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Differences in hybrid and road bikes

Old 06-27-17, 08:20 AM
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Bikerdave222
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Differences in hybrid and road bikes

I have been around for a while but I confess I am still ignorant of certain things. I have had mountain bikes and hybrids. I was wondering what is the difference between hybrids and road bikes? I know that road bikes have a drop bar and higher gearing but I can't fathom really it being any different from the hybrid. The higher gears of the hybrid are beyond my ability to pedal except down hill so does it matter?

Would all I need to do is to install drop bars on my hybrid to make it into a road bike??
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Old 06-27-17, 08:35 AM
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Originally Posted by Bikerdave222
I have been around for a while but I confess I am still ignorant of certain things. I have had mountain bikes and hybrids. I was wondering what is the difference between hybrids and road bikes? I know that road bikes have a drop bar and higher gearing but I can't fathom really it being any different from the hybrid. The higher gears of the hybrid are beyond my ability to pedal except down hill so does it matter?

Would all I need to do is to install drop bars on my hybrid to make it into a road bike??

I feel like 'Hybrid' is such a broad/generic term that it's practically useless. Some of the bikes I see that would qualify are literally just low end road bikes with flat bars, while some others are just crappy hard tail MTBs.
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Old 06-27-17, 09:01 AM
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There are different degrees of hybrid. Some hybrids are closer to road bikes, e.g., my Giant Rapid, which have skinny tires and road bike drivetrain. Some closer to MTB's, with wider gearing with triple chain rings, wider/knobbier tires, front suspension forks, more upright geometry. It's not an either/or scenario; there's sort of a spectrum of hybrids.
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Old 06-27-17, 09:05 AM
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It will be a hybrid with drop bars , you can ride it on the road, yes..

having the capacity to use wider (35 wide) tires also makes it a sorta cross bike..







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Old 06-27-17, 09:19 AM
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Yes, there is a difference. The geometry is different. Higher bottom brackets, longer top tubes, different angles, fork rake can be different and typically much wider tires. I also suspect that hybrids will use stouter tubing. That doesn't mean you can't put drop bars and skinnier tires on it and call it anything you like.
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Old 06-27-17, 09:20 AM
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I have a hybrid (Giant Escape City) and a road bike (Cannondale CAAD12). The bars are different. The hybrid is heavier, has wider wheels and tires and flat pedals. I am a little slower on the hybrid, but it works on roads. I've ridden it on group rides with other slow-ish cyclists on road bikes.
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Old 06-27-17, 09:47 AM
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All the responses so far have been fine. Let me add just a few more things.

As one poster said, some hybrids are closer to road bikes than others. If you wanted to convert a hybrid to a road bike, perhaps the biggest issue would be brakes. The hybrid wheel has a wider rim and uses linear pull brakes while road bikes use side pull brakes. Wider rims require linear pull brakes. The wheels on a hybrid are heavier than road bike wheels and you won't be able to put road bike wheels on a hybrid even though they are both 700c wheels because the rim width would be too narrow. Then when you put on the drop bar brake levers, you would find that they wouldn't have enough pull to effectively close the brakes. (BTW, replacing a drop bar with a flat bar and hybrid brake levers work fine with side pull brakes - in fact, think the hybrid brake levers improve the road bike brakes.

I know I will get yelled and hissed at for saying this, but there is little advantage in drop bars. People will talk about less wind resistance, but that is only true if you ride in the drops and most people rarely ride down there. Others will say that drops provide greater hand comfort because they offer multiple hand positions. However, a good set of ergon grips with short bar ends will give you greater comfort on long rides. Also, a flat bar will accommodate a mirror much better than a drop bar, and having a good mirror really, really helps.

My comments are based on my personal experience. I have a hybrid, I have road bike with a flat bar conversion, and I have a drop bar bike as well. Each bike has its strengths, but if I had to pick just one bike, it would be the flat bar road bike (Specialized Sequoia Elite).
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Old 06-27-17, 09:55 AM
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Originally Posted by practical
I know I will get yelled and hissed at for saying this, but there is little advantage in drop bars. People will talk about less wind resistance, but that is only true if you ride in the drops and most people rarely ride down there.
Really? I see a lot of roadies in the drops around here. Not in groups, except when pulling, but definitely on solo rides.

(Imagine my voice is yelling when you read this.)
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Old 06-27-17, 10:15 AM
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Originally Posted by practical
A
I know I will get yelled and hissed at for saying this, but there is little advantage in drop bars. People will talk about less wind resistance, but that is only true if you ride in the drops and most people rarely ride down there. Others will say that drops provide greater hand comfort because they offer multiple hand positions. However, a good set of ergon grips with short bar ends will give you greater comfort on long rides. Also, a flat bar will accommodate a mirror much better than a drop bar, and having a good mirror really, really helps.
While I do ride in the hoods the majority of the time there are times when I am so glad I have the option to ride in the drops, like going into a really stiff headwind, or descending, or just tired and need a break from riding upright. I converted both my 'hybrids' to drop bars I hated not having that option.

As for a mirror, I have on mounted on my helmet which works great.
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Old 06-27-17, 11:12 AM
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Some hybrids are flat bar road bikes. They have the same geometry as their road bike counterparts - only the bar setup is different.

For example, the Specialized Sirrus is roughly equivalent to the Specialized Roubaix.

The former is a flat bar road bike and the latter is a drop bar road bike.
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Old 06-27-17, 02:44 PM
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How picky are you?

Everything on a bicycle works together. Every part with every single other part. If you switch from a flat handlebar to a drop bar the first next thing you'll have to do is to get different brake levers. Your new brake levers probably won't work with your hybrid brakes. What are you planning to do about your shifters? Then there's the matter of how you fit on the bike - top tube length and drop to your new handlebar. Even that aside, it's still not going to look like a road bike because your tires and your rims are going to be too wide.

If you're not too picky, you can cobble something together that you'll be able to ride, I've done it more than once. It still won't be a road bike.
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Old 06-27-17, 02:57 PM
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Originally Posted by practical
The hybrid wheel has a wider rim
This isn't always true. When I said that some are practically road bikes I really did mean it. I've seen 'hybrids' that were running 23-25mm tires and fairly narrow rims. I think it was a year or so ago when I saw some random Giant model in a shop and it was basically the exact same thing as one of their lowest-tier road bikes. The only major differences were the flat bars and the differing brakes/drive bits that brought about.


Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
Even that aside, it's still not going to look like a road bike because your tires and your rims are going to be too wide.
There's kind of a trend with road bikes getting increasingly wider tires. And I see a lot of CX bikes with wider rims, particularly when the owners aren't racing em.

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Old 06-27-17, 03:00 PM
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Originally Posted by practical
I know I will get yelled and hissed at for saying this, but there is little advantage in drop bars. People will talk about less wind resistance, but that is only true if you ride in the drops and most people rarely ride down there.
Drop bars are about having a variety of postures. It's entirely possible to give a straight-bar bike a very aggressive posture, but then it won't also have a good variety of less-aggressive postures.
(But I do agree that straight bars are perhaps excessively maligned.)

Also, if reaching the drops at all is uncomfortably low, the bike probably isn't fit very well. Excessive slamming doesn't make you aero, it just results in there being fewer postures to use.
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Old 06-27-17, 03:01 PM
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My Giant Rapid came stock with 25mm tires. The brake calipers won't take anything bigger than 28's. Yeah, it is a road bike with flat bars. The frame is very much similar to the Defy, with a slightly longer wheel base.
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Old 06-27-17, 03:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Bikerdave222
I have been around for a while but I confess I am still ignorant of certain things. I have had mountain bikes and hybrids. I was wondering what is the difference between hybrids and road bikes? I know that road bikes have a drop bar and higher gearing but I can't fathom really it being any different from the hybrid. The higher gears of the hybrid are beyond my ability to pedal except down hill so does it matter?

Would all I need to do is to install drop bars on my hybrid to make it into a road bike??
It looks like you are in the Nashville, TN area. I would suggest visiting a couple three bike stores and trying them out for yourself to see the differences.

As far as just adding drop bars: That is a more complicated proposition than it sounds, as brake levers will need to be replaced, and if you have shifters on the bars, those will have to be replaced also.
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Old 06-27-17, 04:21 PM
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Is OP wanting to convert his hybrid to a dropbar? I'd advise against it, even though I've done a few conversions myself.
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Old 06-27-17, 09:16 PM
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Originally Posted by mcours2006
Is OP wanting to convert his hybrid to a dropbar? I'd advise against it, even though I've done a few conversions myself.
Why? Just curious. There are cheap ways to do it, or you can put a full modern road cockpit on. Brake only levers and bar-cons (or downtube shifters) are normally the cheap way to do a reasonable drop bar setup, especially on bikes with linear pull brakes.

I've got one where I spent all of $16.

Bike was free, I had an old set of bars that fit the quill stem, put cross levers on ($3 amazon), and a friction bar-con ($10 used at lbs) on the rear, locked the front on the centre chain ring with the limit screws, and wrapped the bar with old inner tube. Then I spent $25 on a set of used schwalbe marathon winter's, was my primary winter bike. I've got some drop brake levers now, but they're non-aero, so I won't be able to use the cross levers - I liked them for the winter. I'll either suck it up, find one with a suicide lever for one side, or use some TRP levers I have - just don't want to put them on that bike.

I've also done drop bars with vintage shimano exage levers on a fixie that came with a bmx style bar - one ride home into the wind on that riser bar was enough for me to change it. To be fair, I have a >10K stretch that is normally into the wind on my way home, open to the river. Most normal rides would be more manageable.
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Old 06-28-17, 05:54 AM
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Originally Posted by Viich
Why? Just curious. There are cheap ways to do it, or you can put a full modern road cockpit on. Brake only levers and bar-cons (or downtube shifters) are normally the cheap way to do a reasonable drop bar setup, especially on bikes with linear pull brakes.
I should have clarified in my post. There are circumstances where it might make sense to convert a hybrid bike to a drop bar road bike:

1. Have extra parts on hand for the conversion--handlebars and shifters at a minimum. This is what I had to do with my Rapid. I bought them both. Didn't cost a lot, but still cost something. But on my other conversion, because the drivetrain was more MTB than road, I wanted a new drivetrain, so in addition to handlebar and shifters, I needed crankset, RD and FD, new cables and housing, saddle and wheels. OP doesn't have to do all this, of course.

If extra parts are not on hand, you'll have to scour the used market for parts.

2. Have tools on hand to do the conversion, especially if it is a comprehensive one. Tools are expensive and you might not know you need a particular one until you get to it.

3. Takes a bit of know-how and skill. Youtube is a great resource, but if this is your first time doing it, you might run into some challenges/frustrations.

4. And lastly, the geometry of the bike in question is similar to that of a road bike. In the end it might just be an upright hybrid bike with drop bars on it.

From the OP it sounds like he doesn't qualify for at least three out of the four criteria I listed.

I'm quite happy with both my conversions and do 75% of my commutes on the Rapid, despite having other pure road bikes, but mainly because it has fenders.

The other less-road-bike-like converted bike is my mule, outfitted with fenders, panniers, and 38 mm tires, and also my winter commuter with studs. I couldn't sell it for more than what I paid in converting it. More of a labour of love at the time.
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Old 06-28-17, 06:58 AM
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Interesting discussion will continue to follow.. debating on a road bike or just convert the Trek 820. I've pretty much decided on putting a trekking bar on for now. There wasn't much difference between me on the hybrid and the road bikes on the last ride. I could keep up or outclimb them but downhill they could fly. Alot/too many factors involved. I need to test ride a few.
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Old 06-28-17, 07:28 AM
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I've got a mutt that you could call a hybrid. It's got a flat bar with a slight amount of rise and sweep and 32mm Bontrager AW3 tires on Mavic A719 rims. I've also got a drop bar road bike with an endurance/comfort geometry. Both are double-butted chrome moly frames. The road bike has a CF fork, 25mm AW3 tires on Open Pro rims, and weighs about 2 pounds less than the mutt. I've ridden both on many 50-100 mile rides through a variety of terrain and road conditions, group rides and solo. The road bike is faster but surprisingly not all that much faster. Over 100 miles on the same routes, my average speeds on the road bike are only about 1 mph higher than on the hybrid. While hardly scientific, the number of rides is sufficient and the results consistent enough to make it a valid sampling.

As far as flat bar vs. drop bar, Specialized did wind tunnel tests several years ago to determine if riding in the drops was more aero than riding on the hoods with your elbows bent. The results favored the drops but by a miniscule margin, so unless you are racing, the difference is negligible. On my hybrid, the bars were narrowed and Ergon GP3 bar end grips added to give me a hand position almost identical to riding the hoods on my road bike.

So, OP, it all depends on what you want out of your bike. If you are looking for recreation and fitness, then a good hybrid will fit the bill nicely. I wouldn't worry about converting to drops, just play with bar and grip widths and positions. Far cheaper with comparable results.
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Old 06-28-17, 08:17 AM
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The more “performance” leaning hybrids can be equipped with tires and gearing identical to a standard road bike. Rider position can be setup just as aero as a rider on the hoods, and even weights will be comparable. In this case there will be virtually no difference performance wise between them.

It just comes down to rider preference. Buy/build/ride what you like.


Originally Posted by Myosmith
As far as flat bar vs. drop bar, Specialized did wind tunnel tests several years ago to determine if riding in the drops was more aero than riding on the hoods with your elbows bent. The results favored the drops but by a miniscule margin, so unless you are racing, the difference is negligible. On my hybrid, the bars were narrowed and Ergon GP3 bar end grips added to give me a hand position almost identical to riding the hoods on my road bike.

So, OP, it all depends on what you want out of your bike. If you are looking for recreation and fitness, then a good hybrid will fit the bill nicely. I wouldn't worry about converting to drops, just play with bar and grip widths and positions. Far cheaper with comparable results.

Right. When I look at riding buddies on the hoods, all are bent over pretty much just as far as me on my flats/ low risers which are setup at or slightly below saddle level. Because my bars aren’t wide, even our hand width is comparable too.
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Old 06-28-17, 08:37 AM
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The most aero position on a road bike is on the hoods with the forearms bent horizontal. Sure, you can have this position on a flat bar hybrid, even with bar ends, but this is not a position that is easy to hold for long period of time, especially for riders whose fitness and core strength is lacking. A slightly less aero but easier position to hold is on the drops with slightly bent arms and head up. Both positions are more aero than just being on the hoods with slightly bent elbows.

Having drops offers the option of alternating between the two most aero positions. That is the real advantage of having drop bars.

From my own personal experience, riding my converted Rapid is much more enjoyable than the old Rapid. But I've also upgraded it to better components and drive train, so that has something to do with it.
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Old 06-28-17, 09:48 AM
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My hybrid is Mt bike based (Raleigh C-500). adjustable front suspension, 135mm rear spacing, Deore LX drivetrain, V brakes, disc caliper mounts and eyelets. Came with 32mm tires on 700 rims. I run 25's on the same rims as it's 90% driven on pavement or packed stone trails.
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