[Closed] Mid range road bike or adapted higher spec mtb?

Personally I prefer a hybridised MTB.  Yes its slower but I am not riding for speed.  I am touring for fun.  I prefer flat bars and to be able to cover the brakes at all times.  Stronger wheels on an MTB as well for potholes.  comfier sitting upright

A lot depends on the speed/comfort debate. I've never found a road bike comfortable or indeed even enjoyable in the UK, be that the terrain, the road conditions or just my personal preference etc.  Sure the MTB based hybrid will be heavier and slower... but that only matters if the speed matters.

I'm not convinced there's a huge difference in pothole resilience (well, more that I am convinced it depends which rims and tyres you are considering), but for touring I'd say there's no huge benefit to a drop handlebar bike, and a racer would not be the right tool for the job. This particularly applies if you're not used to riding on drops and will therefore get uncomfortable hands until you adapt to them.

It might be a touch slower, but it will make little difference if you're running similar tyres and loaded up.

I would question how lightweight the wheels you would fit are though (See above!) -  particularly for touring.

Don't get me wrong, if you want to go fast and cover big miles on road, buy a road bike. You'll get something more than serviceable brand new in your budget. But if it's going to sit unridden, don't do it. And make sure it does all the things you want it to (or be clear in your head which things you'll happily use another bike for).

£500 – £1000 road bike

Is not a mid-range road bike, double your top end and you're around mid-range, almost.

Drop bars are a god send on the road for comfort, especially over longer distances. Personally if I were you I'd be looking at something like a Pinnacle Arkose or similar do-it-all road'ish gravel type bikes, stronger wheels, wider gearing and can do most things pretty well.

I did this a few years back. I got road-curious and bought a road bike

I hated it! I persevered with it for the 14 mile each way commute, but I just couldn't get on with it at all. So I bought a steel hardtail and did what you're planning by upgrading it with lighter kit, including wheels.

I started off running slicks, but in the end I used to just run standard tyres, whack about 70psi in the tyres with a track pump in the morning and take the road in, then I'd let the pressure out in the evening and take the off-road route home. Made the commute very enjoyable

Depends. I much prefer a road bike on the road, they're more comfortable, faster and generally work better for the task they're designed for. I've tried the adapted MTB route and found the position, gearing and handling all wrong for road usage.

The comments above of not being able to cover brakes all the time on drop bars (you can) and not being comfortable (bike set issues maybe?) seem alien to me.

Unless you buy extremely expensive and light wheels or really cheap ones, everything else should be good enough for riding on roads. I've been using Campag Shamal Ultras for CX racing, riding things like Paris-Roubaix and for gravel and general off-road riding. Over 7 years they required no maintenance at all, it was only when the braking surfaces wore down enough that the rim bulged that I retired them.

Basically buy the tool for the job - but you might want to look at some of the recent 650b wider clearance drop bar bikes as they're extremely versatile and allow you to have the benefits of larger road and off-road tyres, but also the ability to use 700c rims with more regular tyres such as 28mm.

Is not a mid-range road bike, double your top end and you’re around mid-range, almost.

Maybe not mid-range in terms of the price you can pay, but I think diminishing returns set it pretty quickly, and you can get a very decent road bike for £1k.

If you're thinking you might get into road riding, I'd get a proper road bike.  Maybe start with something 2nd hand that you can sell without much loss if you don't like it.  Otherwise you'll be trying to decide whether you like it or not based on riding a compromised bike, no matter now nice the MTB frame it's based on is.

Define touring. Different things to different people. The lightest weight bike can be plenty strong or only a super strong tourer is required depending.

Correctly set up road bike is very comfortable efficient and not difficult to control.  £500-1000 will get a good bike usable and comfortable for any type of road riding.

Road bikes for road....riding an MTB on the road can be purgatory, upright position catches the wind and wide bars are awkward in traffic. MTB gears are often too low to get a decent speed on the flat too. Riding drops bars on the hoods means your brakes are covered all the time.  Plenty of options in terms of gravel bikes too - high volume tyres and less extreme position easily cope with rough tarmac - road wheels are just as strong as MTB wheels IME.

Interesting comments. The only "road" bike I have seen recently that I thought "I wouldn't mind some of that" is the Cannondale Slate. But why? It's just a hardtail with a short travel fork and curly bars. The new cotic escapade looks nice but it's a basic cro-mo frame, but that's a new argument over 853 vs gas pipe tubing, both having its supporters and detractors.

I persevered with it for the 14 mile each way commute

Flippin' heck, that's a long staircase!

The only way to see if you really like the road is to buy a road bike. Full stop.

I got road curious a number of years back, and after getting advice on here, bought an okay-ish old Trek that was good in its day. That was enough to get me going, and I LOVED it.

Consequently, I have bought two additional road bikes since, and spend almost all of my time on road. I also have a cross bike for commuting duties as well as some off-road, and the first Trek I bought sits on the turbo.

If you are curious, I would advise a similar approach. That way, you will get a genuine road experience, and be able to decide more objectively.

If you want to go out and ride 100 miles on the road then definitely buy a road bike, if you want a bit of everything then adventure bike. If you have a not too long commute and can off road on the way back then an xc style hardtail will work. It's all about being honest about what you'll actually do, plenty of people buy a road bike during the summer with ideas of gliding through golden sunshine soaked roads but then realise they can't be bothered. A good second hand trek madone 3.5 in 54cm would be a good place to start.......😀

Re. the bars, I would say that when I first started riding on road, I had my bars set very low, and with the weight on my hands (usually on the hoods) it took a bit of getting used to for my thumb strength.

That said, even if speed weren't an issue, I'd take my fast road bike rather than a mountain bike on a long road ride. It's got a variety of hand positions, and the one on the MTB is fine when you're shifting about a lot but sitting on the flat for long periods does get uncomfortable.

You can definitely cover the brakes on the hoods or the drops, and the tops aren't meant for riding at any speed.

Road's not my passion either - never has been, just a way to get to / between the trails ...

BUT ... the Pickenflick I've recently bought as my 'nice' CX/Gravel bike I've been running on 28c slicks for the last few weeks, and what with the sh**y trails we have currently, I have been choosing tarmac over dirt in recent weeks and ... shhh ... enjoying it!

That said, the trails look set to be all frozen and buff over the next few days, and Spring is (theoretically) just around the corner so sure I'll soon be returning 95% of the time to trails / mixed terrain rides (either the MTB/CX).  And I certainly don't see myself, when conditions are good, to choose a road ride over a trail ride.

A CX/Gravel bike is a good compromise ... you can indulge your dirty habits whenever you like whilst having the option to try 'tarmac-curious' with a quick change of rubber whenever you fancy.  A used CX/Gravel bike in your price range should get you something that will do offroad and not be too shabby on road.

Nothing will put you off "road" bikes more than a poorly set up, heavy, slow-handling gravel bike with tyres that suck the life out of you. You can drive a tractor on the road or a sports car across a field. But if you want a road bike, at least buy one that has good handling, fits well, is geared appropriately and has excellent rubber.

The best Giant Defy you can afford is always a good start. There are steel options too, but to be honest, your budget is a little low for decent new steel.

And you should be able to ride on the drops comfortably, as well as cover the brakes. It's just proper set up, that is all.

Nothing will put you off “road” bikes more than a poorly set up, heavy, slow-handling gravel bike with tyres that suck the life out of you. You can drive a tractor on the road or a sports car across a field. But if you want a road bike, at least buy one that has good handling, fits well, is geared appropriately and has excellent rubber.

Have to agree here. If you want something that can take some miles on road and be capable off road, well, er, how about a mountain bike with lightweight build?

A £1k gravel bike will weigh a fair bit more than a road bike (heftier rims and tyres and disc brakes). As an extreme my commuter cost about the same as my road bike and is 4kg heavier (this includes mudguards, rack discs and a dynamo, but at least 2kg is unavoidable even if I removed the mudguards etc.)

it really depends what you want.  A gravel/touring bike is hugely practical but there's nothing quite like the feel of a lightweight road bike.

you can probably get a decent enough alu road bike with 105 groupset for about £1k.

If you hunt around, there are some good deals out there on road bikes ~£1k. For example...

Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc at Rutland (love my 2016 model, can't wait to ride it outdoors again soonish)

Vitus Energie at ChainReaction

Paul's cycles always good for bargain cannondale, synapse would be a nice place to start but supersix does feel good.

The best Giant Defy you can afford

Or if the budget doesnt reach that a Contend is what used to be the aluminium defy

Just buy a decent second hand road bike, a slicked up MTB will always be just that, neither one thing or the other. There's been not great technological leaps in the last decade that have rendered slightly older road bikes unusable either so buying a YM-2018 would be pretty pointless...

It sounds like you already have plenty of offroad capable bikes so why bother with a gravel bike or a hybrid?  Getting something actually different to what you already have would be a good contrast (IMO)...

You're only trying the idea out, a used bike will have done a good chunk of it's depreciation already, so if you decide it's not for you it's only going to be a minimal loss, you should get posher bits for the money too.

Most importantly it's just the right tool for the job, it needn't be the fanciest bike, just something the right shape and size to get you used to it, but if you want to ride on the road,  a road bike is still the best bike for it...

I'm a sort of 3rd way, I don't like drop bars so I built a ridiculously bad-ass hybrid out of a Boardman frame and forks. The trick is that it's all mtb standards, so it can consume uncool MTB parts- the wheels weigh nothing and cost me nothing because nobody wants QR mtb wheels, the brakes and gears were old spares I had...it owes me something like £400, costs nothing to run and works a charm.

While declaring an interest (I did some work for them) roadcycleexchange.com have some very good deals on pre-owned road bikes "with none of the normal worries of buying second hand"

The Trek Travel bikes they've got are a few years old, 10 speed, and have a bit of cosmetic damage but are hell of a lot of  Di2 geared bike for £1300