My current bike is an old steel town bike. It cost me £25 (used) about 15 years ago, and it's a bit worn but still OK for road riding around here (Cambridge = totally flat). But now that we're going further afield, and taking in the occasional gravel path and dirt trail, perhaps a hybrid makes sense?
I recently hired a Voodoo Bizango, and didn't much like the road ride. AIUI, a hybrid has some elements of off-road bikes: wider gearing, slightly wider tyres. I don't think I need disk brakes, nor suspension, as this will be used dry weather only and 80% on tarmac.
The Giant Escape series seems to fit the bill. Any views? Alternatives?
Budget: £300 (mostly as bikes get stolen here so frequently; my current bike, if stolen, would be dumped by the thief after 10 yards)
Any suggestions on those?
Comments
You soon get used to a saddle but big saddles chafe something crazy once you ramp up the mileage, I agree with @underdog that a Spoon is a good bet. Never actually owned one but have sold lots of them.
There's a false (and understandable) assumption to be comfortable a saddle needs to be padded, that's wrong and as mentioned ends up causing other issues. The spoon looks incredibly uncomfortable due to lack of padding but it supports the "seat bones" just right and so are so comfortable. They are like sub £30 too from what I remember
Carrera are usually very well equipped in each price brackets, always excellent value.
Yeah that sounds like just tweaks needed so the bike fits you perfectly. I find for my (mainly riding trails) I need bars to be up a bit more than normal, so I am more upright and this solves shoulder and lower back aches for me, I also have my saddle ever so slightly sloping down at the front.