What type of bicycle can be used for light mountain biking and riding around my neighborhood?
By Mike on December 18, 2009, 5:29 pmI am looking for a bike that I can use not only for easy mountain biking trails, but also for riding around my neighborhood. I have seen hybrid bikes and Im not totally sure what those are. Can someone please help me or point me in the right direction!!! Thanks
You sound like a candidate for a hybrid. They are called that because they are a cross between a road and mountain bike. The frame is similar to a mountain bike. Wheels are the same diameter as road bikes (700C) but narrower and tires have less aggressive treads than a true mountain bike. They often have front (and maybe seat) suspension, but they will usually have mountain bike style handlebars and gears. They are well suited to city roads, bike paths and hardpack trails, but being a hybrid are less suited to long, fast road rides than a road bike or to rough/demanding trails than a mountain bike. See the article at the link.
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You sound like a candidate for a hybrid. They are called that because they are a cross between a road and mountain bike. The frame is similar to a mountain bike. Wheels are the same diameter as road bikes (700C) but narrower and tires have less aggressive treads than a true mountain bike. They often have front (and maybe seat) suspension, but they will usually have mountain bike style handlebars and gears. They are well suited to city roads, bike paths and hardpack trails, but being a hybrid are less suited to long, fast road rides than a road bike or to rough/demanding trails than a mountain bike. See the article at the link.
References :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_bicycle
You should get a hybrid. A hybrid’s frame is a lot lighter than a mountain bike, and the tires are way thinner. The tires aren’t as thin as road bike/racing bikes, so it won’t be as fast as that, but it will definitely be faster than a mountain bike. It will still be durable for light mountain biking so you won’t pop a tire tube. The handlebars on hybrid bikes will be flatbars, meaning it looks pretty much the same as a mountain bike. It won’t look like the drop bars racing bikes have for better aerodynamics. Hope this helps.
References :
Hybreds are a tough thing to get into unless you really know, throught expirience, what you need in a bike and were you are willing to sacrifice. There are too many options for a “hybred” bike for a newbe to make a good buy without the serious help of a bike guru. If I were you I would try to find the lightest hard tail mountain bike you can aford, used may be a great option. It will do fine around town and will do great out on trails. Riding a hybred around town is great but dangerous on the trails. But a light hard tail, maybe even a fully figid (meaning in has no shocks at all) with small knob tires will be a blast on single track and still pretty efficient around town.