Mountain bike v hybrid

[SevenSistersStar]

Looking for help understanding what kind of bike I need!

I have been riding under two years. I have a very old, second hand, rigid Apollo mountain bike. In the summer I enjoy riding in our extensive local forest, and in the winter I ride along tow paths and less demanding tracks. I never really go on the road, except to get to somewhere I can go off road. In the forest there are some pretty hilly tracks, gravelly and rutted in places. I recently did a route that included a 5% incline over half a mile - although I did struggle with that a bit. In the forest/hilly routes I do a maximum of about 12 miles and up to 800ft climbing in a ride, or on the flatter routes eg on the towpaths up to 30 miles. I wouldn't mind if these numbers went up, but that's not the focus of my riding which is to enjoy myself.

I give all this detail because I really want to understand what kind of bike to get. My husband thinks a hybrid would be fine, I think I probably need a mountain bike (partly because I am not the most confident rider, so I like the thick knobbly tyres, I feel I'm less likely to slip).

The models I'm considering are the Liv Tempt (MTB), Liv Rove (adventure), Trek Marlin (MTB) or Trek DS (hybrid).

Any thoughts??

Picture of typical forest track in case relevant!

I would recommend a hybrid. A full mountain bike is if you plan to go over roots, small drops etc. but it will be heavier. A hybrid will be lighter so hills will be less of a struggle.

If you find you slide about in the mud over the winter you could probably change over to more knobbly tyres.

I think you'd have far more fun on those tracks on a MTB.
You'd be slower on roads and flat tracks, but it doesn't sound like that would matter too much to you.
And I suspect that if you had a MTB you'd end up expanding your off-road repertoire as you gained more confidence.

Do you know someone with a mtb you could try out?

Thanks both. I think you are right ShinyHat about developing confidence, although if I had a more road-friendly bike I might develop confidence there instead. Really I need two bikes! But I don't have the space.

My current bike is a MTB and I recently rode a hire MTB. I've never ridden a hybrid though, so I don't really know what I'd be getting there.

I mean, in my heart I want a MTB but I don't want to spend several hundred pounds and get the wrong thing.

I think I will go to the local Liv retailer and chat to them about Tempt v Rove.

I think you want an mtb (but I have 4 bikes so who am I to say…) and you need to go and sit on some, test ride them etc before you set your heart on a model. All bikes have slightly different geometry, which will suit different people differently. The frame needs to be right - get that right and you can change stuff like the saddles, handlebars etc. An mtb will give you lower gears, better tyres for
loose/soft/rough ground and won’t be as stiff as a road bike ie: more comfortable to ride. Yes, an mtb is likely to be heavier than a road bike, but they have a mechanical advantage too.

Rather than visiting (or only visiting) a Liv shop, try either a few manufacturer-specific shops (Trek and Specialised have them), or a large, independent who stocks a selected of brands (not Evans though, I have never come across knowledgeable staff there).
If you are anywhere near W Yorks, I’d recommend All Terrain Bicycles (they sell road bikes too) at Wetherby and Saltaire.

I own a hybrid. I'd get a mountain bike for what you want to do. I don't take my hybrid off road at all.

I should have said - a hybrid has narrower tyres so goes faster on the road but is less well suited to off road cycling.

I’ve got a Liv Avail AR which is more like a winter road bike, I’m just mentioning it because with the 32mm tyres it has it will be similar to a hybrid. When I’ve taken mine on forest type tracks, ie in the New Forest it can’t cope with gravel and slips around. I’ve fallen off because of this.

so I know what you’re saying about worrrying about slipping. A gravel bike could be a good in betweeen bike. Most are drop handlebar but I think you can get flat bar gravel bikes and they will have tyres around 42mm, 45mm which should be fine.

Brilliant, thanks everyone. @DrDreReturns yes it's the narrower tyres I'm most bothered about.

I've got a local Trek retailer too so will go there too, and see how I get on.

As PP, a hybrid is a compromise both on and off road. Get a mtb, it will give you a lot more confidence and build skill and technique off road. Turn in a few years time you might want a road bike…. Which you’ll hang on hooks in your living room…. then move house for a garage…. then buy a van….. then have children who compete and suddenly you have 15 bikes!

Mountain bike. Hybrid tyres wouldn’t like that.

Brilliant, I can tell my husband I was right and he was wrong :-) Thank you everyone!

I have a hybrid (Giant Escape Zero) and it's definitely more of a flat bar road bike. It's perfect for my commute to work on dual use cycle tracks and roads, but the one time I took it off road I quickly regretted it!

I'd say go for the mountain bike.

I have two bikes - a very high end mountain bike for, er mountain biking. And a cheaper Trek hybrid for getting around the city to work.

It sounds like you climb hills but don’t really go down them? Mountain bikes are more tiring to pedal uphill as they have so much suspension (although you can usually ‘lock it’) and the fat tyres slow you down. But they feel sturdier and are lots of fun for going fast, jumping over things and playing on off road tracks. I’d never take my mountain bike out on main roads because it’s completely inefficient. If I was out on towpaths I’d take the hybrid. If I was doing the forest I’d probably take the mtb, but I’d be off into the trees looking for something to throw myself off of.

The hybrid is ‘easier’ to get places but a lot less fun. To be honest, it depends how you think you might progress in your cycling and what you would use it for most.

I’ve never looked at at adventure bike before, but the Trek DS looks like a good bet to me for the type of riding you do, and lots of fun. You could get a better, similar bike without front suspension for the money though. You don’t really need the suspension on a forest path, but it’s really down to your personal preference. The suspension feels nice and spongy but is less efficient. Go and get a test ride of the bikes and really think about how they feel in terms of stability and speed.

Got a garage like Ibiza’s, and the hybrid is the only one that never comes out.

There are pros and cons to each. The mountain bike will be considerably heavier (at that price point) and therefore harder work uphill. But it’s wider, grippier tyres won’t feel as squirmy on a damp track. However, you definitely don’t need suspension, which adds a lot of weight. Both the Livs have fairly useless suspension forks. I would be looking for something like a lightweight, rigid MTB or a hybrid that can fit 45mm tyres (which will be grippy enough). Something like the Whyte Victoria. So your DH is sort of half right.

It's good you know what you like.

I'd ride a hybrid with off-road tyres in the exact situation OP describes. No point in hybrid if you don't lose the suspension, though -- do you usually have front fork suspension on, OP?

My cyclo-X bike (what I'd ride on those trails) is maybe 9kg while all the bikes OP linked to have suspension, seem to be about 13.5 kg. You might find a lightweight hybrid a revelation, OP...

some reviews on rigid MTBs here but I'm not sure how lightweight they are
singletrackworld.com/2020/10/10-rigid-mountain-bikes-for-low-faff-riding/

@SevenSistersStar you could do a lot worse than the Sonder in @lljkk’s link, fabulous bike for the money. They are sold through Alpkit, who seem to have branches all over the place now. You can hire one from Alpkit for a day/half day to really try it out. If you then place an order, they take the hire cost off the price. There are very few bike shops who let you try out their bikes anywhere other than their car park. Sonder are the Skoda of bikes…. A bit of an unknown initially, but a lot of well built, quality bike for your money.

I love my hybrid and the freedom to use both roads and light trails, but it sounds like you wouldn't be doing much road and will be doing some trails that a hybrid would struggle on, so I'd say MTB all the way. Is there a mountain biking centre anywhere near you so you could hire some different models to see how you get on?

You are all amazing, thanks. Will look all those up. I know I don't need suspension but I was struggling to find anything with nobbly tyres that didn't have it. These ideas are a little above my budget (I was going for max £600) but I'd probably spend more if it gave me the perfect bike.

Will look up alpkit now!

Oh the other thing I want to be really picky about is a relatively low crossbar for ease of hopping on and off, but in a way that's quite helpful as it will help me narrow down the options.

What you actually need is an old 1990s mtb with no suspension and knobbly tyres. A hybrid might be ok if it has clearance for wider tyres. Suspension will definitely add weight which is a shame if you don’t need it.

The trek dual sport might work. Takes wider tyres. Look on fb bike selling groups and get something second hand, you’ll get better spec

@QuebecBagnet The irony is this is what I've already got - but just a really cheap and heavy one (Apollo). It's also really rusty as it's very very second hand.