Are hybrids (cross bikes) a good choice?
[ What is a hybrid? ] A hybrid, or “cross” bike as they are sometimes called, is the answer to the question: What would you get if a road bike married a mountain bike and they had kids? More seriously, it is a compromise between the features of road and mountain bikes. Typically, a hybrid will have three front chain rings like a MB instead of the two that is more typical of a RB, and a hybrid will have handle bars that are straight or sweep up, like a MB instead of drop down bars like a RB. The tires on a hybrid aren’t as wide, or knobby as a MB, but not as narrow or slick as is typical of a road bike. A RB usually has a steeper sweep angle on the front forks which gives it a longer wheel base than a hybrid. It is common to find shocks of some kind on MBs, but less so on hybrids, and unheard of on RBs. As a result of several of these factors, the weight of a hybrid is also usually somewhere in between the lighter RB and heavier MB. Of course, none of the differences that I’ve mentioned
