afrocleland

Hey,
I've got a Giant Roam 2 hybrid and I love it. It's ideal for riding around town and going on the more leisurely ride with friends. I'm looking to have a go at mountain biking and I don't want to have to shell out a load of money on another bike. I'm going to go to Carron Valley (https://www.forestry.gov.uk/carronvalley) with friends who are into MTB'ing in a couple of weeks to give it a go. Is there anything I can/should do to make my bike more suitable? The only cheap idea I had was nobbly tires. My front fork only has a 62mm travel. And I'm about 160lbs if that makes any difference.
Any help/advice would be awesome!
Kieran

Zephyr11

So you ride this bike around town and with friends all the time and you love it as is. So leave it as is. Check out the local bike shops and see if you can rent a bike for a few days while you go...renting a mountain bike will cost less and give you a more suitable bike than trying to convert a hybrid into a no-longer-the-hybrid-you-love-but-still-not-a-mountain bike. Then, if you decide you enjoy and want to pursue mountain biking, look into picking up an entry level mountain bike.

afrocleland

Hi, Well the thing is, I'm toying with the idea of investing in a road bike too. So I was hoping to make the hybrid more mountainous... I was looking at more rugged fork with 100mm travel or more chunky tyres. Would that help?

ZManT

it will help make the bike more able to handle off-road riding, but it will change the character of the bike - this could be perfectly ok for you

i have a hybrid that i commute on (rigid frame) and I love it the way it is

the advice to rent a MTB is really good advice IMO - you get a chance to feel what a true MTB feels like (which your hybrid will never be) and you get to keep your hybrid the way it is, which you admittedly love

as for getting a road bike - also awesome! that's an entirely new affliction though.....

afrocleland

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the input. I had a look at the trails website and they say that you can do half the trails with a hybrid, so I'm thinking I could maybe do 3 quarters if I take it easy at the harder bit. There doesn't seem to be anywhere I can rent nearby. I don't really mind the idea of changing the character of the bike, since if i were to get a road bike the hybrid would be used for off roading only. I've had a look on ebay and I can see some used forks that people are upgrading from that have 100mm+ travel and fit my bike. I could probably use cyclocross tyres so I wouldn't need to buy wider wheels.

gunner65

I went from 63mm travel to 100mm travel no problem did not change the characteristics of my Trek 3700 at all.

afrocleland

Did you feel it better capable of mountain biking afterwards?

Zephyr11

Adding 40mm of travel to a bike will completely change its personality. I swapped a 120mm fork for a 160mm fork and it's a completely different bike with completely different geometry. It slackened it out quite a bit, so it's more stable descending, but it also turns slower now and doesn't go uphill as well.

Daspydyr 

You can make the hybrid more Roadie with some slicks and a drop bar. Mountain biking is a blast, but what you put a bike through, sometimes by surprise, on trails is aggressive and violent. You want a bike that is made for the impact.

jimc101

By the time you have done that, you may as well have bought an road bike or MTB; drop bars need STI levers (no where to put down tube & bar ends shifters would hurt in a crash off road; not even sure how this question has morphed into a road bike conversion, as it was originally about a MTB conversion) & even a set of Sora with all the other necessary changes would put a good dent on the cost of a low end, but capable MTB or road bike.

For using a Hybrid off road, no reason why you can't, you just have to know what it's limits are, although the original idea of changing the forks would probably not be cost effective, as generally good 29er forks cost alot.

afrocleland

Looks like I'll just chance it as is. Taking it easy... I've never been on a trail before anyway so I'll be cautious as is... If i really love it, I'll just take the hit and look for a decent second hand one online.
Cheers!

LTT777

The best piece of advice ITT was the first reply. For future purchasing reference, you can make a good mountain bike a fully functioning hybrid (front fork capable of being locked out and some good hybrid tires, voila), but you can't really make a hybrid a mountain bike. If you are taking your hybrid as is (or at all...if you upgrade it this advice still applies) just be very careful about the technical trails. If you find yourself on one, just get off and walk it. There is no shame in that, especially for a beginner.

As far as your potential road bike purchase, check out cyclocross bikes. With a smooth tire and inexpensive front chain ring swap it be turned into almost a full road bike, but as is can handle relatively technical mountain bike trails. Somewhat the best of both worlds. With a short amount of wrenching (tires and front chain ring) depending on what kind of riding you'll be doing you'll be able to do just about anything. A cyclocross bike won't be nearly as good on single trail as an actual mountain bike, and it makes for a more technical ride, but the bike can do it.

gunner65

Changed nothing on my 3700 but the 3700 frame from that era was designed for 100mm forks on other models (4300) Same frame geo. This came from Trek in an email to me. The giant Roam 2 looks like a mtb bike with slicks and at the entry level probably is a mtb bike with slicks.

Burton

This is the best advice. And think about it - if you take a spill with a rental bike - you won't be nearly as upset with yourself for weeks afterwards!

afrocleland

Hello all! Took the bike as is to the trail... Tbh, with more nobbly tyres I wouldn't have had any issues! It seemed to cope fine apart from that. I was just careful not to go for jumps and stuff. But it was still really good fun!