Originally Posted by
Inusuit
Is this the original "hybrid?" 1989 Specialized Rock Combo.
When I think of "Hybrid" I envision a road bike with 700c wheels, just with fatter tires and flat bars. That looks more like a factory-produced MTB with 26" wheels, and a drop bar conversion. It looks like they took a Rockhopper or Hard Rock frame and just used a tall, short stem needed for drop bars.
I've done a couple of MTBs with drop bars, and the fit never seemed quite right and I always went back to flat bars on those frames. Notice how the position of the handlebars looks like if they turn too far, the bar ends are going to hit the top tube, which is what I found on my attempts. I've used a thick layer of clear Gorilla tape to protect the top tube, but it looked dumb and the whole setup seemed awkward. There's a whole thread on MTB drop bar conversions, but to me it's just a bad fit.
My "hybrid" is a rigid MTB like that (Trek 970), retaining the flat bars but with skinnier tires. I also put skinnier tires on my Rockhopper and thus turned it into a hybrid, but that bike is on the trainer now.