Quote:
Originally Posted by Sliver
Hey Pylon - what is a bike in between a mountain bike and a road bike called? I'm going to try commuting on my bike this year, and in a perfect world I'd need a bike that I'll be able to ride on grass/dirt a bit as well as the road. I have a Specialized mountain bike that I love, but it has super beefy tires and is slow as balls. Is there something that you'd recommend in that $1000 range? I know you know Lake Bonavista - there is a bike shop in Avenida...are they any good?
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Hybrid is what you are looking for, but I hate hybrids myself, because they usually have MTB gearing and shocks, which are useless on roads, and some sort of semi knobbed tire.. People underestimate how much of a difference road gearing makes in terms of the effort/speed equation. It's massive. On a MTB most people struggle to stay at 20 kph, on a roadie, that is cruising speed.
The category that I love is relatively new, fitness bikes. Essentially they are compact geometry road bikes, with a flat bar, and usually a carbon fork and a semi gripped 700 x 28 tire (which is fine on light terrain). And most of them have lower end road components, built to take a lot of abuse, and keep them a little less stealy.
The Devinci Olso SL I bought is awesome. 21.4 pounds, comfy and
fast. I bought it at Lifesport in Kensington when I was growing frustrated trying to find one of these bikes locally at a fair price. The only thing I could find even close to what I wanted was the Cannondale Quick raw, which was $1500. This bike was $550 less, and it fit me and my needs better. Also Canadian made which is a big bonus with Devinci. Trek made a couple bikes that are similar, with worse components for close to double the price.
Go down to Lifesport, they have a ton of these styles of bikes, and unlike a lot of bike shoppes, they will give you a deal if you ask. I got 10% off the $950 msrp.