Beck1971

Hello folks,
I'm having a little dilema as to the right type of bike for me and research has not helped much so thought I would spread it it and gauge some opinions.

I recently sold a Boardman Hybrid Pro, cracking bike really enjoyed it except it gave me neck and back pains and its not suitabe really at all for anything other than gravel. I did raise the handlebar stem but that didn't make enough difference comfort wise and after 3 years sold it.

I'm 50, 6'1 and most of the time would be spent on the roads but I do like wandering off into the woods and a favourite haunt is Sherwood Pines Forest. I don't doo the hardcore trails but I am looking for a jack if all trades. It seems most Hybrids seem to fail from what I read about them and certainly from my perspective as good as the Boardman was it won't do both depsite being called a hybrid. The I came across this one from Whyte's, the 2021 Victoria hybrid. It looks very upright which I want for comfort, but capable too with fat chunky tyres and a mountain bike geometry. I cannot find any reviews of it, maybe as its so new but does anyone have any opinion or experience of this one?
I have a budget of 1k.

Thank you for reading.
Adam

PeteHski

As long as you don't mind a "women's compact fit" bike, it sounds fine. Your alternative is pretty much any mountain bike, as you can always fit slightly narrower tyres to suit your mixed riding. This is basically what this bike is.

alo

I suggest a mountain bike, with mountain bike tires. A 29 inch is probably best, or a 26 inch with a large enough frame.

Beck1971

Rutland Cycles called it Unisex.

livedarklions

If you're 6'1" , why would you be looking at a bike designed for smaller people? Don't consider it unless you've actually ridden one and liked it.

PeteHski

I presume you meant 29 or 27.5 wheels. 26 is dead and buried!

Beck1971

good advice of course but it states up to 6’2”.

Iride01 

Buy a bike to ride off road and another bike to ride on the paved roads. Don't mix the two.

Otherwise you'll just be one of those other people with a mountain bike poking slowly up the hill that I'll have to try to get around and pass when I'm out on my road bike.

They look so hot too since they are going less than 8 mph and I'm a comfortable 14 mph or better with cooling air moving past me..

delbiker1 

NEVER trust the advice from a seller on what sized person the bike they are selling will fit.

chaadster

The '21 Breezer Doppler Cafe+ is probably worth looking at, Beck1971 . I have one and absolutely love it for general riding. I'm 51 yr old, 6' 1"
and ride the size 58cm frame size, one of which you can find here in the UK for ₤1179: https://www.bikester.co.uk/breezer-d...e-1355946.html

It's a road touring geometry with randonneur style 650b wheels and wide, 47c rubber which gives it real, all-road capability. It's a flat bar with, I think, 16º back sweep, so it accommodates a more upright posture, too.

The wide-range 1x10 drivetrain is not suited to fine-tuned output maximization, but there's a gear for just about every pace. I ride mine briskly on paved and gravel roads over rolling terrain, and find it's geared just dandy for that kind work and bopping around town. I have other bikes for the fast paced club rides, racing, and training rides, but when I want a more casual but still sporting ride, I usually grab the Doppler. For things like a well-paced, 20 miler out to the farm for a little lunch and socializing, it's perfect.

What makes it neat is that it's comfy and stable handling, but also lively feeling, so it does not feel like you're dragging around dead weight, despite the fact it's fairly heavy-- by sport bike standards-- at 31lbs in that 58cm, factory spec. It's not made to huck into turns or sprint uphill, but it's responsive and sure-footed, with voluminous tires that make keeping speed up over rough roads both fun and easy. I found the stock WTB Horizon 47c file tread rubber to be acceptable, but did swap out to lighter, more supple, Rene Herse 48c Switchback Hill tires for a bit more liveliness and speed. No disappointments there.

The rest of the spec is quite good, aimed at utility riding, with a dynamo hub, metal fenders, generator headlight, fender mounted battery taillamp, and a nice WTB Volt saddle. The wheels are tubeless ready WTB i23, both wide and robust.

In addition to the tire swap, I made a few mods to mine, but primarily for style, not because I was unhappy with the stock bits. I wrapped the fenders, swapped pedals, saddle, handlebar and grips, but also added some SQ Lab Innerbarends for handhold variety and getting a little more aero on long, open road rides.

In fact, lemme drop a pic, wrap this up, and get outta here on the Breezer for a little ride right now, before the kids get back from school!

ofajen

I’d check out the Jones Bike before I bought anything else.

Otto

chaadster

Oh man, I just watched a few vids on Sherwood Pines trails, and I'd even ride the red Kitchener on the Doppler, maybe with a light knobbie tire in the winter when it's boggy. With so little elevation and hardly being technical at all, the added weight (compared to the Boardman) would scarcely be an issue, especially with the big, 47c tires to soak up bumps and keep the flow rollin'. The green and blue trails would not test the bike at all.

Milton Keynes

I agree with this, different bikes for different riding. A road bike will run on pavement much better than a mountain bike, but will perform much worse on gravel or on trails than a mountain bike. Trying to get one bike that's good for everything seems to be a fool's errand. Sure, there may be such a unicorn out there somewhere, but your best bet is to choose the right bike for the job.

PeteHski

That's because they wanted to sell it to you! The manufacturer lists it under their women's category. It doesn't really matter IF it really fits you, but just thought you ought to be aware (as a 6'1" man contemplating buying a bike designed as a compact women's model).

PeteHski

Again Whyte list the largest size for 5'8" to 6'0". I suspect it will probably be too small for you.

tyrion

There's a relatively new label/style of bike called 'flat bar gravel bike' which is basically a hybrid with fatter tires.

https://www.cyclingabout.com/best-fl...el-bikes-2021/

As you look at bikes online, compare their geometries, particularly the stack and reach measurements. Shorter reach generally puts you in a more upright position.

Beck1971

But does shorter reach mean for shorter people?

Beck1971

Oh yes I see what you mean now! Bugger. Can you suggest anything similar as the geometry lools spot on for my riding style and the chunky tyres will work well on rougher terrain. Suitable for a tall male though.

tyrion

Shorter reach can be for a shorter person or a non-shorter person that wants a more upright position. The stack and reach measurements, and their ratio, give you the broad strokes of how the bike will fit. The higher the stack/reach ratio, the more upright the riding position will be, generally speaking.

https://road.cc/content/feature/what...portant-266968

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/group-...plained-407599

https://www.bikeradar.com/features/y...is-irrelevant/

chaadster

OP, you do not want “chunky tires” for what you say you ride, namely mostly road. You say you ride in Sherwood Pines off-road, but not the “hardcore stuff,” and from looking at that park, you do not need “chunky tires” there, so I’d say you’re on about the wrong thing in that regard. You want large volume tires with a light tread pattern/short lugs.

If you can’t get your mind around the suitability of a tire like the WTB Horizon, look at tires like the Teravail Washburn, Vittoria Terreno, and Challenge GravelGrinder. If those still seem inadequate for your desire, you could bump up the bite with Teravail Rutland, Panaracer GravelKing SK, or Continental TerraSpeed.

I don’t think you’d appreciate a chunky MTB tire…unless I read your posts wrongly.

Maelochs

The Boardman was specifically designed to be more of a sport bike, with a very long top tube, low stack and an aggressive riding position for people who wanted to race around city streets--often tougher terrain than some single-track---with an emphasis on speed, not comfort. (https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bi...-pro-review-2/) (https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/...-8.9-2021.html)

You could try a Fuji Sportif or something similar for about the same money and it will have a higher stack, shorter reach, more upright stem longer steerer tube and thus a higher bar mount. Giant used to make (probably still does) a line of flat-bar road bikes (Fastway?) which would be worth examining.

Flat-bar road bikes with clearance for wider tires, or "flat-bar gravel bikes," are probably Exactly what you are looking for---just don't buy another bike explicitly designed to be exactly what you don't want.

Also, you don't need 50-mm tires for what you say you like to ride. A few mild packed-earth trails and a lot of paved roads, you would just be hauling excess weight and the tires would be sucking up all your energy. You can ride some serious gravel on 38-mm tires. Unless you like mud and ruts and roots and rocks, I think that should do you.

Wide tires with really aggressive knobs are great on soft surfaces, but the harder the surface, the less value they offer. Packed earth? They will just bounce a lot and weigh you down. And on pavement you just eat the knobs off and end up with the slicker tires you should have had all along---which would also have been cheaper.

When you say "geometry" I think you are really referring to "cockpit proportions," and those are very changeable as a rule. Your Boardman probably had minimal spacers and minimal room for them, so you couldn't frais the bars much ... but for $30 you can get a 17-degree stem, and for another $30 some riser bars, and for another $10 a stack of spacers, and add six inches to most bikes without an issue---if you bought wisely to begin with.

You can vary stem length too. The Boardman I saw looked like it had a seven-degree (maybe, or less) stem, maybe 100 mm. Get an 80-mm 17-degree stem and suddenly the bars are two inches higher and an inch closer. And on a bike with more room for a spacer stack, you can add another two inches, and play with the angle and the sweep to get the grips right where you want them.

At your height, assuming you have basically normal proportions, you would be looking at a 58-cm frame I'd imagine.

Lots of companies make "flat-bar gravel bikes" nowadays .... "gravel" is the new thing. Buy a bike which suits the Majority of your riding, though---don't let salespeople sway you with talk of titanic offroad ability and epic backwoods riding if you know that you usually ride the road. Just get something with room for wide rubber, adjust the cockpit to suit, and head out.

alo

I should have given more detail.

A 6 ft 1 jnch person is not normally going to be ultra light. So I suggest wide tires, like mountain bike tires, particularly as the rider may do some off road riding. I may be heavier than the op, but I get pinch flats if I ride with skinny tires off road.

A 6 ft 1 jnch person will not want a small frame. 29 inch bikes are often a little bigger than bikes with smaller wheels. I myself, would still raise the handlebars on most 29 inch bikes, to make them comfortable.

Depending where the person will be riding, a fat bike may also be considered.

I would not rule out used bikes. Most of my bikes were rescued from the trash. So 26 inch will probably be around for a long time for me. But the frame needs to be big enough, or the bike modified to make it comfortable.

PeteHski

All new MTBs will either have 29” or 27.5” wheels regardless of frame size. I prefer 29” wheels personally, but that has nothing to do with frame size.

Reading the OPs request, I can’t imagine a fat bike is what they want! Sounds more like gravel bike territory to me.

Maelochs

Fatbike is Not what you want for pavement.

Frame- and wheel size are not related except with some extra-small frames where sometimes 24-inch wheels are used.

I am pretty sure the OP Doesn't want a mountain bike at all " ... most of the time would be spent on the roads but I do like wandering off into the woods and a favourite haunt is Sherwood Pines Forest. I don't doo the hardcore trails..." (sic)

Gravel seems to be the way.

PeteHski

I agree. But the only bike we have with 24" wheels is a kid's bike that our 8 year old daughter rides.