Road Bike vs Hybrid

Everyone wonders whether to get a road bike vs a hybrid bike.  I will be the first to tell you that I can't make that decision for you and no one else can.  I will tell you my experience.  As I said, I have a lot of catching up to do on this blog.  Last year, almost a year ago now, I test rode a road bike and hybrid bike back to back.  I ended up not buying either because of my budget not allowing me too.  I probably could have squeezed in the hybrid, but after riding both I decided that I liked the road bike better. 

I will start talking about the hybrid by saying there is nothing wrong with a hybrid and they have a place for some people.  Those who tend to ride only on the road and not do long distances will probably enjoy a hybrid bike.  They are a great fitness bike and great for those who have children as they can be ridden with them.  I noticed in my test ride of the Trek FX 7.1 that it didn't turn as well as the Trek 1.1 road bike, but I felt more stable.  Now this was the first time I had rode a bike in about 15 years so that probably had a little to do with how I felt about the stability.  Hybrids are not bad bikes, but they are heavier than a road bike.  However, they are much lighter than most mountain bikes.  Again we are talking about beginner level bikes.  Hybrid bikes are almost ideal for those who want to take a short afternoon ride and don't care about riding 25, 50, or 100 mile endurance rides.

I rode the Trek 1.1 road bike after the FX 7.1.  The steering felt more twitchy with the road bike and one of the first things you notice is just how narrow the tires are.  I will say this was the first time I had been on a road bike as I had always owned bmx, freestyle, and moutain bikes as a child.  I did notice the the road bike turned much better in my opinion and I felt more comfortable as I rode it.  For those starting out, the shifters on a hybrid with the mountain bike style rapid fire thumb shifter may be easier to use than the road bike shifters.  The Trek 1.1 has shimano 2300 shifters which requires shifting up by moving the brake lever in and shifting down using your thumb on a trigger to the inside of the handle bars.  The hybrid does have a more relaxed feel, but the road bike isn't bad when you are on top of the hoods, which is where you have to be to shift down. 
My advice if you are trying to decide between a road bike vs a hybrid is to ride both.  I would suggest you try to ride them back to back to get a feel and maybe even ride them twice.  I would also suggest that you ride different brands and different models within brands.  Each bike tends to have it's own fit and feel.

2012 Amgen Tour of California Stage 7 and Final Stage 8

As expected, Chris Horner made a move Saturday during Stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California.  It was almost from the start and Horner along with 16 other riders pulled away from the field.  At one point during the race, Horner was the overall leader by one minute.  However, as the climbs continued to mount, riders started to drop off the lead group, and Horner and a hand full of others were the only ones left.  At that point Chris Horner started leading the group and that may have been what cost him.  He continued to widen the gap to the peloton, but he would eventually tire as only one rider was with him and riders caught him on the ascent of Mt. Baldy.  It was a great effort however, the great winner of the day was Robert Gesink and the peloton was detroyed going up the last climb and he went on the win the race and take the overall lead.  Levi Leipheimer did surprisingly well, but Horner for all his efforts only gained 1 second on the lead.

Robert Gesink went into today with a 46 second lead over David Zabriskie and pretty much had the event wrapped up barring a catastrophe.  The Tour ended in Los Angeles and was a city course without any climbs.  Gesink stayed with the peloton and break aways were not able to get much ahead today.  In the end it would be Peter Sagan again winning his 5th stage of the event in a sprint to the end, but Robert Gesink enjoyed the overall victory of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California.  It was a great race to watch over the past week and I believe it was very educational too.  If you didn't have a chance to catch it, be sure to watch the Tour De France coming up at the end of June.

Tour of California Stage 6 Results

Sylvian Georges took off in a break away and ended up being all by himself.  He had help to begin with, but lost it shortly after.  What resulted was a win in which Georges lead the Stage 6 of the Tour of California all but about 2 miles.  A lone breakaway usually doesn't work but the Frenchman got the win by 28 seconds over the charging peloton at the end.  This stage win didn't change the overall standings and the riders in contention were all in the peloton. 

Today is the toughest mountain stage.  Looking at the map that was shown at the end of yesterdays stage makes stage 6 look like nothing.  Two category 2 climbs before for a long, huge climb to the finish will distinguish the climbers from the sprinters today.  Most experts believe Chris Horner will try something today to get himself back in position for the win.  Today's Stage 7 of the Tour of California will make you tired just watching it.

Stage 5 of The Tour of California

Stage 5 of the Amgen Tour of California really shook things up.  Peter Sagan fell back in the standings and lost the yellow jersey as expected, but others didn't rise as expected.  David Zabriskie, the time trail champion, showed his form and won the stage and took over the leader's jersey, but Chris Horner and Levi Leipheimer didn't perform as expected.  Leipheimer showed that his injury was holding him back and he is now 1:44 back of the leader.  Horner didn't perform well for whatever reason and is even further back at 2:50 behind the top spot.  However, one of the favorites in the event performed well and is now in second place. Tejay Van Garderen is now in position for the win as Zabriskie is not known as a climber with back to back climbing stages coming up.  It looks like Horner and Leipheimer's chances to win are gone, but you might see a break away from Horner in the coming days to try and recover from his less than spectacular time trail.

Amgen Tour of California Stage 1 - 4

If you haven't been able to catch any of the Amgen Tour of California, so far it has been the Peter Sagan show.  The Slovakian cyclist has sprinted his way to a victory in each of the first four days.  Coming into the event, all the focus was on Chris Horner and Levi Leipheimer.  Horner was getting recognitioin as the defending champion and Leipheimer a four time champion of the event suffered from a broken leg six weeks ago and was questionable to start.  However, Horner and Leipheimer are still capable of winning although the 10 second bonus for winning a stage has Sagan 40 seconds ahead of both of them. 

Today we will see just what kind of form Levi Leipheimer is in as he usually excels at the time trail section of events.  Horner stated before the tour began that he just planned to stay within striking distance and if he wasn't far behind after the time trail, he felt he had a shot at the win once the mountain stages began.  As for Sagan, he believes he will lose the yellow leader's jersey after today's time trail event.  Sagan is better know as a sprinter.  Coverage of the Tour of California begins today at 4:30pm ET on NBC sports network.

Why You Should Watch The Amgen Tour of California

Watch the Amgen Tour of California.  I know you are wondering why I think you should watch the Tour of California.  I believe it helps you in your riding.  You can pick up on things that you should do and not do.  I believe it is also very helpful if you have never ridden in a group before.  Watching bike racing shows just how helpful riding in a group can be by taking advantage of the draft created by riders in front of you.  However, you can also see what erratic riding and overlapping wheels can do.  A good example of this is the crash that happened on stage one when a rider swerved and hit another cyclist causing a major pile up. 

Conserve energy on long rides.  Bike racing is a good example of that.  You don't see these professionals go all out to begin with.  They establish a pace and have some left in the tank for the finishing sprint.  Another good example of this is the break aways that happen at every stage.  These usually don't work because the riders have spent so much energy getting a lead on the field that they don't have enough energy for the end.  Another obstacle for them is the lack of a draft.  While four or five riders can create a draft, it is nothing compare to the peloton that creates a huge draft and allows many different riders to pull the other riders and rest at different intervals.

The Tour of California is being shown on the NBC sports network, 603 on Direct TV.  Check it out if you have never watched a cycling event before.

An Update of Events of Cycling Fitness

It's been nearly 11 months since I have updated Cycling Fitness.  Life happens and I got busy with school.  I will give you an update and briefly go over what happened.  I will give a more detailed description in some later posts. 

June of last year (2011) I went and test rode a Trek hybrid and road bike.  I had decided I was going to have to go with a hybrid, but found the road bike at a good deal.  I was worried about job security and the fact during winter it would be too cold to ride.  I ended up not getting either and purchased a gym membership instead.  Remember where I said that I got busy with school?  Well, the gym membership wasn't a good idea either given my schedule.  Therefore, nearly a year later, I'm shopping for bikes again.

I went and test rode three bikes yesterday.  I will be updating my ride experiences in the coming days.  I rode a Trek hybrid, Specialized road bike, and a Felt road bike.  I'm not ready to pull the trigger just yet on a purchase.  I'm graduating college and if I could land a job here soon that would allow my budget to increase.  Therefore that would open up more options.  Subscribe and follow Cycling Fitness to see where this journey takes us.