sjanzeir

I'm pretty sure there's a trace amount of some ferrous metals in there somewhere...

sjanzeir

The Argument room is the Bicycle Mechanics section. The Abuse room is General Cycling Discussion (which is where this thread is at); the Complaint room is the entire off-topic section, including Politics and Religion, and the Being Hit on the Head With a Wooden Hammer is what every noob is greeted with in the Introductions section.

livedarklions

Fitness bike has always been a subcategory of hybrid, and I think they generally make pretty great road bikes with some light gravel capabilities.

livedarklions

Historically, I believe comfort and fitness were originally subcategories of hybrid.

For a few years, pretty much any flat bar that wasn't a mountain bike was being marketed as a hybrid. The term became a victim of its own success.

Dan Burkhart 

Nah. That’s a hybrid.

Lombard

No. This is a Frankenbike.

livedarklions

Yeah, no way anything with those handlebars would be considered a hybrid as the term is commonly used.

Kapusta

Hybrid is an utterly meaningless term. It can encompass nearly any bike with flat bars that is not an actual mtb, beach cruiser, or bmx bike. It can be a cf flat bar road bike with 23mm tires, or an upright comfort bike. Or an mtb with slicks. Or a flat bar gravel bike.

Eric F 

The chain, and a few bolts, but probably not much more than that.

Eric F 

There's always an exception. The bike made sense for him, his preferences, and the task at hand.

livedarklions

Fitness bikes are actually pretty great for climbing on a road, at least as good if not better than a road bike. I've done plenty of climbing on both kinds to make the comparison.

Eric F 

Maybe your rides are different, but my road rides never go only uphill

sjanzeir

What kind of hill can you descend on a road bike that you can't on a hybrid? 😳

livedarklions

If that's supposed to be some kind of witty retort, big misfire.

Every bike compromises something. It's really not refutation to "x is good at y" to say "not everything is y".

No one's trying to convince you to switch to hybrids, but the "they're not good at anything" rhetoric was getting a little thick in here.

Eric F 

This isn't an "only" thing. Livedarklions says his fitness bike climbs as good or better than a road bike. That's great. When aerodynamics come into play (downhill, fast rolling on the flats, etc.), the road bike is going to have an advantage. If a fitness/hybrid bike is best for the kind of riding you like to do, then use that bike. Personally, I have a few different types of bikes to suit my riding choice of the day. One of those is the hipster hybrid - a gravel bike. It's not a great road bike. It's not a great MTB. It's a compromise almost everywhere, and a hell of a lot of fun.

Eric F 

I was trying to make a bit of a joke. This is getting far too serious.

My previous comment about early hybrids being mediocre (low to mid priced) bikes for mediocre (casual) riders was a generalization based on what I've seen over many years with the riders that tend to buy that type of bike, as well as how the bikes are marketed. There will always be exceptions to generalizations. Indyfabz' riding partner is a good example of an exception. I suspect you are, too. I don't know much about how you ride, but since you are a regular and long-term member of this site, it's pretty likely you aren't the average casual recreational rider.

livedarklions

Sorry, but that kind of "joke" actually raises the "seriousness" rather than diffuses it--I wasn't disagreeing with him being an exceptional rider, everything indy said about him indicated he was an excellent climber. I was merely pointing out the (to me) obvious reason he was using the bike he was.

TBH, I am not fond of generalizations that label a bunch of people as mediocre. Basically, that's already fighting words.

livedarklions

The fitness bikes generally have more of a lean forward position than do other hybrids. It's really not that different aerodynamically from riding the hoods.

Honestly, I think the problem with these threads is that a lot of people generalize a lot from a very little bit of knowledge about this type of bike.

Lombard

Webster's Dictionary definition:

Hybrid

• : something that is formed by combining two or more things.

Kapusta

And the point is.......?

Lombard

My point is the term hybrid can be used to describe any bike that is a cross or combination of other types of bikes.

Eric F 

Included the words "early hybrids" in my initial generalization intentionally. The evolution of the hybrid niche has spawned bikes like the fitness bikes you describe, intended for someone who probably takes riding more seriously than my sister, my boss, and a bunch of other casual/occasional ("mediocre") riders I know who bought mid-low priced ("mediocre") hybrids in the '90s and '00s. The bikes were comfortable to ride, reasonably efficient, and attractive to a wide range of folks.

indyfabz

That means you are not a serious cyclist.

Eric F 

This is probably true. When I ride with other people, I tend to make jokes.

rsbob 

Same could apply to pedal assist e-bikes where they will not move unless the user is pedaling (hybrid) compared to fully electric, no pedaling required bikes (uh, motorcycles, no, already used…uh, cheater bikes!)

I think of gravel bikes as the modern interpretation of a hybrid bike.