Aerzon

Coming back to the forum since I'm a bit indecisive on what to do. I'm currently riding an older hybrid style bike on trails near me. It's enjoyable and I do a decent number of miles on weekends. (90 is my highest over a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I usually average 60) Not sure if this is important background.

I'm looking into making a switch to road cycling now for a few reasons. The trails are getting a bit boring after riding them over and over and I enjoy the sections that are on the actual road much more. The trails also only go so many places of course. I figure for commuting and pushing my cycling up a level for speed and distance, it might make sense to invest in an entry level road bicycle so I can enjoy cycling on actual roads to the full extent. I know I could do this on my older hybrid bicycle, but a road bike seems to be more well suited from what I've read in the past.

Would it make sense to upgrade to an entry level road bike? And which ones are the tried and true entry level bikes for a new road cyclist?

Thanks for reading and sorry for the longer post.

burnthesheep

Welcome.

What is your budget?
Would you keep the hybrid also? (budget question, and question to see which bike type may work best)
Is your area mountainous? Does it rain a lot? (disc brakes questions)
How young are you, or flexible? It may make a difference in the fit or type of road frame
Do you have any LBS nearby, which brands do they sell?

That is good info about your weekend mileage. Do you do that year-round? Your mileage for the bike may lead you towards which groupset makes the most sense to start with. There are tangible "wear and tear" improvements as you jump through the sets, to a point.

Aerzon

Budget isn't quite set in stone as of now. This is a future buy I've been thinking about for a while. I figure anywhere up to $900 I could spend though by the time I make this purchase.

If I can, I would likely sell the hybrid. Although I'm attached to it, it deserves to be ridden. If I had a road bike, it would sit in the garage most likely. My area is not mountainous and it doesn't rain much.

I'm younger. I'm 5'8 if that gives any info for frame type and size. My local bike shop sells Raleigh products that I know of, not sure of others though. It's been a while since I've been in myself. Current bike is a Raleigh Mojave* 4.0. I'm semi curious if it could be adapted into a road bike in some way?

I don't do that many miles year round due to snowy months. In the "cycling season" as I call it, I'm pretty consistent around there though. I am looking to do more miles/ride more days of the week in the future. Cycling is something I want to become better and better at.

surak

$900 won't get you much of a new bike currently. Everyone's been buying up entry-level bikes, plus the supply chain has been disrupted since last year.

In normal times the best advice would be to go test ride bikes at local bike shops, but many are out of stock of the cheaper options.

​​​​​​It's a big risk to buy a bike without having any idea how it fits and feels to you personally. Try your luck with local inventory or wait out the pandemic if you're in no hurry. Take a flyer on a bike from an online seller only if you're desperate for a road bike.

Aerzon

Budget may increase by the time I get around to it. I plan to finish this summer on the hybrid. Just looking for ideas as of now, I guess I will have to take a look at the bike shop first when the time arrives. I would add that I'd be more than willing to look at the used market as well, assuming it's a smart decision to do so with bikes.

Thanks for the Reply Surak

jpescatore

One first step would be to put more road-like tires on your hybrid and maybe inexpensive bar extensions to give you some additional and less upright hand positions. I used a hybrid as a road bike for many years that way. Won't cost you much and you can see if you really like riding on the roads and you could choose tires that would still work fine on the paths.

An example of bar extensions are these - and there are cheaper ones out there.

Here is an example of tires I put on my hybrid (the 35mm ones) that worked fine on crushed stone/packed dirt trails and roads. There are cheaper tires out there, too.

PoorInRichfield

My opinion is that you'd get the most bang-for-your-buck looking for a gravel bike or endurance bike. I.e., look for a road bike that has reasonable tire clearance, which usually means a bike with disk brakes and a somewhat wider fork. What I'm finding is that a lot of riders with older or dedicated road bikes that use rim brakes are stuck with tire sizes of 700x25c or below. This is unfortunate as the current trend in tires is to go a bit wider, like 700x28c or 700x32c which not only increases rider comfort but also allows one to ride a wider variety of surfaces other than just asphalt. I'm currently riding 700x32c tires which is the widest I've ever ridden in my life by far, and I really like them.