hybrid or mountain bike?

[Suzannewithaplan]

can anyone help me decide please
I want to get a bike for general daily use, mostly to and from the gym which is a 10 mile round trip.
The route is mostly rough track so chunky tires would be ideal, but I also live in a flat and have to lug it up and down a few flights of stairs.
I'm short and it's no fun trying to hold a heavy bike high enough to clear the stairs :(

I dont want to spend more than around £400, I'll have to leave it locked outside the gym for an hour or so and I dont want anything too nickable.

Really I want something as light as possible but with fat mountain bike tires, I've looked at lots of lists of specs online but very very few actually give the weight of the bike....very annoying

Any suggestions bikers?
I know hybrids are usually lighter (and perhaps not as nickable?) but I dont know if it's going to be rugged enough for the route!

hybrids are eyewatering £££££ though aren't they? is why I got another MTB (or maybe I should have shopped around instead of going to nearest most expensive shop and having to have a new bike there and then and only finding one that actually fit me properly)

you could always pop the wheels out and make two trips upstairs?

I cracked the fork of my last bike on bumpy tracks so definitely make sure whatever you get is up to that job!

I'll buy one online Mitchy, better range than local bike shops
Hybrid start at around 200, if anything they should be better spec for the money because the front fork is cheaper to make without the shocks (?)
I don't fancy disassembling and re assembling!
was that a carbon fork that you cracked?

dunno, was (still is, just languishing in the shed) a diamondback hardtail that was not as robust as they make them sound

I wish I'd waited, it was just one of those 'omg I need a bike TODAY' moments but of course am mortally rubbish at cycling anywhere public and only use it when I have someone to ride with

god there was nothing under about a million pounds in our stupid shop

(is easy to pop wheels in and out if you choose one with special pop in and out wheels, really easy)

?I just cant rush out and buy things, have to spend weeks deliberating over spread sheets first
it'd be so much easier if the manufacturers would just publish the weights of the bikes.
Ok, ok I'll keep the wheel popping in mind as a possible option :o

I think what would suit you best is actually a cyclocross bike - they are lighter than a hybrid/mtb and if you'll be on tracks it will work well. I have a hybird and I wouldn't want to carry it up stairs. My ds has a cyclocross bike with knobbly tyres and its great on the road, and very capable on trails too

It's easier to carry a bike up and down stairs on your shoulder. Hard work getting it up there, but once it's on your shoulder, it's not bad at all. I'd go for a man's bike, tbh, so the crossbar works better on your shoulder.

When you say rough track, how bumpy is it? Is it gravel, diet?

What about this
www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s155p4748/GT-KARAKORAM-2-0-2013

There's also some nice looking hybrids reduced on that site. I would have thought you would be ok with a hybrid (how rough are the tracks?)

I wouldn't have though taking the wheels out would be practical to carry up the stairs every day unless you literally can't lift it without, it's easy to do but you will get fed up of doing two trips up every day and taking them on and off surely? When you say hold it high enough to clear the stairs do you mean over your head? Can't you just carry it by your side?

CMOT, I see your point about cyclo-cross but they look to be generally more expensive and I'd worry about it getting pinched, I have a light road bike as it is so could just swap the tires on that for something knobblier.
I'll look into cyclocross styles so thanks for the suggestion:)
I was thinking that about the crossbar NotQuite, my existing bikes are women specific frames and there's not really room to get my shoulder under the cross bar?. So if I get a small size man's bike the weight shouldn't be such an issue because I'll be able to carry it higher?
Starting to think all this 'women specific stuff is a bit of a con!

It's pretty rough and stony, if I want to overtake anyone I have to go on the especially rough bits
I've tried it with smooth 23cc tires and it wasn't as bad as I expected, still much more fun with fat tires...and fun is important! ?