Johnypony

I am getting this hybrid cycle in following configs

Option 1
Transmission Shifter Shimano Alivio 24sp
F.Derailleur Shimano Alivio
R.Derailleur Shimano Alivio
Brake Tektro Disc Brake

Option 2
Transmission Shifter Shimano SL2000 ( 8x2 sp)
F.Derailleur Shimano FD2000
R.Derailleur Shimano RD2000
Brake Tektro Disc Brake

So now i am confused on which one to buy?
8x3 Alivio with 48/38/28 vs 8x2 Claris with 50/34 setup

8x3 give me more gear options and could be handy in harsh climbs
8x2 Claris could help me to upgrade to road bike, but need to understand if disc brakes can be used with briffters.

I ideally ride in city conditions about 35km per day with occasional weekend long rides.
I do climb lot of flyovers and bridges.

Kindly suggest me which option i should go for.
Thanks

HerrKaLeun

the Claris is more road oriented (higher gearing) and mere mortals can't spin out a 50x11 or whatever your smallest cassette cog is.
Bicycle Gear Calculator

Claris RD is also less likely to be able to use larger cogs in case you want a cassette for lower gearing. (i didn't look that up, but Road stuff usually doesn't allow lower gearing like MTB groups do)

Compare to your current bike and riding style. Keep in mind wheel size, tire and cassette play a role in the gear calculation.

On my hybrid I never use my highest gear (42x11) but sometimes use my lowest (28x36), especially after long tours. YMMV

Johnypony

Thanks
Currently I use hybrid with rigid fork with Altus 3x8. with 12-32T Cassette
I usually use 3rd (big chain ring) in front and 5-6-7 in rear 80% of time. i.e 48x18, 48x16, 48x14

Rest wheel size is same 700cx28

For Claris option i will get Claris 11-30T 8 speed cassete
For Alivio option i will get 12-32T cassette

hokiefyd 

Those Tektro brakes are cable-operated. Most brifters are not compatible with long-pull brakes. Various options are available to make short-pull brake levers compatible, but it would take additional parts. You could upgrade to hydraulic brake calipers; various hydraulic brifters are available.

Myself, I'd prefer the 3x8 Alivio option. By the way, what is that bike? XDS something? Is this the website? https://xdsbikeco.com/collections/all-bikes

puma1552

For what it's worth I have a hybrid that is part Alivio and it is solid, reliable stuff. No complaints. I should also point out my hybrid's lowest gear is like 26/32 or 26/34 (one or the other, can't remember, but it's LOW) and I *do* use it...BUT I just bought a road bike this week with a 34/28 low gear and I thought for sure I'd need to swap the cassette for a more hill friendly cassette and to my surprise I haven't even used the low gear once. Presumably because the road bike is 4ish pounds lighter than my hybrid.

Johnypony

ENGLISH / About us_Shenzhen Xidesheng Bicycle Co., Ltd
A China based company, which claims to be worlds largest carbon fiber producer too.

Unlike many other chinese company products, somehow there products are much better in quality terms.
Also they are OEM manufacturer for many global brands too. There website shows just 5% of there products, there product catalog has 100s of models in it.


Also i am not sure how good a disc brake is vis-a-vis normal linear or side pull brakes. Many friends complain it needs more maintenance is is prone to making noises or disc touching pads at times.
My existing one has normal linear pull power brakes, which do great job.

hokiefyd 

I don't know if I'd say that disc brakes require "more maintenance" than rim brakes, but they do require different types of maintenance. Each type of brake has certain annoyances and specific strengths and weaknesses. Most of my bikes have linear pull brakes (often called "V-brakes"), and one of my bikes has hydraulic disc brakes. I'm coming to prefer disc brakes, as I have found them to be more consistent overall. They certainly perform better in wet weather, but I find them to be advantageous even in humid weather, as my linear pull brakes sometimes tend to squeal during high humidity (regardless of how much or how little I have them toed in). Disc brakes are super smooth (especially hydraulic ones), and they don't abrade the rim surface away as rim brakes do.

Disc brakes can be sensitive to wheel installation, and the pads can rub the rotors if you get the wheel installed slightly crooked. This is generally not a problem with rim brakes. I think some disc brakes tend to squeal, but modern resin compounds on brake pads seem to have alleviated much of this. Mine have resin pads and I've never heard them make any noise whatsoever. Hydraulic disc brakes will require fluid changes on some sort of schedule (every couple of years?). Cable-operated discs obviously wouldn't, but braking isn't as strong or modulation as good with cable vs. hydraulic. Everything is a trade-off.

Rim brakes will probably work just fine for you, if you're already happy with them. Linear pull brakes, however, are "long pull" brakes, just like cable-operated discs, so you'll have to find a similar workaround for your brake levers if you convert to drop bars later.

Frankly, I would suggest buying a drop bar bike if that's your ultimate goal. All of this will have already been worked out for you on a new bike. You'll notice that drop bar bikes usually come with either caliper rim brakes or cantilever brakes (if cable operated) or hydraulic disc brakes. Both caliper rim brakes and cantilever brakes are "short pull" brakes, and are compatible with drop bar brake levers. As discs are becoming popular, manufacturers have come out with hydraulic brake levers for those. Drop bar levers compatible with "long pull" brakes (like cable disc brakes and linear pull/V-brakes) are rare.

pjthomas

All things being equal, get the Alivio. Alivio is a mid range MTB groupset, Claris is the lowest road groupset. Also Alivio is usually 3x9 unless they are using shifters from a lower groupset.

csport

You can run brifters with both Claris and Alivio. For Alivio you may need to replace the front derailleur with a "road" one. Mounting drop bars and brifters will not make an hybrid a road bike. It will have a different geometry, and it wil be heavier. Also, replacing flat bars with drops will extend the reach. If you are set on this procedure, you may consider going a size down when buying an hybrid. The question is why you are buying a second hybrid when you already have one? My advice is to save some money and get a proper road bike or a gravel bike. A gravel bike is a drop bar bike which has geometry similar to that of an hybrid.

There exist "road" versions of some cable disk brakes like Avid BB7 or Tektro Spyre (as opposed to Spyke, which is long pull). I run Spyres with Shimano 3500 brifters. Also, there exist cable actuated hydraulic disk brakes (TRP HYRD and some Yokozunas) compatible with short pull. AFAIK, Shimano's hydraulic brifters start with 10 speed, and this would mean swapping the whole drivetrain (Tiagra 4700 has a different cable pull ratio for RD). Too much pain.

With Travel Agents it may be slightly cheaper than a similar conversion for cable disk brakes.

This.

hokiefyd 

Thanks -- that's great to know! I think he or she is going to have to change SOMETHING to get drop bars to work, and that's the message I was trying to get across -- they probably won't be a direct swap. Either the brakes themselves, or TAs or something. I appreciate you pointing out the road version of those disc brake systems!