cougarkite

Bought a Jamis Allegro back in September to commute to work everyday (7 mi roundtrip) in Brooklyn. There are some steady hills but not so intense. However, when riding the Jamis it seemed like I was going uphill the entire way, both ways. I was curious if it was just this specific bike or have others had problems similar with hybrids? I am used to riding an old Raleigh road bike but it isn't in good shape either so it's never been a "nice" riding bike per se but definitely preferred over the Jamis. Ended up selling it because I could never seem to ride it well.

canklecat

Looks like a decent bike for the money, pretty similar to my 2008 Globe Carmel. What really helped for me was replacing the riser bars with flat bars (actually very slightly arced, not perfectly straight). Just slightly lowered the bars and increased the reach, enough to make hill climbs more efficient, but the bike is still very comfortable to loaf around on.

After I fell and injured my ribs in February I flipped the "flat" arced bars toward me for a slightly more upright position. Helped while I was recovering from the injury, but I need to flip the bars around with the arc going away from me. Doesn't seem like it would make much difference but the past few weeks I can feel more effort climbing hills, while I have no problems on my mountain bike and am overall stronger on hill climbs.

Before buying a new handlebar try flipping your bike's existing bars downward and away from you. Try to get the grips roughly saddle height or slightly lower if you're comfortable with it. Flipped riser bars can feel weird due to the odd wrist angle, but it'll give you a rough idea of whether it helps a bit will hill climbing efficiency. If so, then a flat or slightly arced bar may be a good bet. You can find 'em for only $10-$20, from: XLC, Kalloy, Dimension, Wald, others. No need to buy $50-$100 bars from Nitto, Soma, etc.

Roamer2

Tire pressure can vastly alter how a bike feels to ride.

You may need to experiment to find the pressure sweet spot between comfort & speed.

djmcnz

Not sure if you still have the bike OP but if so, have you flipped it over and peddled it by hand to make sure nothing is binding?

Any noises when you ride it?

CadenceBoy

Used to ride a flat bar roadbike then changed to a hybrid, the wheels felt REALLY heavy, changed to lighter tires, huge difference (dropped 650gr for the pair)
So I'd check the weight of your tires, if it's more than 500gr/tire they're heavy, mine were 730gr/tire
Anyway you can't expect a hybrid to go as fast as a roadbike, it's more comfort oriented.

And offcourse check to see if the wheels & drivetrain work smoothly.

churnman

Different day, different bike.


<---can use either.

coominya

Yes, that's pretty standard. Hybrids are built for exercise, roadies for comfort and posing.

Craptacular8

I'm thinking it is that particular model of the Allegro, unless you've got a brake that's rubbing on either front or rear. Or possibly a wheel hub that's needs to be checked? Might not have sufficient hub grease to roll freely. I've got a similar weight hybrid that I've used for commuting for a few years. It doesn't feel like uphill both ways, but definitely has not felt "sporty" despite having a more aggressive position than the base Allegro.

The next step up in that model weighs nearly 4 pounds less. The base allegro is a 30 pound bike, which isn't necessarily a tank, but heavier than average. The tires best I can tell are 550 grams each, so you could shave some weight there easily enough, and improve the ride by upgrading the tires. The head and seat tube angels are the same across the Allegro builds, though the base has a higher upswept stem/handlebar combo to get a person a little more upright...that may be part of what you're feeling.

prj71

Upright position = wind resistance. Put some flat bars on that thing.

practical

Weight can be a factor when climbing but tires are more likely your issue. Put on some good 28m tires and that should help. Another thing may be that you need to adjust is the way you use your gears. I'm the kind of rider who knows what gear I'm in and the way it's "supposed to" feel. But your new bike likely has a different crank and cassette so the "same" gears will feel very different. I have a hybrid and road bike and both are 9-speed triples but the same gear position in the bikes produce different results.