-Servs are available in folding versions, having kevlar in both the belt and bead. Armadillos used to be heaver, wire-bead only, but I believe the new "Elite" versions are foldable. Armadillos and T-Servs (and possibly also Pasela TGs) are avaiable in 26" MTB size (as well as the 700c road standard). Vredestein, Vittoria, Schwalbe, and Continental also make tires with similar belt armoring, so you have as many choices as there are opinions out there on tire choice.
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