What is a hybrid a hybrid of?
#102
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In terms of being somewhere in the middle-ground between road bikes and MTBs, definitely. One tends to be ridden by normal folks. The other tends to be ridden by weirdo bike freaks.
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I acknowledge that exceptions exist, especially at the higher end of the category, but I maintain that most garden-variety hybrid bikes wouldn't be particularly well-suited for an actual gravel course or its conditions.
This isn't what I started the thread about, so forgive me if I don't further engage in the "hybrid-is-a-gravel-bike" digression. Might be a good topic for another thread, though.
Last edited by Rolla; 11-29-22 at 04:08 PM.
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I acknowledge that exceptions exist, especially at the higher end of the category, but I maintain that most garden-variety hybrid bikes wouldn't be particularly well-suited for an actual gravel course or its conditions.
This isn't what I started the thread about, so forgive me if I don't further engage in the "hybrid-is-a-gravel-bike" digression. Might be a good topic for another thread, though.
This isn't what I started the thread about, so forgive me if I don't further engage in the "hybrid-is-a-gravel-bike" digression. Might be a good topic for another thread, though.
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The "love to hate" seems to be because hybrids are often considered beginner bikes synonymous with "non-serious" riders. A hybrid was my first adult bike when I got back into cycling as an adult. 20+ years later, it's gathering dust.
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I think the issue is this absurd false hierarchy of "seriousness" that causes people to make gross generalizations about a category of bike they're largely unfamiliar with so they can maintain their sense that their own riding is better somehow. When I ride in an urban setting, I see a lot more people on some form of hybrid or another than I do people on road bikes and the people riding them appear to be utilizing them as "seriously" as most of the drop bar riders I see.
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But yeah, to the "serious" cyclist a hybrid is the worst of all options, but to the average person who doesn't have a garage full of different bike options, it's just a bike and gets them about.
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I suspect that if you asked a random person to draw or describe a bike, they'd produce something like a hybrid.
But yeah, to the "serious" cyclist a hybrid is the worst of all options, but to the average person who doesn't have a garage full of different bike options, it's just a bike and gets them about.
But yeah, to the "serious" cyclist a hybrid is the worst of all options, but to the average person who doesn't have a garage full of different bike options, it's just a bike and gets them about.
In my experience, a decent fitness bike is actually a lot more fun than "just a bike"--it's actually probably a better fit for fast urban riding than a drop bar bike
A lot of what goes on in these discussions is a comparison between high-end road bikes and bottom to middle of the line hybrids, ignoring that there's a hell of a lot of low end road bikes out there as well. Switching to a drop bar doesn't magically make one "serious" and riding a flat bar on the road doesn't mean you're not "serious".
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love to hate is just snobbishness, i'm not willing to make excuses for it.
I think the issue is this absurd false hierarchy of "seriousness" that causes people to make gross generalizations about a category of bike they're largely unfamiliar with so they can maintain their sense that their own riding is better somehow.
I think the issue is this absurd false hierarchy of "seriousness" that causes people to make gross generalizations about a category of bike they're largely unfamiliar with so they can maintain their sense that their own riding is better somehow.
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[QUOTE=livedarklions;22725260Switching to a drop bar doesn't magically make one "serious" and riding a flat bar on the road doesn't mean you're not "serious".[/QUOTE]
Anecdotally the serious people I know ride drop bar bikes. The occasional riders I know that may put 100-200 miles a year on a bike are occasional and not very serious about biking at all.
Anecdotally the serious people I know ride drop bar bikes. The occasional riders I know that may put 100-200 miles a year on a bike are occasional and not very serious about biking at all.
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What constitutes a "serious" rider is entirely subjective, and has almost nothing to do with the bike they ride.
Last edited by Rolla; 11-30-22 at 11:28 AM.
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In my experience, a decent fitness bike is actually a lot more fun than "just a bike"--it's actually probably a better fit for fast urban riding than a drop bar bike
A lot of what goes on in these discussions is a comparison between high-end road bikes and bottom to middle of the line hybrids, ignoring that there's a hell of a lot of low end road bikes out there as well. Switching to a drop bar doesn't magically make one "serious" and riding a flat bar on the road doesn't mean you're not "serious".
A lot of what goes on in these discussions is a comparison between high-end road bikes and bottom to middle of the line hybrids, ignoring that there's a hell of a lot of low end road bikes out there as well. Switching to a drop bar doesn't magically make one "serious" and riding a flat bar on the road doesn't mean you're not "serious".
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"Serious" riders: if they're not paid to ride, they're on "serious" toys (unless they commute or otherwise use their bikes for transportation, errands, etc.). I'm an ex-amateur racer, and I have quite a collection of serious toys, including bikes, guitars, etc.
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You do mean road riders, correct? I know some serious mountain bikers and they don't have drop bars.
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Was just thinking that pro riders might think anyone below their level are not ‘serious’. But then Cat 1 riders might think anyone below Cat 1 isn’t serious and on and on and finally it gets down to us, recreational enthusiast, many of which look down on anyone not in their ranks. It’s all relative.
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Commuting is serious biking in my mind, and a lot of commuters use hybrids.
I know some 100-200 mile/yr bicyclists who have some pretty expensive bikes, btw.
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Was just thinking that pro riders might think anyone below their level are not ‘serious’. But then Cat 1 riders might think anyone below Cat 1 isn’t serious and on and on and finally it gets down to us, recreational enthusiast, many of which look down on anyone not in their ranks. It’s all relative.
Except for the people who actually compete, where we stack up on a imaginary tier system is one of the silliest questions ever.
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When you get down to it, there's how many billion cyclists in the world? Most likely, our personal knowledge about how other people ride on what equipment is barely going to scratch the surface. There's a lot of people in the world who ride on extremely cheap bicycles as a matter of making a living, what the hell is more serious than that?
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Nothing quite like validating stereotypes and cliches', is there?
You can ban me now, because my primary rides are a 2019 Trek FX2 and a 2011 Fuji Absolute. My 10,000 miles on them mean NOTHING, because I'm obviously NOT a REAL cyclist! I'm sure some of you "real cyclists" ride that far in much less time than it took me.
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I'm genuinely curious...What makes a "fitness" bike different from other hybrids? Looking at the upper end of the Trek FX series - which they market as "fitness" bikes - the theme seems to be "road bike speed, but more comfortable". Basically, a flat bar road bike, rather than the multi-surface capabilities often associated with other hybrid varieties. Is this fairly accurate?
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I'm genuinely curious...What makes a "fitness" bike different from other hybrids? Looking at the upper end of the Trek FX series - which they market as "fitness" bikes - the theme seems to be "road bike speed, but more comfortable". Basically, a flat bar road bike, rather than the multi-surface capabilities often associated with other hybrid varieties. Is this fairly accurate?
I rode about 10,000 miles on a FX3 over three years (increasingly using other bikes by the end of the 3 years), and that's definitely the way I used it. It was a surprisingly fast bike, I regularly frustrated the hell out of some Cat 6 drop bar types. It was pretty fast on the level, but like I said above, it climbed better than any road bike I've ever had.
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Right. And it's not just a "sport"!
When you get down to it, there's how many billion cyclists in the world? Most likely, our personal knowledge about how other people ride on what equipment is barely going to scratch the surface. There's a lot of people in the world who ride on extremely cheap bicycles as a matter of making a living, what the hell is more serious than that?
When you get down to it, there's how many billion cyclists in the world? Most likely, our personal knowledge about how other people ride on what equipment is barely going to scratch the surface. There's a lot of people in the world who ride on extremely cheap bicycles as a matter of making a living, what the hell is more serious than that?
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