Which hybrid bike should I get?
July 10, 2017 4:15 AM   Subscribe

I'd like to buy a hybrid bike and would prefer a women-specific version. It will mostly be used on fairly flat trails and paths in the woods including some gravel. It won't be used much on roads as I hate riding in traffic. My budget is £1000 or under. I can't decide between a Cannondale quick 1 disc, quick 2, or specialised Ariel.

I don't want a mountain bike as I won't be doing any tough trails and I do want to be able to fit a pannier rack and mudflaps. I have to buy via cyclesolutions as that's who my work uses for their cycle to work scheme. Low weight is important to me because I want to throw it into the back of the car easily. Any advice gratefully received!
posted by hazyjane to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (10 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: The biggest difference between the two (I'm lumping the two Cannondales together for now) is that the Specialized appears to come with a suspension fork rather than the rigid fork on the Cannondales. The suspension fork will add weight, but will also give some plushness to the ride - especially on gravel/fireroads - so it's a bit of a trade-off. For flat forest paths I wouldn't say a suspension fork was essential though. The Cannondales do seem to be more city-orientated than the Specialized too, coming as standard with pretty slick road tyres.

Between the two Cannondales, the big difference I can see is the disc brakes on the Quick 1 Disc and the 1x11 drivetrain on the Quick 2. Again it's kind of a personal preference call - I have a dislike for 1x drivetrains because the parts can be more expensive to replace (but they're nice and easy to use), and I'd personally value the disc brakes more, but there's no "wrong" answer.

FWIW, if I were in your shoes I'd go for the Specialized.
posted by A Robot Ninja at 5:44 AM on July 10, 2017


I'm by no means a bike expert, but my fiancee and I recently were interested in purchasing hybrids, and I found The Sweethome's article on the subject to be quite helpful, even if only as a starting point (though for me, they did more than enough research for me).

Their main pick is the Marin SC1, which appears to be available via Cycle Solutions. For what it's worth, because the availability of the SC1 was in short supply, both she and I wound up getting the step-up from the SC1, the SC2. She's about 5'7" and doesn't have any trouble stepping over the bar, picking it up, or riding it. Both of us were surprised at how light it felt.
posted by mrhaydel at 5:45 AM on July 10, 2017


If at all possible test ride them all. Any of them would be great for what you need. Buy the one that makes you happiest. That may mean buying one because you think it's prettier, or lighter, or whatever. Your joy should be the only real benchmark when all the choices are quality bikes.
posted by advicepig at 7:00 AM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


I ride a Trek FX4 for street commuting -- it's similar to the Canondale Quick. I would not recommend this style of bike for rough-surfaced roads or trails. Narrow, slick tires are awesome for road riding, but you want a bit wider/knobbier tread for gravel or dirt. I'm not sure what's out there that's "mountain bike light," but I'd suggest looking there.
posted by Alterscape at 7:07 AM on July 10, 2017


(I mean one option would be to put wider rims on the Quick, but there's got to me a more economical option out of the box)
posted by Alterscape at 7:08 AM on July 10, 2017


Best answer: Buy the one that fits the best, you find the most comfortable to ride, from the shop that works with you and gives the best customer service. Those are all very decent bikes. Fit is way, way more important than the exact details of the bike. Most bikes of that level will perform well.

Sweethome's discussion of geometries is important with regard to bike feel, but you can gauge that intuitively on the bike with a test ride. Relaxed geometries will feel stable (or sluggish), more upright geometries will feel responsive (or twitchy and unstable). For road and casual riding I tend to prefer a more stable "high-trail" geometry.

IMO, discs aren't really super important on hybrids, but they are a little more reliable.

The tend these days is to wide rims, but that's kind of a fashion IMO (to which the bike world is prone). A tire between 1.5" to 2" is very comfortable on the road. Road tires also do not need treads. By something with as light a tread pattern as possible, if 99% of your riding is on pavement. A good bike shop will work with you to put the tires of your choice on a new bike.

Keep at least 10% back for your accessories; perhaps even 20% for a full pannier rig (buy waterproof ones!). Good panniers aren't cheap.
posted by bonehead at 8:14 AM on July 10, 2017


If you're using metric sizing (on a 700c tire, for example), that's anywhere between 38 and 50 mm.
posted by bonehead at 8:36 AM on July 10, 2017


Response by poster: Thanks, all. Not to threadsit but I just wanted to mention that the deal with cycle solutions is that unfortunately you can't try before you buy as its all done via Internet and then they deliver your bike to your home. There is a money back guarantee but I definitely want to try to get it right the first time. I suppose I could go to a local bike shop to try the bikes but that seems very uncool since I'm not considering buying from them due to the scheme discount.
posted by hazyjane at 9:41 AM on July 10, 2017


But can you buy your accessories through them? Helmet, lock, rack, bags, lights, etc?
posted by advicepig at 12:31 PM on July 10, 2017


Best answer: Hi. I ended up getting a women's frame "by accident" (used, cheap, from a friend) two bikes ago and didn't think it really mattered to me, having ridden bikes with men's frames up until that point and having had no problems with them. However, after leaving that bike behind in a move and going on to get another cheap used bike with a men's frame, I found that the women's frame (specifically, a step-through style) had really grown on me, and when I recently decided to buy a new bike, I deliberately sought out the women's step-through style (aka stagger frame, example shown here). It's not that I ride my bike in a dress, because I don't: rather, at age 57 and having lost some of the agility of my younger years, I had started finding the mounting/dismounting process to be more of a challenge with a men's frame, particularly with anything loaded on the rack or in the rack-mounted rear basket I use for commuting and errands; the whole "just-swing-your-leg-over-the-whole-shebang" was feeling pretty awkward. I also found that I was no longer comfortable doing a rolling dismount on the men's frame, something I enjoy and can do with ease on my new Trek FX2 in the awesome green-light color (scroll down to see the step-through model). I will also note that a couple bike people I talked to convinced me that I didn't necessarily need disc brakes, given that I'm a fair-weather biker who will not be out in the rain and snow and will be on pavement 99% of the time, so I went with the old-fashioned linear-pull brakes which saved me some money. Obviously, YMMV on the brakes, but I did want to give a shout-out to the step-through frame, in case my experience is at all relevant to you.
posted by littlecatfeet at 7:16 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


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