Hello all,

Thinking of getting a new bike to commute to work on. Currently using a hobbled together old mountain bike made of random spares.

I’m unsure whether to get a proper road bike or a hybrid. I’ve never owned a road bike so not sure of the advantages or disadvantages of either option. So looking for some input from you lovely people.

Commute distance will be 20-40mins. I don’t currently do any recreation road riding nor do I plan to in the future. Just need the bike for getting to and from work and popping to the shops.

Budget is around £250-£400 looking at new budget bikes as well as second hand.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Flat barred road or hybrid. It’ll be no slower over that distance, and will be comfier too.

Lots of choice at that price point too.

If it isn’t a long commute (especially at your budget) hybrid all the way

I have both, for a commute like that I’d pick the hybrid – mine’s just a comfy old bus, doesn’t look like it’s worth nicking, and the upright position gives me better vision/visibility in traffic. I feel more in control with flat bars, too.

I have a charge grator and it’s excellent over my 7 mile commute across Bristol.

The straight and wide bars are comfortable and give control, whilst holding you slightly more upright so you can see over the traffic.

Is also say the bike is fun and playful. A good purchase that also works for weekend tow path and Sustrans routes with the family.

Interesting thread as I’ve also started a similar commute, and also using an MTB frame and bits from the spares box.

I’ll go against everyone else and say a road bike. The multiple hand positions give you more comfort and also means you can get low should you encounter a head wind. It’ll also be a touch quicker. Get one with space for guards and a rack and you’re sorted.

I have returned to drops recently and love them. But I think on your budget I’d say hybrid. The integrated road snifters mean the drop bars options are more expensive for the same level of group set

Flat bar for me especially if the commute is urban. Better control and you can cover the brakes all the time more easily, easier to see whats behind you and so on and much more comfy – but thats just my view

I’ve been looking at getting a cheap hybrid. Like the look of the Boardman Team, currently £500 if they have your size in stock.

A few sub £400 (before cashback or Toyota/British Cycling discount) flat bar bikes that spring to mind…

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VooDoo-Wazoo-Fat-MTB-Mountain-Bike-16-Gears-Shimano-Alloy-Frame-26-Inch-Wheels-/201373335552

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/hybrid-bikes/boardman-hybrid-comp-bike

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/laura-trott-mtb-1-womens-moutain-bike

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/calibre-two-two-v2-mountain-bike-p383858

If it fitted, I would buy a large Laura Trott, or the Wazoo… But change those evil default tyres!

Disagree with those saying hybrid – a road bike with drop bars offers more positions for your hands so should be more comfortable.

Rutland have a 56cm Cannondale Caad8 with shimano claris for £350. Great value for money if it fits.

But a roadbike has a much lower bar which means being bent into a less comfortable shape and wee skinny tyres are both less comfy and have less grip.

As my commute is urban and has hills where I go quite fast I want discs, wide grippy tyres and I want to ride covering the brakes 100% of the time ready to slam the anchors on. So its a hybridised MTB for me

How about drop bar hybrid or touring bike. Edinburgh bike coop ones regularly get good reviews and cost £400 new.

https://www.edinburghbicycle.com/revolution-country-1-16.html

Comes with mudguards and rack for wet weather and stuff carrying duties. Should be a pretty good all rounder.

To those that go on about this hand position pish – it 20-40 mins FFS… I’ll happily ride for hours on flat bars and not feel the need to look for more hand positions.

Utter nonsense.

You can get down and tucked against a wind, that much is definitely true.

Definitely hybrid, especially for that sort of distance. Better view of the traffic & able to cover the brakes. No brainer as far as I am concerned.

In that price range I’d get a hybrid. You’ll get a much nicer bike.

I can use several different positions on a flat bar. Thumbs hooked over the top is one. Sit up and steer with fingertips is another

Also in headwinds I will ride ( not in traffic obviously) with my forearms on the bars giving an aero bar position

Regardless of the budget, hybrid all the way for that commute.

Regarding the budget, hybrid should get you better kit.

Mudguards and rack fitting would be my priority.

Wider tyres than 25mm if it’s urban too.

That’s most road bikes ****ed for me in this scenario, and for? the op there aren’t any benefits, and it’ll be more pricey.

Cool thanks for the info guys. Sounds like a hybrid is better for my needs.

Only had a quick look but found these three options. Any thoughts on them?

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/hybrid-bikes/carrera-parva-mens-hybrid-bike

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/hybrid-bikes/carrera-subway-1-mens-hybrid-bike

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/forme-winster-3-0-urban-bike-p375971

The problem is that the correct answer is “whichever you like more” and you don’t know. Nothing else comes into it, neither is really better or worse for this job…

Three things that weigh in favour of hybrids imo. Compatibility with mountain bikes, familiarity, and unhatefulness. The first 2 are probably obvious, my Boardman is covered in stuff that used to be on my mountain bikes, it has my old brakes, old bars, old drivetrain. And also a cheap set of light 29er wheels (old QR-only wheels are perfect for a hybrid). Getting brakes, wheels and tyres as nice for a drop bar bike isn’t cheap.

The third, hatefulness. I’m not saying all road bikes are hateful… But there’s a risk you’ll hate it. And there’s basically no risk that you’ll hate flat bars, because you already don’t hate flat bars. I tried drop bars basically out of a sense of duty, I just couldn’t get on with them at all.

Nobeerinthefridge – Member

To those that go on about this hand position pish – it 20-40 mins FFS… I’ll happily ride for hours on flat bars and not feel the need to look for more hand positions.

I think many people who go on about “being able to vary hand positions for comfort” are really saying “I get uncomfortable on drops so I have to constantly move around”.

Hello again!

There might be a slight change to my circumstances. I may be moving further from work so commute may be longer depending on where I settle down.

Whats the threshold time and budget where people think a road bike or CX might be better than hybrid?

ps I’m thinking a CX as I might want to take a gravel path or wooded trail every now and then.

Everyone has there own threshold, but I’ve ridden my Wazoo on the roads with 29er wheels recently up to ~90minutes.

If your budget is still ~£400, yes you can get a few adventure-gravel bikes at that price, but their spec and weight will be poor compared to a hybrid at that price.

CX with chicken levers; means that out of town your can get your head down and burrow on if it’s windy, and then in town you can sit tall on the tops and see around and over the tops of cars while still being able to brake.

Depends how far, the original 20-40 mins is definitely flat bar territory, but over 40 mins my hands start to get bored and numb on the road.

I do an average of 1 hour 20 mins each way on my commute, and I wouldn’t be without drop bars, but there are times I’d love a nice chunky hybrid with hydro disks.

If you can afford it, CX with hydro brakes would be my pick.

Well I have a dropped bar commuter with a fairly relaxed position, it’s a bit quicker than a flat barred bike on my 40 or so minute commute. It’s also got me a lot more comfortable riding on drops – which I had been doing for years for leisure purposes. I used to use a flat barred bike until my commute changed (it was about 15-20 mins before moving).

If you never want to ride road, I’d say go with whichever and as above, get something with mounts and space for full mudguards. You can probably get something that’s better value with flat bars – decent road discs are still fairly pricey. And get something that’ll take reasonably wide tyres too if you might want to take it out and about more.

I use a flat bar for a 15 mile 1 hour long commute which involves going through town. It’s setup with a similar position to my old road bike, and has bar ends. Unsurprisingly, it’s pretty much the same speed too.

I found my hands ached more with drop bars, especially when commute involves lots of stopping/starting.

Drops have lots of different hand positions, but 99.9% of the time everyone seems to use the hoods?

But a roadbike has a much lower bar which means being bent into a less comfortable shape and wee skinny tyres are both less comfy and have less grip.

You can have higher bars with drops and you can also fit fatter tyres.

I have a hybrid which started with wavy grandad bars, went to flat bars then back to grandad bars and now has drops. The drops are by far my favourite. It has a shorter stem and higher bars than my road bike and it’s bang on for comfort. I can also enjoy it on much longer rides if I need to, which is the reason I converted it. I had bar ends on it when it had flats (which I’d recommend if you do go with flats) butI found myself almost always on the corners of the bar ends and bars which is more or less a hoods position except you can’t reach the brakes or gears.

To the OP I would suggest a ‘gravel’ style bike with drops – more relaxed than a road bike.

99.9% of the time everyone seems to use the hoods?

There are (at least) four positions – drops, hoods, the corner of the top, and the bit near the stem. I use about 40% of the time on the corners, 30% on the hoods and 30% on the drops.

I think the reason most people don’ tuse the drops is they don’t spend the time adjusting stem height and length, bar rotation and lever position to get it right. On my hybrid the drops are shallow which makes it really comfortable on them.

I found my hands ached more with drop bars, especially when commute involves lots of stopping/starting.

I move to drops on long open sections, and will be on the hoods when it’s stoppy/starty or at roundabouts/junctions.

The two advantages of a hybrid bike are 1) hybrid bikes are more comfortable, and 2) that of the larger tires will leave you less prone to getting flat tires. The “comfort” thing depends on a number of factors remember, no one logs more time on their bikes than dedicated road cyclists, and so road bikes are made for comfort just with a steeper learning curve. If you have back problems, you may find the more upright position of the hybrid bike to be beneficial. If you are riding in a location with a freeze thaw cycle, the roads may be unpleasantly bumpy on the skinny tires of a road bike.

1) hybrid bikes are more comfortable

Not necessarily.

2) that of the larger tires will leave you less prone to getting flat tires

Since when do hybrids have larger tyres?

OP it’s tricky to advise, some folk just never get on with drop bars, you won’t know until you try.

Since when do hybrids have larger tyres?

Going on the average of each type of bike, since always?

I would be tempted to look for a second hand cx bike, I have 30mm tyres and full mud guards on mine, it’s comfy, fast and practical. I find road bars more comfortable than flats!

Going on the average of each type of bike, since always?

Road bikes have 28c nowadays and gravel/adventure bikes come with bigger, easily as big as hybrids.

Road bikes are certainly in fashion, but about 50 to 60 percent of people who use them would actually be better off on a hybrid.

I’d say go for a hybrid as it’ll be better equipped and more up to the task. If you feel you need another hand position, fit some bar ends.

thank you all for the comments.

I’ve never used a road bike before so no idea if I’d like the dropped bars or not. Couple of my friends have road bikes and are similar height to me. I’ll see if I can borrow one for a bit to try out.

And yes I’m open to increasing budget if I go for CX bike. The £400 max was just for another city hack bike but if going for CX or roady then I think increasing the budget is needed to get something reasonable.

Thanks again all, I think I need to get out and try a few things out.

Hybrid wins for me. Singlespeed if the terrain suits is the cherry on top.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Srr2Cb]0T0A5021[/url] by John Stanley, on Flickr

Couple of my friends have road bikes and are similar height to me. I’ll see if I can borrow one for a bit to try out.

Be warned though – drop bar set up is VERY personal and there are a lot of tweaks to be made.