adamz

I love riding my above-average quality/well-maintained hybrid bike around town, weather permitting, every day. Sometimes I ride about 40 miles a day, to work, to the store, to friends' houses, and so forth. I am thinking about joining the local bike club and riding with them. There seem to be club options from 20 to 45 miles. I will laugh along with the club regulars if they chuckle at me for joining them with my hybrid, but I would appreciate you all telling me why I should buy a road bike if I want to become a club regular.

jaxgtr

I rode a hybrid on group rides....did not matter. In fact, there was a guy that used to ride inline skates...join in have fun.

datlas 

If you ride safely, it should not be a problem.

guachi

The biggest issue is likely to be weaker aerodynamics and you'll have fewer hand positions but on a shorter ride it's not a problem. There are hybrids you can get that are basically road bikes with flat bars so the rest of the bike is basically the same.

MAK

The real issue isn't the length of the ride. It's the average speed of the ride. Hybrids will likely be heavier and depending on the rider, slower than road bikes. If you're strong enough to keep up, go for it. In most cases (not necessarily all) a road bike will make club rides easier as speeds and distances go up. You should also consider what kind of riding you may want to be doing in a year or two...club or solo.

Reflector Guy

What kind of club is it? Large clubs usually have different kinds of rides for riders of all kinds of bikes and at all skill levels, and the rides are advertised accordingly.

At least that is how the big club by me does it.

spelger

How about a 20-40 mile ride in a single ride, not the accumulation of a few?

blacknbluebikes 

Man, this seems to be a mid-march phenomenon, lotta "can I..." questions about clubs. Basically, if your engine is strong enough and you can keep pace, AND you can ride safely in formation, the hardware doesn't matter one bit. And any critique will vanish after ride #1. And if there are any adverse comments after that, it's not really about your bike. Best suggestion I have is to talk to a friendly member about what capabilities they expect from new riders. Then go try that solo and make sure you're up to it. You probably are.

Riveting

The riding position of hybrid bikes is SIGNIFICANTLY less aero than road bikes. If you are riding an upright hybrid and are fitter than those riding road bikes, you will do well. If you are equally as fit as those riding road bikes, you will work harder and suffer more than them, especially if you take the front. If you are less fit than them, you WILL be dropped, over and over again, and cause them to wait for you, which may, or may not be, what that group likes to do.

Iride01 

First you have to know what that "club" you are wanting to join is all about. Is that really your style of riding or desire?

Hybrid bikes tend to be for those that don't ride many miles at a time. Sure, some do it. My son rode his first century on Trek Marlin 29er. He got road bike after that and the Trek Marlin pretty much sits in the garage since.

So for a group that might possibly be doing one or two long rides a week, then you might be looking at the wrong people to play with.

Dean V

Bit of a generalisation there.
You can achieve a reasonably good position on a Hybrid as long as it hasn't got a crazy high stack height.
Slammed stem of suitable length you can get close to top of hoods position on a drop bar bike.
When pulling on the front by holding the bars near the stem with elbows bent and tucked in the aero is pretty good.

rubiksoval

Speed is the issue. Hybrids are significantly, significantly slower. Whether it matters for a particular group's speed/rider's strength is up to said rider and group.

alcjphil

What is missing here is what hybrid bike you are riding. Hybrids run the gamut from comfort bikes to flat bar road bikes. A comfort hybrid would not be what you want for most bike club rides. A hybrid which is pretty much a flat bar road bike would do just fine for most group riding. Without knowing what "hybrid" you ride, there is no way to know what reaction you might get or what your riding experience for your first group ride might be like

mcours2006

I agree about the kind of hybrid bike you have. I had a Giant Rapid with flat bars, but by all accounts it is a road bike--relatively light, Tiagra drivetrain, 25mm tires, caliper rim brakes...it's the sister bike to the Giant Defy drop bar bike. And when I rode it it was every bit as fast as a road bike, especially when I put bar ends on it that allowed me to stretch out and get more aero on it.

My buddy has a Trek FX hybrid with knobby 35mm tires, upright position, and heavy as heck. I rode on it one time and it was just sluggish has anything.

big john

There was a strong guy who rode a flat bar bike with my road club and he was fine, even on longer rides. The club also has slower rides where everyone is encouraged to join and they just cruise along and enjoy the ride.

CoogansBluff

I did a metric century on a hybrid before I bought my first road bike, and it was fine. Key was getting road bike tires. Hybrid was still slower than a road bike, but it closed the gap significantly. Though I've not tried, I could probably manage group rides on the hybrid (w/ the fast tires) if it was 2 mph slower than typical rides that I join.

Bob Ross

For the first six months that I was a member of our cycle club I rode a hybrid (Trek 750) and nobody laughed at me

...well, not about that bike at least.

crazyravr

Its easy. Know the speed of the group you are riding with. If it fits your riding, join in. No need for aero bike in my club where eg. Group 2 rides at 20-22kmh average and leader controls the speed. Now in Group 6, unless you are a superhuman (pro racer) I would suggest against it.