Originally Posted by
Paul9583
Hello all.
Im new to the forum and I would appreciate everyone's help and opinions. I'm looking to buy a hybrid bike and I want one with a front shock absorber for comfort and terrain flexibility.
I've narrowed it down to the 3 above but I have not viewed any of them in the flesh as there is no stock local to me. My budget is £1000 and I'm looking to splash out close to max budget. Also the looks of the bike are important to me, I want to be able to not take my eyes off it if you know what I mean.
I hope some of you can help me and point me in the right direction if one bike is better than the others with spec etc.
Thank you all in advance, Paul.
So you are looking at current models?
One issue that is difficult for buyers of such bikes is that there are literally no reviews online which will talk about any differences that may exist in the frames of each bike, as no one seems to be bothered reviewing aluminium framed hybrids, the way they do aluminium frame road bikes.
So whilst you might read that the aluminium Cannondale CAAD 12 or 13 is amazingly close to a carbon frame in feel, no one is doing this for hybrids.
So perhaps one shouldn't even wonder if there is any difference between the frames and instead concentrate on the rest of the components.
You could also include the Trek Dual Sport 4 amongst this group.
How heavy are you?
I ask because the Trek DS4 and Scott Sub 10, come with 32 spoke rims and the Giant & Specialized come with 28 spoke rims.
The Trek has the "worst" running gear of the lot, but it would still be pretty decent, as it is far from being at the low end of Shimano's range.
Giant has the best suspension fork out of this lot and Giant and Scott are equipped with the best running gear.
The Scott is the only bike of this lot with a triple crankset, at a time when triples seem to be falling out of favour, but it is an excellent triple crankset and I would not hold this against the Scott, as I believe it has the best crankset of any of these bikes.
If you aren't going to test ride any of these bikes, then you probably should also give a lot of consideration to which one you like the look of best, as there probably just isn't that much difference between all the bikes and you will be happy with any of them.