Hybrid bikes are broad and versatile, they combine the easy comfort of a road bike and the sturdiness of a mountain bike without the model needing to favor either type more heavily.
The best hybrid bike is one that support the rider, is lightweight and have enough power to tackle tougher trails and hills, as well as matching braking power to stop safely.
And, though they offer a lot to beginner and experienced riders alike, these bikes do not have to be expensive.
In fact, some of the best bike retailers in the business sell them for under $500 for both men and women, meaning that you can get personalized hybrid bikes at affordable price.
$500 is a magical price point in the bike world. If you go too far under $500, you start looking at cheap mass-produced bikes that aren’t worth the cost to repair or upgrade.
Above $500, you’re generally looking at high-quality frames with better parts, giving you bikes that will last. These bikes can be quite pricey, with upper-end models costing more than some used cars.
Manufacturers have begun to realize this. There’s an increasingly large market of newer cyclists (or experienced cyclists on a budget) who are looking for cheap, high-quality bikes.
You probably don’t want a bike that will wear out over one or two years. Instead, you’re looking for something that you can use as the base of your cycling hobby for a long time.
The Women’s Hybrid Cruiser by Sixthreezero EVRYjourney is a durable, reliable model that perfectly combines the best features of the mountain bike with the road bike.
The design is glossy and sleek, with a beautifully designed lightweight aluminum frame to keep the rider upright and allow effortless steering and control as you tackle all trails with a choice between three models of the same bike: the 3-speed, the 7-speed, and the 21-speed.
And, as the name suggests, it is a bike for every journey because that lightweight frame is supported by durable 26-inch wheels and 2-inch semi-slick tyres for the ultimate smooth ride.
The tyres have excellent grip to help keep the bike stable on the most uneven roads, which it owes to its elements inspired by the mountain bike.
The handy addition of fender and rear racks means that you can add baskets to store your items while you cycle. Not only is it perfect for every journey, it is perfect for every rider.
This bike suits women between 5’ and 6’2”, and you can get the perfect fit for you by using the height and weight calculator on the Sixthreezero website. With 5 colors to choose from, this bike is perfect for any rider.
Schwinn are known for their high-quality bikes and the Discover Hybrid Bike for Men is no exception. With a lightweight aluminum frame, this bike will stand up to any dirt, mud and other debris when you take it out.
It has 21 speeds for you to work through with the help of the easy twist shifters on the handlebars. The linear pull brakes match the efficiency of the speeds and allow you to bring the bike to a safe, clean stop when you need to.
Though it is built for you to explore as many routes as possible, this bike is designed to make those rides as comfortable for you as possible.
The seat is adjustable to your preferred height and the handlebars are at a comfortable height to prevent you from hunching and hurting your back.
This model also has a rear cargo rack for secure storage, so you needn’t worry about pushing the bike into uphill trails. This bike comes in black and white and has a modern, sporty look.
The wheels are 26 inches with sturdy tyres to support the frame. There are two frame options, 4’8”-5’6” and 5’4”-6’2”, so it is a great hybrid bike designed for all trails and all cyclists.
The EVRYjourney Men’s Hybrid Cruiser is the men’s alternative to the women’s model reviewed above and it is definitely of the same quality.
It also comes in three different models: the 3-speed, the 7-speed, and the 21-speed, so you can match it to your cycling capabilities and the types of routes you want to ride.
It is a great way for casual riders to get around the city and also for mountain bikers to explore tough trails.
Sleek and stylish, this bike really is a cruiser, allowing you to cycle, steer and maneuver with seemingly little effort. The bike glides round corners and down streets, yet it can climb hills just as easily the more speeds you go through.
The aluminum frame is light and durable, with 26-inch wheels and 2-inch semi-slick tyres for the ultimate grip.
You can always add storage space or pannier bags to the front and back racks, to better fit with longer ride needs. The handbrakes can be easily accessed to stop the bike immediately, so there are no worries about safety.
With extra cushioning in the seat and frames to fit riders from 5’6”-6’4”, this bike is durable, comfortable and fit for any ride. Just No Problem Riding; be it on city streets, hilly roads or dusty trails.
Another reputable brand, Raleigh make an excellent hybrid bike, the Cadent, that is specified as the perfect choice for city rides.
It has a lightweight aluminum frame, 700c wheels and a sporty design that favors comfort first, making it perfect for commuting and leisure rides alike.
However, that doesn’t mean it lacks the mountain bike features of the typical hybrid bike. It has 21 speeds and sturdy handling in an upright position to help you achieve the perfect posture.
The tires have plenty of grip to balance the bike and the flat handlebars make it easy to maneuver and control. It will stay looking great as well because of the useful mudguards, so the attractive red frame won’t tarnish.
There are even the handy additions of two bottle cage mounts and a rack mount to allow you to remain hydrated and bring everything you need on a ride.
Whether you’re new to cycling or a seasoned rider, this bike is a great companion as you traverse the city. The ride will be smooth, especially with all the gear options for you to make it as easy for the bike as possible.
5 ) Sixthreezero ExploreyourRange Women’s Hybrid Bike
Another fantastic bike by Sixthreezero, the ExploreyourRange bike for women looks great and cycles even better.
The impeccable design of the saddle, handlebars and pedals means that your body is in the perfect posture for any ride, with your joints relaxed to avoid tension and your back and legs in the ergonomic upright riding position.
The saddle is also filled with support foam and the handlebars are curved for comfort.
This bike has 7 speeds, with the gear shifters and brakes located on the handlebars for easy control. The aluminum frame is durable and the 700c wheels with their double-walled rims are the best mix of smoothness and grip.
The rigid suspension will keep the bike balanced and allow you to explore as many trails as you like. You can add baskets to the rear rack to store items on these explorations as well.
Aside from its stunning coral and cream frame options, this bike also catches the eye with its sporty design.
There are models to accommodate riders between 5’ and 6’2”, and the best bit is that this bike comes 85% assembled and ready to ride.
Finally, the women’s alternative to the men’s Discover Hybrid Bike is just as deserving of praise. It will have you looking and riding excellently on a bike that is built to last, no matter what routes you ride it on.
Though bikes can be designed as ‘unisex’, this model is designed to accommodate female riders and prioritize comfort, but it doesn’t lack the speed and agility of its male counterpart.
This bike has 21 speeds and grip shifters for extra precision, though the upright, swept-back handlebar is also perfectly comfortable for your hands.
The seat, made of synthetic leather, is padded and designed to keep your posture straight.
The reinforced suspension of the bike and its 700c wheels add even more support, so you shouldn’t feel discomfort no matter the surface you are cycling on.
Everything about this model favors your safety without impeding the smoothness and efficiency of the ride, particularly when you are climbing hills.
The linear pull brakes, Schwinn crank and extra-grip tires are all designed to enhance the bike and give the rider all the control. This well-reviewed bike is a great choice for any woman cyclist to try.
7 ) Vilano Diverse 3.0 Performance Hybrid Road Bike
The Vilano Diverse 3.0 Performance Hybrid Road Bike ticks all the right boxes for me: it’s reasonably light (about 26 pounds), fairly cheap, and has all of the qualities you’d expect from a more expensive road bike.
The alloy frame, paddle shifters, and disc brakes make it seem like a much, much more expensive bike when you first look at it. The parts themselves are reasonably high quality.
It’s got SHIMANO shifters and derailleurs that are durable enough to last for years of casual use. Plus, the popular brand makes it easy to find replacement parts.
Vilano has taken a very honest approach with this bike. Refreshingly, they recommend that you take it to a shop as soon as you finish putting it together.
Whenever you ship a bike, there’s a chance that the components will get jostled around.
Paying a professional $40-$100 to true the wheels, adjust the brakes, and calibrate the shifter will make this Vilano ride like a bike that costs twice as much.
The Vilano Diverse 3.0 lacks front or rear suspension. Depending on the type of riding you intend to do, this can be a good or bad thing. For purely road riding, suspension wastes a bit of your pedal power.
If you’re taking your hybrid on trails (or on rough roads), however, you might find the lack of shocks uncomfortable.
This bike doesn’t have the most comfortable seat as-is, so you probably want to choose a different model if you want to take your hybrid bike on trails or rough roads.
The Vilano Diverse 3.0 isn’t necessarily my favorite pick on this list, but it is the most popular. It’s a great choice for cyclists who want an entry-level, suspension-free hybrid bike with disc brakes. For other options, keep reading!
The Hiland 700C is a perfect example of a modern mid-range hybrid bikes. it’s got an aluminum frame, great entry-level paddle shifters from SHIMANO, disc brakes, and very good tires.
Unlike the Vilano DIverse above, it features front suspension with a lockout lever.
Simply turn a knob on your shocks to turn them off for road riding, ensuring that all of your pedal power goes towards spinning the wheels and not bouncing your bicycle up and down.
The downside to this Hiland 700C City Hybrid Bikes is the weight. At 37 lbs, the bike is more comparable to a mountain bike than a road bike.
It’s not too far off, honesty: it’s got wide, knobby tires and shocks, making it perfect for light trails and urban parks. If you’re doing more road riding, however, you’ll probably want to choose the lighter bike above.
As with the other models on this list, the price point of this Hiland makes it an excellent project bike.
While it’s already got name-brand SHIMANO shifters and reasonably nice disk brakes, serious riders might want to replace the seat or the pedals.
As with the Vilano, it’s never a bad idea to take this bike to a shop once you’ve assembled it. The Hiland 700C is a perfect budget-friendly hybrid bike that’s only marred by its weight.
Lockout suspension gives you the ability to preserve power on solid ground, while name-brand shifters and derailers give you the performance of a much more expensive bicycle.
If you plan to take your bike on trails frequently, I’d recommend either this bike or the Schwinn below.
Schwinn is a brand that’s been known for its inexpensive, entry-level bicycles since around 2001. The GTX Comfort is an upward departure from what I consider the brand’s “normal” bicycles.
It’s meant to be durable, reliable, and repairable, with the disc brakes and paddle shifters that you expect from a mid-range or high-end bicycle.
Weighing in at 37 pounds, the Schwinn GTX is comparable in weight to the Hiland 700C. It’s got front suspension and wider tires, making it well suited for light trail riding.
The seat is not the best, with many male riders complaining that it lacks padding, but it’s a very easy part to replace.
There are three big differences between this Schwinn and the Hiland above: first, the Schwinn doesn’t have the same SHIMANO shifters and derailleurs, and second, it’s a bit more reliable out of the box.
Schwinn seems to have mastered the art of shipping bicycles better than its peers. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t get your bike tuned at a shop once you put it together – it’s never a bad idea.
The 700C Micargi Cross 5.0 Adult Hybrid Bicycle is a rigid aluminum hybrid bike with branded SHIMANO shifters and derailleurs and front shocks.
Like the other bikes here, it offers a solid frame, good wheels, and upgrade parts at an affordable price point.
The biggest difference between the Micargi Cross and the other bikes on this list is the brakes. Unlike my other choices, this bike features traditional V-brakes.
V-brakes are very much less cool than disc brakes: disc brakes offer superior stopping power, won’t wear out your rims over time, and make it easier to remove your wheels.
There’s nothing wrong with v-brakes, however, especially for an entry-level or mid-range bike. The difference in stopping power is honestly quite small when your brakes are set up properly.
You’ll probably replace the bike long before you wear out your rims, and it’s not too bad to unhook a V-brake from a rim with a bit of practice.
If you’re on a budget and the 700C Micargi Cross 5.0 is on sale, it’s definitely a solid option worth considering.
Picking the right bike can be a tedious task especially if you are on budget. Usually, you can find a good amount of quality bikes both in stores and online but not when your budget is $500 or below.
With only a handful of bikes that provides a decent quality for the money, the joy of cycling require a noise dive into details can quickly leaves you feel frustrated and unwanted.
Good news is you do not need to do all the hard work as I have already done this for you in advance. I have invested my time researching, exploring and testing bikes to meed the needs.
The explored bikes have been tested over various levels of weight, speed and terrain before adding them to our list. Not to mention the in person interviews that helps us present them with confidence.
When you need to buy the best hybrid bike that is not just joyful to ride, is equally stylish, modest but is also durable and doesn’t hurt on your monthly budget. Here are a few major questions one should need to answer.
What would you do with your bike? Would you use it for recreation, exercise, commute or race? How much would you be using the bike on the weekly basis? Will the bike size enough for my height?
Then there are other things to consider such as construction material, brake types, speed gears, brand, cost, frame size, ease of use, style, fit, traction, etc.
It can soon become too much for yourself to figure out, this is where we came in for the help.
We have thus reviewed and listed the above products based on these parameters. I personally research and tested these bikes on each parameter and ranked accordingly.
Our first priority while preparing the above list was its features then; durability, quality, comfort, sitting position/fit, suspension, gears, weight, speed, customization, cost, ease of assembly, construction material followed by all other aspects of a modern bike.
Overall I have come up with a list well suited for all; irrespective of their needs.
City hybrid bikesFitness hybrid bikeHybrid cruiser bike
Types Of Hybrid Bikes
Hybrid bikes are a very broad and versatile type of bike, so you can buy specific bikes for specific purposes.
Though some retailers do market hybrid bikes as just that, others design their bikes to be just right for different routes, cycling frequencies and rider abilities. There are four main types to look out for.
City Hybrid Bikes
The first is the city hybrid bike, which is a general-purpose bike that’s perfect for riding around the city to get to work, to the shops, or just to get out of the house for a bit.
City bikes are lightweight and nimble to make it is for casual riders to get about the city just as easily as pros.
The wheels are usually 700c with great grips on the tires to provide smooth riding down any city surface, including cobbles, gravel and other uneven surfaces.
Almost every city hybrid bike will come with at least one rack to attach a basket or other container to store your personal belongings in because they are designed to be extra convenient for any rider.
These bikes are one of the most common hybrids and will suit any day-to-day cycling needs.
Fitness / Trekking Bike
This type of bike is a bit more specialized than the city bike because it is aimed more towards those who enjoy cycling for fitness. The blend of features from the road bike and the mountain bike make this type of hybrid perfect for everyday exercise on any route.
The frame is designed specifically to be lightweight and agile for faster pedaling and better streamlining, and it will almost always be made of aluminum to protect against dirt, dust and mud on fast rides.
The tires are designed to have the same grip as those on a mountain bike so that you can move up quickly through all the available speeds without worrying about the bike becoming erratic.
Other features include lights, mudguards, a rack, and bottle holder, all essential additions for fitness.
Hybrid Cruiser Bike
As the name suggests, the hybrid cruiser bike is perfect for frequent cycling because it cruises easily along on both smooth and rough terrain. Again, the mix of road and mountain bike features is what makes this model so great.
It has the comfort of a road bike, including a precise layout of handlebars, saddle and pedals to put the rider in the perfect upright cycling position, and the strong suspensions system and thick, durable tires of a mountain bike.
The point of the hybrid cruiser bike is that every ride feels like a cruise, whether it is all flat roads, hills, or bumpy road surfaces.
As with any other hybrid, this bike will also have a cushioned seat for your comfort and easy-to-grip handlebars for maximum control. This bike is a great way to navigate the world swiftly and regularly.
Commuter Hybrid Bikes
Another hybrid with an obvious title, the commuter bike is perfect for getting you exactly where you need to go in comfort. They are more popular among among students and employees who need to commute daily on their bike.
It is rather similar to the city bike in that it is a great fit for both new and experienced cyclists, but the commuter bike may be used more for specific rides as opposed to the leisurely riding of a city bike.
Plenty of people use the commuter bike to commute to specific places, such as work, school, or other frequent commitments. It is similarly designed to the city bike, with a nimble aluminum frame, 700c wheels and space for you to store your belongings.
Where the fitness, city and cruiser bikes typically have a similar look, the commuter bike is more reminiscent of older bicycle models, so they are often designed in more pastel shades with a basket on the front.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What Is Hybrid Bikes Good For?
As previously discussed, hybrid bikes are a great compromise between a road bike and a mountain bike, so they are good for riding every day on routes in both the city and country.
You don’t have to worry about constantly riding on smooth surfaces either because hybrids are light and have enough grip in their tires to push the bike across any uneven terrain.
Hybrid bikes are good for getting you from A to B, whether that is to help keep your fit, prevent you from being late, or just for exploring.
They give you access to more routes than a road bike and make cycling feel less enduring than on a heavy mountain bike. They are good for frequent cycling to build up your abilities.
Q. How Much Should I Spend On A Good Hybrid Bike?
Though they have a lot going for them, hybrid bikes do not need to be expensive.
You can buy a high-quality bike for less than $500 and have it last you a long time, so $500 should be the average for how much you’re looking to spend on a good hybrid bike.
The best way to choose is to shop around and compare different brands and prices. You should try to avoid spending more than $500 though, especially if you are looking for an entry-level hybrid.
Some of the best-known brands, including Schwinn, Sixthreezero, Carrera, Raleigh, and Pendleton, have fantastic hybrid models available for $500 or less, so make sure you do plenty of research before committing to one bike.
Q. Are Hybrid Bikes Faster Than Mountain Bikes?
Though you expect extreme speed from a mountain bike, hybrid bikes are actually faster. This is because a mountain bike requires a heavier, sturdier frame to help it endure the tough conditions of the routes.
Whereas the hybrid is designed with different city and country routes in mind, so the frame is deliberately lightweight.
The routes do play a part in the speed of both bikes because though the hybrid is faster on average, it gains speed quicker on flat roads compared to hills, making it closer to a mountain bike on those uphill routes.
The design of the frame plays just as much of a part as the weight as well, especially because hybrids typically have drop-bar handlebars to put the rider in the best position to pedal faster.
Q. Can You Ride 100 Miles On Hybrid Bikes?
Given the durability, speed, comfort and lightness of all types of hybrid bikes, it definitely should be possible for you to ride 100 miles on one.
It does mainly depend on your speed and comfort riding a bike; because the faster you cycle, the less time you’ll be sat in one position on the bike.
Similarly the more comfortable it is the longer you can sat in one position; to keep riding.
Out of all the different hybrids, the fitness/trekking bike is probably the best fit for riding 100 miles at once because it is designed specifically with exercise in mind, so the pedals will stand up to long periods of pedaling and your body will be in the perfect cycling position.
So long as you feel that you are capable enough as a cyclist to ride 100 miles, the hybrid is the best choice of bike because it is more versatile than the road bike and lighter than the mountain bike.
Kaye is a mother of two boys who is on a mission to improve her physical and mental well-being. With a passion for trying new beauty products and stacking her supplement intake, Kaye is always eager to discover new ways to enhance her lifestyle.
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