Ultimate Hybrid Bike

[ZeroDarkBivi]

No, I'm not proposing I have found this utopian ride, but I am thinking about my next bike... I have nice road and mountain bikes, but really fancy something that bridges the gap. To give an idea, this is aimed at something like the TNR, or the This is Not a Tour Audax - mostly tarmac roads, but with the capacity to ride gravel and cope with some rougher stuff. There is no shortage of options available - with this sector of the market being flooded by all sorts of 'Adventure(!)' bikes recently, almost too much choice to research, but I have a fairly specific set of requirements:

Capable of Audaxing / long sunday rides with the roadie club, without being significantly slower (for the same effort)
- so, light, and capable of taking 25-28mm 700c tyres
- sufficient gearing to keep up on the descents, without spinning out.

Capable of riding long stretches of gravel (Dirty Reiver type of thing), and technically simple singletrack.
- so, sufficient clearance for 50mm tyre, if needs be on a smaller (650?) wheel, and/or front suspension.
A big front triangle for two large bottles or a big frame bag would be useful.

The ability to swap wheels to change from road-centric to trail-centric would allow for a wide riding envelope
So that mythical sweet-spot ski that goes well on the piste, but also rides OK in the pow, in the few occasions you go there.

I expect the answer looks a lot like a modern crosser, with a bit more tyre clearance. Disc brakes are a must, and the idea of electronic shifting is growing on me, especially if I go for a double chainring.

The Lauf True Grit and Cannondale Slate appeal, if not perfect, and I rather like the look of Josh Ibbett's Mason:

http://www.bikepacking.com/plan/josh-ibbett-qa/

Anything else spring to mind?

Of course I'll probably have to wait until the £ is worth more than a few cents, so it could be a while...

[Dan_K]

My arkose alfine 8 is probably the best bike I've ever owned. Does everything.

[PaulE]

Front suspension slate is half price at http://m.startfitness.co.uk/cycle/bikes ... 05grn.html

Wish I had the cash!

[dlovett]

Not sure about your budget, but Sonder Camino ticks your boxes.

I demoed it on the YD200 and knocked 6 hours off of my 200km ITT time.

Its a great bike and can run 700c x 42mm and 650b x47mm. With the 40-11/4 I had zero issues playing hunt down the roadies on it, but it was a bit hard on some of the hills bits, so I've ordered one now with a 40 10/42 but will invest in a more hill friendly smaller oval ring for ITT's. I'm going to be using it on the road for 99% of it's life and for that it was so comfortable. You didn't feel any bad road pot holes etc. Off road I just couldn't believe how well the tyres gripped on slippy stuff. And as I got further round the course, I was able to really give it some on rocky decents, far faster and better than I could have dreamed it would go.

Speak to Neil Sutton at Alpkit about demoing one, they can post you one to try if you don't live near them.

[benp1]

Arkose 2 here, fantastic bike, although used as a commuter mainly

I really love the look of the slate, if I could find a 105 one (or maybe an ultegra) in XL I'd have a serious problem ignoring it. I can only find larges though

[fatbikephil]

Interested in this too as I'm thinking of ditching the Fargo and getting something more gravel / road like. Currently looking at the cotic escapade, all city space horse, surly straggler, Genesis cdf or Salsa vaya. Cotic is ahead at the mo as its such a good price.

If you want more bling - a pal has recently got a Mason gravel bike - ally frame, 650b and 700c wheels and pretty light. https://masoncycles.cc/products/bokeh-rival-1x

[whitestone]

Phil, I've the CdF 10, it's my commuter bike. I'll occasionally do the rougher bits of the canal tow path as a variation on the way home. After a few Km of that I'm glad to get back on the tarmac. Maybe some better/wider handlebars like Salsa Woodchippers or different tyres would improve matters but it does feel very twitchy on that sort of terrain whereas on-road it's really very stable.

I like Cotic bikes, £400 for the Escapade frame is very tempting. I've not seen a weight for the frame but it's likely to be around the 2Kg mark (the Solaris is 2.2Kg)

[ianfitz]

Sorry about the hyjack but I've an escapade frame surplus to requirement.

Not used much and in good nick. It's the yellow colour. Medium size

[ZeroDarkBivi]

Some good food for thought - thanks.

Front suspension slate is half price at http://m.startfitness.co.uk/cycle/bikes ... 05grn.html

Very tempting at that price, but I expect I would end up replacing a lot of the components (cranks for example: always use 165mm, which never come as standard, even on small frames), so it might end up less of a bargain. Still tempted...!

Not sure about your budget, but Sonder Camino ticks your boxes.

Yes, i wouldn't mind a go on one of these, although it looks a bit more off-road focussed than on - realistically I expect to be 70/30 on-road. once that gets to >50% off-road, I'd probably just take the hardtail MTB.

If you want more bling - a pal has recently got a Mason gravel bike - ally frame, 650b and 700c wheels and pretty light. https://masoncycles.cc/products/bokeh-rival-1x

This does look very nice, but a bit pricey for an Ally frame.

Phil, I've the CdF 10, it's my commuter bike. I'll occasionally do the rougher bits of the canal tow path as a variation on the way home. After a few Km of that I'm glad to get back on the tarmac. Maybe some better/wider handlebars like Salsa Woodchippers or different tyres would improve matters but it does feel very twitchy on that sort of terrain whereas on-road it's really very stable.

What tyre size / pressure you running?

Sorry about the hyjack but I've an escapade frame surplus to requirement.
Not used much and in good nick. It's the yellow colour. Medium size

No use to me - Need small. Always...

What I really lust after is an Open UP or 3T Explora, but unless I find one that is unbelievably discounted, it isn't going to happen; so is there a less boutique-branded bike that looks a bit like these top-shelf rides?

[whitestone]

Craig,

The tyres are 35C, run them between 70 & 80 PSI, they are tubed not tubeless.

[gairym]

+1 in suggesting the Cotic.

I love my escapade. Fast and agile on the road and very capable on the rough stuff too!

[dlovett]

The the Camino I rode it on a lot of road sections and it was fast I had no issues in chasing down most of the roadies we saw. Mine will live 99% of its life in urban roads. One of my friends has one and bought one as a commuter. Three months later he sold his road bike as the Camino did both. Just put a road based tyre like the wtb horizon on and it flies.

[Gari]

There's the onone space chicken(!?). Very similar to the open in design at least, will take a 650b/47 horizon, maybe even a 50mm MSO. Stupid name, but as with my BBB, once your past that they are nice frames.
I would certainly have on if I needed to replace my BBB.