Turn Road Bike Into Hybrid

A hybrid bike will always be a compromise between competing demands on the bike s abilities.

Turn road bike into hybrid. Try aim for something with minimal central tread although with a slight amount of side tread. They re not marketed as hybrid wheels but for example the rim width on a cannondale hybrid i had was significantly wider than a road bike rim. Nowadays road rims can be had a bit wider so yes it is possible to get hybrid wheels inasmuch as they are fit for that purpose. If your bike has eyelets pre drilled into the frame the best fenders to add are traditional full fenders which cover the entire top halves of your front and rear tires for the best protection from water and road grit.

However since cross for most of us is a sideline a way to stay fit and build strength for road or mountain biking consider using whichever bike is your primary racing machine converting a road bike. You don t need a gravel bike to go off road si talks you through the small modifications you need in order to get the most out of your road bike when riding gravel. This was a few years ago. A mountain bike has other advantages over expensive modern road frames.

Most road bikes use a 700c wheel size with a 23mm width but modern road bikes can often accommodate much larger tires as wide as 32mm. The main changes were switching out the handlebars from drop bars to porteur style bars 700c wheels and contemporary hubs the inclusion of a dynohub upgrading the rear derailleur and the addition of a two legged kickstand for stability. I did a similar conversion of a woman s road bike 1975 peugeot ue18 to a commuter. You can put 1 3 8 or 1 1 2 road tires on those rims and have a great road bike for summer.

First thing to change on your new road steed is the tires. Get rid of the old knobbly tires which were more suited to the off road than the main road. The first step you can take to make your road bike more comfortable is to swap in some wider tires. Nice article on your setup.

As you delve into the differences between a hybrid bike and a road bike what you re really exploring are the changes that have been made to a road bike to make it less suitable for out and out road cycling. However don t worry too much if you don t have these eyelets most mountain bikes don t you can add clip on hardtails that attach easily to the frame and provide. I have a couple of road frames and a couple more mountain frames one of which i ve been using since i purchased it new in 1995 giant boulder.