Best hybrid bikes – Fast bikes for leisure and commuting

The greatest hybrid bikes are designed for a relaxed, upright driving place, that also maintains dealing with and allows you to experience quick.

Sometimes known as health bikes, hybrid bikes make a number of the greatest commuter bikes. Their upright place lets you see and be seen as you experience and makes it straightforward to cease in addition to mount and dismount. 

The flat bars, brakes and set off gear shifters on a hybrid bike are straightforward to make use of, whereas most fashions will can help you match mudguards for cover in moist climate driving and a rack to assist carry baggage.

Often there are a number of body form choices, so you will discover a motorcycle to fit your driving fashion and preferences. 

That makes the most effective hybrid bikes super-versatile, however in case you plan to make use of public transport, the most effective folding bikes could also be simpler to make use of. We’ve additionally coated the most effective ladies’s hybrid bikes in addition to the most effective hybrid bikes below £500 in case you’re on the lookout for extra decisions.

Here’s our choose of the most effective hybrid bikes, whereas in the direction of the underside of this web page is our purchaser’s information to what to search for in a hybrid bike.

Best hybrid bikes obtainable right this moment

With a good light-weight aluminium body, each decal and brand on the Cannondale Quick is reflective, so it lights up like a Christmas tree that can assist you be seen in low-light circumstances.

The body itself has rack and fender mounts, and the rear finish has flex tuned into the stays to maintain you snug as you experience: Cannondale name this SAVE Micro-Suspension. Cannondale has specced a Shimano Altus / Acera 1×9-speed drivetrain, full with a variety 11-42T cassette and a 38T narrow-wide chainring on the Quick 4. Not solely does this simplify shifting whereas nonetheless offering a large gear vary nevertheless it additionally helps make dropped chains a factor of the previous. Other specs get a double chainring for a wider vary of gears.

We rated the Quick’s vigorous, snug experience and responsive dealing with, whereas the 35mm tyres present some further consolation on potholed roads and the hydraulic disc brakes present confidence-inspiring stopping energy.

Like the Cannondale Treadwell, which we have additionally reviewed, there’s Cannondale’s wheel-mounted sensor that allows you to document experience knowledge on the Cannondale app and you’ll mount your cellphone to the bars to make use of it as a biking pc. 

There’s a selected ladies’s mannequin in addition to the unisex Quick, supplying you with numerous measurement vary.

You can learn extra in our full overview of the Cannondale Quick hybrid bike.

Cannondale’s Treadwell includes a sloping prime tube to create a low standover peak and has what the model lessons as an ‘straightforward geometry,’ with both a kinked or dropped prime tube making for fast on and off mounts and dismounts. 

With BMX-inspired flat bars and an aluminium body, the bike options city armour bumpers to guard the tubing from dings whenever you lean your bike towards a pole or rack. As with the Quick, Cannondale additionally specs its velocity and cadence sensor and an intellimount stem which can securely maintain any SP join suitable cellphone case, so you possibly can observe your rides by way of the Cannondale App. You’re even reminded when the bike is due for a service. 

The Treadwell’s massive 47mm tyres and 13kg weight make it sluggish to stand up to hurry, however in case you’re after a motorcycle for simple rides round city and quick weekend excursions, it matches the invoice with out breaking the financial institution and its easy mechanical parts ought to be low upkeep. 

You can learn extra in our full overview of the Cannondale Treadwell 3.

Coming out of the massive pink barn in Waterloo Wisconsin, the FX vary makes up Trek’s hybrid bikes. The FX 2 Disc is on the market in two choices: Standard or Equipped, the latter of which comes outfitted with a pannier rack, mudguards, lights and a kickstand as commonplace. The body is constituted of Trek’s Alpha Gold aluminium and options inside cable routing and mounts galore. 

The FX 2 Disc is not a very flashy bike, neither is it notably light-weight for its worth level, however regardless of this, the experience is responsive and gratifying, making us search for errands to run simply so we might experience it once more. 

Trek opted for hydraulic flat-mount disc brakes on the FX 2 Disc, so braking will at all times really feel assured, and with little to no upkeep required. For these searching for extra of a health bike, the usual (non-equipped) FX 2 Disc is an efficient possibility, however it might probably profit from an improve from the Acera groupset. The subsequent step up – the FX 3 Disc – comes with a 2×10 Shimano Deore, which is a giant step up in case you can stretch the price range. 

Cube’s Hyde Pro is constructed round a light-weight, sturdy aluminium body and fork. Unlike our different suggestions, it sees presents a Gates Belt drive so no want to fret about common upkeep. The belt drive does away with an everyday chain and sprockets and makes use of a belt and toothed cogs for a quiet, low-maintenance transmission. Flat-mount Shimano MT200 hydraulic brakes paired with 160mm rotors, imply the Hyde can cease on a dime and may keep that means with little extra consideration. 

The Schwalbe Big Apple tyres are effectively armoured to stop punctures – they’re additionally tubeless. So, do you have to roll by way of a patch of damaged glass, you will not be left caught on the aspect of the street faffing with tyre levers. What’s extra, at 55mm broad, there’s an enormous quantity of cushioning to maintain you snug on your whole experience, so uneven roads and potholed surfaces needn’t fear you.

Our favorite factor about Ribble Bikes is that its bike builder space of the web site permits you to customise your experience to satisfy your actual specs. Want 650b wheels and tyres as an alternative of 700c? No drawback. How a few parcel rack and mudguards? For certain. Do you suppose that the entrance derailleur ought to be put to mattress as soon as and for all? No worries, you possibly can have a 1x drivetrain. 

The Hybrid all-rounder is designed for velocity and effectivity however with the flexibility to customize the parts, Ribble has used a flexible geometry that permits it to be tailored on your meant use. With rack and fender mounts, entrance and rear, the bike makes use of thru-axles and sees dropped seat stays for added ranges of compliance. 

You do not have to customize it although, there are well-considered off-the-shelf packages obtainable too. There’s an electrical model, the Ribble Hybrid AL e, that we fee among the many greatest electrical bikes for commuting.

Ridgeback’s hybrid bikes are a wonderful and standard gateway into city biking for a lot of. They’re sensible and comfy, usually include a full set of mudguards and a rear rack already fitted, and could be a wonderful selection for somebody who simply desires to get going the second it is constructed.

It includes a 3×7 Shimano Tourney drivetrain, and Promax V-brakes which, whereas they don’t seem to be disc brakes, are very straightforward to keep up at dwelling, alternative pads are additionally low-cost. It comes inventory with soft 42mm tyres that can absorb most of the bumps on the street and preserve grip when the climate takes a flip.

As a model, Ridgeback presents an enormous vary of hybrid bikes, beginning as little as £299 and growing in worth by £50 increments, with just one or two outstanding modifications to the construct. This implies that if the Speed is not fairly as much as scratch on your wants, it is extremely straightforward to discover a Ridgeback hybrid bike that has what you want at a worth level you are snug with.

Well specced for the value, the Vitus Mach 3 VRS is the mid-spec bike from a three-model line-up. It comes with 2×9-speed Shimano Sora shifting, though the mix of a 50/34T chainset and 11-28T cassette implies that the obtainable gear vary is a bit lower than many different hybrid bike choices. This marks it out as a barely extra speed-orientated hybrid, and Sora is a road-gearing groupset. It’s simply upgradable to a cassette with a 32-tooth largest sprocket although, in case you do need extra vary for hillier rides.

The 38mm broad tyres are frivolously treaded and provides loads of grip with out sacrificing rolling velocity, so the Mach 3 would serve for each sooner metropolis driving and a visit out onto tracks and trails. With rack and mudguard mounts, it is a bike that is straightforward to weatherproof too. 

At 10kg claimed weight for the dimensions medium bike, the Vitus Mach 3 is not too onerous to hold up stairs and over obstacles both, whereas the sloping geometry and one-piece bar and stem give the bike a contemporary, sporty look.

Whether you are on the lookout for one thing that prioritises consolation and mobility, otherwise you simply need one thing a bit totally different, take a better have a look at the Marin Larkspur. This unique-looking bike takes the step-through idea and turns it into some modernised goofy enjoyable, including in a dropper put up for simple remounting in site visitors, in addition to chunky 650b x 2.35in tyres. 

The Larkspur is at dwelling on paved roads and gravel paths alike, cushioning the blows from uneven surfaces and leaving you to drift over potholes with out care. The swooped handlebars put the rider in an upright place that makes it doable to see additional forward in site visitors, the step-through body makes mounting and dismounting a breeze, and very low gearing will make hill-climbing gentle work for many. It additionally makes the Larkspur a strong possibility for anybody with mobility or joint points.

Not all people has room to retailer a secure of bikes, however that does not imply that two-wheeled transport is out of attain. Tern’s Eclipse X22 finds the precise stability between folding functionality and driving effectivity. With 26in wheels and tyres, the bike is vastly extra power environment friendly over lengthy distances than its smaller wheeled folding cousins however nonetheless compactly folds right down to 38 x 90 x 81cm.

The geometry can be significantly extra aggressive than many folders, and it boasts a 2×11 Ultegra drivetrain and Shimano SLX hydraulic disc brakes – high quality parts that assist to justify the Tern’s greater price ticket than nearly all of hybrids right here. 

The ToughRoad, because the identify suggests, is designed to maintain you going no matter whether or not you are driving on glass-smooth tarmac, tough gravel or bone-rattling cobblestones. Made from the model’s ALUXX SLR aluminium, the ToughRoad additionally has a carbon fork to scale back weight and take up a number of the vibrations coming by way of the entrance finish. To hold your rear finish sitting fairly, Giant has opted to make use of its D-fuse seatpost for improved compliance, 50mm Giant Sycamore tyres for grip, and loads of damping too.

The flat-bar geometry retains the rider in a cushty place that finds the precise stability between consolation and pedalling effectivity, and the body sees heaps of mounts, in addition to an built-in fender on the down tube. With a mixture of Shimano Acera, Alivio and Altus parts, the bike has a 9-speed, 11-36T cassette and 44/28T chainrings. 

Made from Specialized’s A1 alloy, the Sirrus 2.0 options inside cable routing and plug-and-play fender and rack mounts entrance and rear. The dropped chainstays on the rear promote a little bit of flex on the seat cluster to take the sting off of sq. hits which mixed with the 32C tyres present for a {smooth} rider — there’s room for 42C rubber do you have to desire a increased quantity tyre.

Hydraulic disc brakes present heaps of energy and modulation whatever the climate and may keep that means for years to come back with upkeep. The 2×8 Shimano Acera/Tourney drivetrain with an 11-32 cassette and 46/30T chainrings enable for loads of vary to get you thru that hilly commute, with out sweating by way of your shirt. 

If you want a workhorse that may do just about every thing you need, from commuting to work to carrying the purchasing dwelling, however you possibly can’t be bothered to determine all the extra equipment you’ll want to go along with it, then you definitely’re in luck. The Orbea Vector 15 is able to roll, full with entrance and rear mudguards, a rear pannier rack and entrance and rear dynamo lights. All you’ll want to do is don your helmet, seize your greatest bike lock and begin driving to the workplace.

What’s extra, the Vector is constructed round Orbea’s Body Sport Geometry, which prioritises consolation, inserting the rider in a relaxed and extra upright place so that you could see clearly in site visitors and experience for so long as you’ll want to with out feeling discomfort.

What to search for in a hybrid bike

Chances are, in case you’re looking out for a hybrid, you might be about to purchase your first bike as an grownup. If that is the case, there’s lots of selection on the market and it may be straightforward to really feel overwhelmed by all of the choices. To make life simpler for you, we have listed a number of the key concerns for choosing the proper hybrid bike on your wants.