Fuji Absolute 13 Compare to Specialized Sirrius Sport Reviews
The research
- Who this is for
- Why you should trust me
- How we picked and tested
- Our pick: Marin Fairfax 1
- Flaws but not dealbreakers
- Likewise keen: Jamis Coda S2
- Upgrade pick: Priority Continuum Onyx
- What to wait forward to
- The competition
- Sources
Who this is for
If you'd similar to kickoff regularly riding to work or school, and your ride will last one-half an hour or more, you'll probably want what's oftentimes called a fitness hybrid bicycle, or a performance hybrid. That term gets y'all what is basically a route bike with apartment, mountain-bicycle-style handlebars. A wheel like this will be agile plenty to maneuver around the potholes you see, tough enough to conditions the ones you don't, and speedy plenty that you can scroll it out on the weekend to get some practice with the family, or even join a clemency ride. But information technology's non every bit twitchy, in terms of handling, as an actual drop-bar road bike would be, and, given that you'll be sitting up rather than hunched over, it'll exist a lot more comfortable to ride. And should you get to the point where yous are snagging all the local KOMs or QOMs (translation: you've bought a fancy road bike) or shredding the singletrack gnar (translation: you've bought a fancy mount bike), yous can withal utilise your trusty hybrid equally your townie cycle—the one you can load down with groceries (hurray, rack mounts!) or lock up exterior without too much fear of theft (hurray, depression price!).
If you start searching online for "hybrid bikes," past the style, you'll no doubt observe that the term covers a vast range of options. For super-short commutes—a couple of miles or and so—you could get abroad with one of those cruiser-type "comfort hybrids," where you sit up straight in a big squishy saddle. Just for annihilation longer, that kind of seat will soon go a literal pain in the posterior. Your sit bones, equally the yoga teachers call them, need a house base to support the rest of you. And if you're never going to use the bike for annihilation other than commuting, you could get an urban or utility hybrid, which comes outfitted with integrated racks and fenders and lights. But you'll pay more than for accessories that might not suit your particular needs—and you'll take to go another bike for your fun rides.
Why you should trust me
For the original 2017 version of this review, I interviewed mechanics and proprietors at shops specializing in commuter bikes all over the state—from Boston and Washington, DC, to New Orleans and Chicago to Minneapolis and San Francisco—who see and repair bikes that are ridden in all kinds of atmospheric condition. I as well talked to cycle manufacturers and component suppliers, spent multiple days surveying every booth at various bike trade shows, and, of grade, checked in with everyday riders, including members of San Francisco's local bike coalition.
Over the years since, I've continued to test new iterations of our picks, to make sure they've retained the features we liked, and I've researched and considered new models from other manufacturers, testing those that seemed promising. In 2020, getting our hands on any bikes at all was impossible (every bit it was for many readers); in spring of 2021, I was able to exam the latest version of our top pick, the redesigned Marin Fairfax one, only I've not been able to get concord of our other picks nor of any bikes in the Competition section. Instead, I pored through their electric current specs and prices, comparing what you'd become for your money. (We're hoping to resume testing once bikes become bachelor; see What to look forwards to for more details.)
Years ago, I myself started riding an eight-speed hybrid from San Francisco's Bernal Heights to my downtown office, and even later on I'd switched to a road bike for a longer commute, I kept the sturdy little bike effectually every bit my city ride. I likewise used to work part-time at my local wheel shop, where my duties included advising the store'south driver clientele on fenders, racks, and panniers—and installing them, too.
How nosotros picked and tested
Because it's not a niche market, though, hybrids don't attract the kind of enthusiasts who go on endless threads going on road-bike or mountain-bike forums, debating the merits and flaws of different brands and models. Magazines like Bicycling and Outside and Men'south Journal will occasionally comprehend hybrid bikes or recommend ane in the context of a larger bicycle roundup. Even so, we dug upwardly what reviews we could find, looking for praise and dings.
The sweet spot for a starter cycle like this used to be $500. Drop much lower, and y'all were stuck with outmoded or truly poorly fabricated parts that might be hard to replace once they wearable out; spend more, and you lot can get a nicer bike, with lighter components, just that defeats the purpose of a starter bike. Notwithstanding, many of the $500 bikes we looked at a few years back have gone up in toll, some by as much equally 35% equally of the spring of 2021. We did still find some hybrids from reputable manufacturers that cost $500, only nearly all of those had one or more deal-breaking issues. In fact, those dealbreakers are now actualization in bikes costing as much as $600.
After seeing what'due south available now, consulting buying guides both online and in impress (our library of more than than a dozen bike-repair manuals), and interviewing commuters, bicycle-shop owners, and mechanics, we settled on what we'd like to come across in the ideal basic hybrid-fitness bike.
Fettle-appropriate geometry: When wheel people talk most "geometry," they're talking about the angles at which the tubes that make up the cycle's frame meet. Change the degrees of the angles, and you modify the way the bike handles on corners and going up and down hills. The more than vertical the head tube is—that's the tube connecting the handlebars to the front end fork and wheel—the more quickly the wheel will turn. Which sounds good, simply if the bike is too responsive, it could experience squirrelly and unstable. For efficiency's sake, the blueprint of your hybrid's frame should be closer to that of a route bike than to that of a comfort bicycle, or a porteur-way retro bike (the ones with swept-back handlebars and, sometimes, a front rack like the ones Parisian newsboys once used). You don't want to sit directly up, especially on a longer weekend ride. Why? You'll have to fight the current of air more if y'all're sitting up, and, adds Kevin Womac of downtown Chicago's Boulevard Bikes, "If yous lean over, you can use more of your core muscles to pedal, so your legs aren't getting as tired."
Flat handlebars: These are definitely more than user-friendly than the drib bars you come across on a road bike, and since yous will exist more upright, your field of vision will be broader—a plus in metropolis traffic.
Safe, strong brakes: On a flat-bar bike like this, yous'll have a pick of traditional 5 brakes or disc brakes. Although mechanical (or cable-actuated) disc brakes have get common on low-priced hybrids, we don't encounter them every bit a necessity as much as a nice thing to have if yous live in a identify with a lot of rain and snow and hills. Equally Loren Copsey, co-owner of The Daily Passenger in Washington, DC, said, "On these bikes yous're going to become entry-level disc brakes, which are hard to fix up and difficult to continue adjusted, and lower-quality pads—and they're not necessarily even more than powerful than rim brakes. So you might go more than value at that price betoken with the one that has the V brake and the nicer drivetrain." Also, bikes with disc brakes are about always heavier than comparable bikes with rim brakes, and a lighter bike is easier to ride uphill, and easier to lift onto a bike rack or carry upwards a flight of stairs. Even so, it'due south hard to find a hybrid now, in 2021, equipped with Five brakes that doesn't besides come with serious flaws elsewhere on the bike.
Fender and rack mounts: Instead of using a haversack to conduct your laptop or groceries, using panniers attached to a rear rack lowers your center of gravity, which is a adept affair. Too, no sweaty back. Fenders will proceed you (and your riding companions) at to the lowest degree a little drier when y'all're riding in the pelting—or on moisture roads, later the rain has concluded.
Puncture-resistant tires: Such tires are heavier and slower than the speedy slicks yous'd use on a route bike, but any fourth dimension that you might lose due to the extra weight is time you'll probably gain back (and more!) past not having to stop to fix a flat. Unfortunately, fewer entry-level bikes come up equipped with this kind of tire.
Gearing appropriate for your terrain: Past this we mean, for the nearly office, that the bike should have gears and not be a single-speed. Not that unmarried speeds don't have their identify. In parts of the country that are flat and have vicious winters—hello, Minnesota!—the fewer moving parts in a drivetrain, the better. But most of us have at least a few hills to climb or headwinds to battle, and gears volition come in handy. Near all geared fitness hybrids come with 3 chainrings in forepart and 7 or eight gears in the back, for a full of 21 or 24 gears, which would give you lot enough options for pretty much anywhere you lot'll be riding. Something we've seen more of lately are hybrids with just a single chainring upwardly front end and no front derailleur, and a bigger set of gears in the dorsum. (This blazon of setup has been popular on mountain bikes for years now; a derailleur is, by the style, the mechanism that moves your bike's chain from ane gear to another when you lot trigger the shifter.) Having 1 fewer shifter to bargain with is appealing, only to get the equivalent range of gears without ii or three chainrings, y'all need big—and expensive and heavy—cassettes in the rear. So we eliminated such hybrids.
A sturdy yet reasonably lightweight frame: You practise want to be able to deport your bike up steps or downwards into the subway, or be able to lift it onto a double-decker or a bicycle rack. But you too desire something that can withstand being knocked effectually a little. So you'll probably exist looking at an aluminum frame. Aluminum's a third of the weight of steel, and it doesn't price almost as much equally carbon (though the ride tin can be strong and a chip jarring). Steel provides a cushier ride, merely a good-quality, lightweight steel frame will not be cheap. Almost all of the bikes nosotros looked at, though, do accept steel-bladed forks; the slight increase in weight that they add is worth the vibration dampening they provide. (Of these forks, we preferred those made from chrome-moly, a type of steel that's stronger than loftier-tensile steel, which you tend to see in very cheap bikes.)
Decent-quality components: Here, it's a matter of finding the right residual of toll, quality, and immovability. Ordinarily, near of the front and rear derailleurs on these bikes—and shifters and brake levers, likewise—are made past Shimano, and although they're not top of the line (or even eye), they'll piece of work only fine and will final at to the lowest degree a few commuting seasons. In these pandemic times, manufacturers are scrambling for components and often having to use those from less well known companies such as ProWheel and microSHIFT. By all accounts, according to the many rider forums we've dug through, these off-brand components are functional enough. "If you lot're not racing, a slightly heavier derailleur isn't going to make a large difference. I don't call up somebody's going to observe operation problems right off the bat, and when the derailleur needs to be replaced, the toll will be fairly minimal—$twenty to $thirty," said Womac. "Yep, cheaper derailleurs practice await uglier, but that'due south just aesthetics." One matter we would avoid, though, are bikes that come with quondam-fashioned freewheel cogsets on the rear wheel, instead of the more modern cassettes. A common complaint on the few hybrid user threads we'd found was being stuck with a cycle whose hub was compatible merely with freewheel cogs, which are condign hard to observe, especially loftier-level ones. What you really don't want to buy is a cycle with a freewheel and disc brakes—and nosotros're seeing more and more than of them. If that rear wheel gets stolen or irreparably damaged, skilful luck replacing information technology, said Copsey: "You just can't find those two things on an off-the-shelf wheel."
Broad rims: The wider the rims on the wheels, the wider the tire you can use, and the lower the air force per unit area you need, which gives you a more comfortable ride. "A large fat tire is the poor man's interruption," said Michael Ferrand, possessor of Bike Michael'south, in New Orleans. The norm for these bikes' rims is 32 mm—y'all'll want at least that. (1 welcome trend of 2021 is the number of hybrids being sold with wider tires: Instead of the usual 35s, they're coming with 38 mm tires and even 40 mm.) Speaking of suspension, none of our experts would recommend getting a $500 bicycle with forepart suspension, no matter how bad the roads are in your urban center. These models are often chosen dual-sport hybrids. As Emily Thibodeau, possessor of Hub Bicycle (now airtight), in Cambridge, Massachusetts, put it, "At this toll point, the shocks you'd get are actually heavy and tin can't be adjusted—information technology'southward similar having a glorified pogo stick on the forepart of your bike."
When we outset compiled this guide, in 2017, we started with a master listing of 45 bikes and filtered it down to 16 using the higher up requirements. For our adjacent update, in 2019, we started with those 16 bikes, checking to come across which aspects and components had changed and which had remained the same. When necessary, we chosen in models that had undergone any substantial changes. For the 2019 update, we confirmed that our current picks hadn't changed (apart from, sometimes, the available colors), and nosotros considered which new bikes we might examination. With testing in 2020 and 2021 postponed, for the almost function, by persistent, widespread bicycle shortages, we dove deep into the latest specs for all the bikes we'd ever looked at, as well every bit those of our picks, and of whatever new bikes on the scene.
Next came the test-riding phase. The highlight was what I like to call the Supermarket Slalom: riding up and down a steep little driveway leading to my local Safeway, while weaving in and out of the soft-hit poles that divide the cars from the pedestrians, to test the bikes' handling. (I promise: No pedestrians were harmed, or startled, in the course of researching this story.) San Francisco even obliged with a few rainstorms, which made the abundant cleaved drinking glass in the parking lot even more appealing to tires and made the pedestrian walkway'south plastic surface fifty-fifty more slippery—and allowed me to vet all of the bikes' brakes for wet-conditions performance.
Here are two things to remember when you're shopping. Kickoff, you should try to test-ride whatever bike you're considering buying—how a bike feels to you and how your body feels while riding it are intensely personal. And that raises the question of women-specific design (aka WSD). Though about companies do offer step-through or low-rise versions of each bike (nosotros'll point out when our picks do), more than than a few are now offering parallel models (or even complete brands of bikes) designed for smaller riders with proportionally shorter arms, narrower shoulders, longer legs, and smaller hands. Commonly, these riders are women, which means that these models and brands accept tended to come in what the companies believe are female person-friendly colors (and sometimes, sadly, with components that are not quite as skillful). Nevertheless, no affair what gender you identify as, if your trunk resembles the clarification to a higher place, you'd exist smart to endeavour WSD models too—you might only observe a bike that fits you lot perfectly. Conversely, if yous're a tall person of any gender who has wide shoulders, WSD bikes might not be for you. The second thing to bear in mind is that bikes don't often alter that much—or at all—from one model year to the next. If the bike you like isn't available anymore merely the dealer says that adjacent year'due south model volition be available before long, ask if it's a "acquit-forward" model. If it is, nothing will exist changing.
Our option: Marin Fairfax ane
Our pick
After a redesign for 2022, the Marin Fairfax 1 remains at the top of our list for many reasons: the two most important being value for money and how it feels to ride. When I initially got on the bicycle, the first twelvemonth we tested it, and pedaled off downward the street, the bike felt quick—not in a nervous, edgy way, but in a sprightly manner. Accelerating felt piece of cake. When I measured the cycle'south chainstays (the parts of the frame that connect the rear wheel to the bottom bracket), they were shorter, 432 mm, than those on whatsoever other bike we tested. As a rule, the shorter the chainstay, the quicker the bicycle accelerates and the easier it climbs—at least until the front end wheel starts lifting off the ground. Also, the Fairfax chainstays are flattened (a pattern meant to increment stiffness; that is, more of your pedaling power makes it to the rear wheel), and the seat stays (the parts of the frame that connect the rear wheel to the seat tube) join the seat tube at a relatively depression bespeak, tightening the rear triangle, which also increases the bicycle's responsiveness.
In the 2022 model nosotros tested this yr, the flat design of the chainstays hasn't changed, nor has the low point at which the seat stays join the frame, but the chainstays are now longer at 440 mm. (We tested a footstep-through version, which is the bike shown in the photos above and below.) The new Fairfax doesn't seem sluggish to me, but information technology'd only be off-white to suspend final judgement on the ride quality until I can test it against other bikes. What is fair, though, is assessing how much value yous get for your money. At a time when prices for similarly equipped hybrids from the big companies (Cannondale, Fuji, Giant, Specialized, Expedition) hover around $650, the Fairfax withal costs merely $500.
In 2019, this wheel started coming with mechanical disc brakes. Every bit nosotros said earlier, we believe that disc brakes (whether the cheaper, less effective, but easier-to-maintain cable-actuated mechanical versions, or the pricier, somewhat fussier hydraulic ones) are overkill on hybrids, unless y'all ride a lot in bad weather. They besides tend to add weight and cost to a cycle. In this case, the bicycle gained 3.79 pounds and Marin downgraded the quality of the rear derailleur a level in Shimano's range from an Acera to the Tourney; downgraded the quality of the tires (more well-nigh that below); and went from viii cogs in the rear to 7 (multiply them by the 3 chainrings up forepart, for a full of 21 gears in all).
Going from 24 gears to 21 is less of a problem than you might think, as long as the distance between the highest and everyman gears doesn't decrease. The cassette on the old Fairfax had 8 gears ranging from 11 to 32 teeth; the cassette on the newer one has vii gears ranging from 11 to 34 teeth, then the gearing range increased. That'd be a good thing—especially if you lot're facing a steep hill and will be needing that extra-piece of cake large gear in the back—except that the bigger jumps between fewer gears might make the shifting feel rough. (This isn't something nosotros noticed with the Fairfax, though.)
Having just vii gears in back is common amongst the other hybrids nosotros saw in the Fairfax's toll range; what makes the Fairfax stand up out is that Marin is using a true vii-speed cassette, non a freewheel cogset (see our criteria in the How we picked section). None of the other 21-speed bikes we considered came with a cassette at the fourth dimension, and this remains the case in 2021. In fact, at present we're seeing bikes costing as much as $600—such every bit the Trek FX1 Disc—coming with a freewheel cogset. (The Fairfax's front gearing is similar that of all the bikes we tested, apart from the belt-drive ones: a Shimano Tourney triple fix of chainrings with 48, 38, and 28 teeth.) Otherwise, this model has the aforementioned components as its predecessor, and the aforementioned sprightly aluminum frame and stupor-dampening chrome-moly steel fork.
Apart from the changes in the Fairfax's geometry, the almost contempo redesign did event in 2 definite improvements. Beginning, the shifter cables are once again routed internally, and now the brake cables are likewise—an unexpectedly high-cease affect in an entry-level cycle. Running the shifter or brake cables within the frame tubes protects the cables from damage in much the same fashion that cable housing does, only better. (Grit can work its fashion in betwixt the cablevision and the housing and make your bike's shifting slow or ragged.) 2d, the frame now has clearance for bigger tires, which means that if y'all so choose, you can supersede the 35 mm tires that come stock on the bike with cushier 38s or fifty-fifty 40s (I checked and they'll fit).
For those riders who prefer a pace-through or low-rise frame, Marin at present makes a version of the Fairfax 1 called the Fairfax 1 ST; it's identical to the Fairfax, autonomously from having a lower top tube. (The onetime Terra Linda line, which used step-through frames and women-specific saddles and was priced slightly lower than the Fairfax, is no more.)
Flaws simply not dealbreakers
Shortening the chainstays on the Fairfax may terminate up being a flaw in our eyes, although the company says that the reason they tweaked the geometry of the wheel was to brand information technology more stable. Over again, we'll demand to examination this bike confronting its peers to decide. As well, in 2019, Marin went with a individual-characterization tire with no claim of flat protection for the Fairfax 1, instead of with the previous Schwalbe Road Cruisers, which came from ane of the most respected tire makers in the business and did accept a protective layer of Kevlar fiber. The 2022 Fairfax ane still comes with the private-label tire.
Also bang-up: Jamis Coda S2
Also great
Jamis Coda S2
Still the smooth one
This steel-framed bike provides a vibration-dampening ride and some nice extras—brand-proper noun tires and sturdy pedals. Only the trade-off is less maneuverability and a steepish uptick in cost.
Buying Options
In the years since we first tested the Jamis Coda S2 (formerly called the Coda Sport), the cycle'southward specs haven't changed in any substantive way, though the price has steadily marched upwards, from $520 in 2017 to $530 to $580 to $700 this year. The 2021 version currently available is very similar to the 2017 that we tested; the only difference is the colour, which is now either a pale green or black. This model still has the same Shimano Tourney front derailleur and triple crankset (with 48, 38, and 28 teeth), Acera rear derailleur and viii-cog, xi-32-tooth cassette, and Tektro V brakes, also as steel-wrapped resin pedals, and it over again comes with Vittoria Randonneur tires later last year's detour into Kenda Kwick tires. Now, however, the Randonneurs are 40mm instead of the old 32s, which should make the ride even smoother. The heart of the Coda S2 is still relatively lightweight (27 pounds for the nineteen-inch size) steel frame, which quiets the route churr y'all might otherwise experience while riding on rough pavement. (Jamis does brand a "women's" version of the Coda S2; the only differences, though, are that information technology comes in 1 smaller size, different colors, and with a slightly wider saddle.)
Along with steel's silky ride feel, another reward it offers is that if information technology bends, it can be aptitude back. So if the hanger that attaches the rear derailleur to the frame gets aptitude—equally tin happen if the bike is in a crash or even, say, jostled roughly on a train—information technology can be straightened again without risk that information technology will snap. With aluminum, sometimes such an operation is successful and sometimes … not. This is why modern bikes with aluminum frames—like all of the aluminum hybrids we tested—utilise replaceable derailleur hangers, which can be swapped out if they get bent. These aren't expensive parts to supersede, simply they come in a bewildering assortment of sizes and shapes. And so information technology can be a minor pain, even for a professional mechanic, to identify the hanger that's on your bicycle and then to discover a new one.
In terms of dispatch, the Coda has relatively curt chainstays—435 mm for the smaller three sizes, and 440 mm for the two larger—which makes this bike a bit sprightlier than the run-of-the-manufactory steel wheel.
If you programme on commuting during foul weather condition or spend a lot of fourth dimension riding on clay roads, you might want to consider a bike with disc brakes, which maintain their stopping power in the pelting (they also don't go clogged up with mud or slush the way rim brakes can). But if your daily routine takes you lot on rough pavement or potholed urban center streets, the Coda S1 could be the bike for you.
Upgrade option: Priority Continuum Onyx
Upgrade pick
Priority Continuum Onyx
For the neatnik DIYer
A belt-drive bike that has an easy-to-use internally geared rear hub means less maintenance and no grease on your piece of work clothes. You have to assemble information technology yourself though (or pay someone else to).
Although the aluminum-framed Priority Continuum Onyx retails (as of this writing) at $1,300—a piffling over 2 and a half times the cost of the Marin Fairfax—it's actually cheap for a belt-drive hybrid. The Continuum comes with hydraulic disc brakes, an aluminum fork, a Gates Carbon Bulldoze belt (Gates being the nigh well-made option from a quality manufacturer; the Shimano of belt drives), and, most intriguingly, an Enviolo continuous internally geared rear hub drive (instead of the cassette-and-derailleur system on the regular fitness hybrids we researched). But both the previous and electric current versions of this wheel are as well bachelor only through the Priority website, which ways diving into the problematic world of online bike shopping.
One plus of using a carbon belt to turn your bike's gears and wheels is that a belt is far cleaner than a chain, since a belt bulldoze doesn't need to exist lubricated, and then it doesn't pick upwards dirt the way chain lube does. (No bike grease on your pant leg!) Notwithstanding, belt-drive hybrids tend to be quite a chip more expensive than traditional hybrids, because using a belt drive requires using an internally geared rear hub, which can toll anywhere from about $100 for a three-speed Sturmey-Archer to $one,500 for a Rohloff 14-speed. (Compare this with $45 for the Shimano 8-speed cassette and hubs that are on nigh of the bikes nosotros looked at—not that y'all'll be able to find any of these hands during the pandemic component drought.)
More than-affordable chugalug-drive bikes have definitely been a trend. What sets the Continuum Onyx apart is the blazon of internally geared rear hub it has, and how you buy the bike.
Rather than changing gears i by one, with an audible click, you twist the grip shifter of the Continuum Onyx smoothly in one direction to make the pedals easier to turn (and the bike easier to ride upward hills), and in the other direction to brand the pedals harder to turn (which will make the bike go faster on flat footing). The workings of ordinary internally geared hubs are hard plenty to grasp—motion-picture show something similar the inside of an erstwhile, expensive sentry—and when you lot add together in the concept of continuous gearing, with no indexing, it seems like magic. However, the hub does have upper and lower limits in terms of ease and difficulty: According to Enviolo, the range of "gears" is broader than with a Shimano Nexus eight-speed hub, which is what Marin'due south Presidio 3 belt-bulldoze commuter bike (selling for $1,130) comes with—and the Priority does seem to climb just a trivial bit better.
The Continuum Onyx that we've been testing came with a front headlight that's powered past the front wheel's dynamo hub, so you don't need to supervene upon batteries or plug information technology in to recharge it, and a removable, rechargeable (by USB) rear light; all the Onyxes now shipping, notwithstanding, are equipped with a rear light that's permanently attached and wired to the front hub's dynamo as well. The headlight on our examination bike was strong enough for city use—I'd supplement it with our commuter headlight pick if I were taking information technology on dark suburban bike paths, say—but it had a strobe-y event that I found distracting. Other than that, the Continuum Onyx was sturdy, comfortable, and fun to ride around town.
The downside to buying a Priority cycle is that you're buying a bike online. There are many, many reasons to be wary of doing so, non the least of which is that y'all tin't test-ride the bike ahead of time to brand sure you like it and that it fits y'all. And once the bicycle arrives, yous take to cease putting it together. This was the example when we tested this Continuum Onyx, every bit well every bit its predecessor, the first Continuum. (One advantage of an internally geared hub and a belt drive is that at to the lowest degree yous don't have to fiddle with derailleurs; you do, still, still demand to make certain your brakes are set up correctly and your bike is bolted together properly.) Both bikes nosotros tested—the original Continuum, which nosotros tested four years ago, and the current Continuum Onyx—came from Priority in fine shape, and the hydraulic brakes didn't demand to be bled on either of them.
Since our testing, Priority has partnered with a couple of companies to create workarounds. The first is an outfit called Beeline Connect; Priority ships your bike to the closest cycle shop to y'all that works with Beeline, and the shop assembles it for a fee of $130. The second is a company called Velofix, which has a network of locally owned mobile bike-repair operations. For $150, Priority will send the bike directly to the Velofix in your area, presuming in that location is one (the Velofix site has a list of franchises; so far, they're in about half of the states in the United states of america). And then the Velofix folks will gather your wheel, deliver information technology, and make sure everything's adjusted for you. If neither of those are an pick where you live, we recommend that y'all have a bike store assemble your bike for yous or at least check your piece of work. You should await to pay the shop its standard service rate and maybe even a "corkage" fee—a small-scale fee for bringing in a bike you bought online instead of purchasing 1 at the shop. (If at that place is a fee, pay it, and don't be a jerk about it.) As Michael Ferrard points out, bringing in a bike y'all've bought online for them to put together is similar "driving your meat to McDonald's and asking them to fry it up and put some porcini and portobello mushrooms on it."
What to look forward to
When we can, we'll accept a look at the REI Co-op Cycles CTY 1.1 (which had been on our list for 2020, but vanished from the REI website for a while), the Diamondback Metric 1, and the latest version of the Fuji Absolute 1.ix (at present that Fuji is nether new ownership; its former parent company alleged defalcation).
The competition
The Trek FX 2 Disc, the Trek FX 2 Disc Women's, and the Trek FX two Disc Stagger footstep-through, which all come with hydraulic brakes, now toll a cool $730 each, a $30 increment from before in 2021, a $100 increment from 2020, and a $190 increase over 2019. The bikes do still feature Expedition'southward proprietary Blendr stem and DuoTrap Due south capability. The first lets yous fasten Blendr-compatible mounts for lights or bike computers or cameras to the handlebar end of the stem, freeing upward valuable real manor on your handlebars. The second ways that yous can install Bontrager's DuoTrap S speed and cadence sensor into the chainstay—no cipher ties! Only if you're that interested in performance metrics, odds are good you'll soon be graduating from a hybrid to a road bike anyway. (Expedition's entry-level FX, the FX ane, is however available in rim-restriction and mechanical-disc-brake versions, for $530 and $600, respectively. Simply both models utilise a freewheel cogset, not a cassette, which we regard as a dealbreaker.)
In the past, we've been critical of the Giant Escape 2 for its aluminum fork, which we could feel transmitting the roughness in the pavement through the handlebars to a much greater extent than with the bikes we tested that had steel forks. After eliminating the rim-brake version of the Escape 2 entirely in 2020 and switching the disc-restriction version from a triple chainring in front to a double (which helps the bike shed a little weight only also reduces the number of gearing options; the cassette remains viii-speed), Giant has kept the Escape 2 Disc (with hydraulic disc brakes) largely the aforementioned for 2021, apart from giving it wider, 38 mm tires. Even so, the cost has jumped $100, to $680. (The cheaper Escape 3 still comes in both rim-brake and mechanical-disc versions, but those use freewheel cogsets—a dealbreaker, equally nosotros said above.)
Making a commendable commitment to women'south cycling, Behemothic launched an entire women-specific brand, chosen Liv, in 2011. The Liv equivalent to the Escape line is called Debark; the Alight ii comes just in a hydraulic-disc-restriction version, and the Alight iii comes in rim-brake and mechanical-disc models, also with freewheel cogsets. The same changes in the Escape bikes concord true for the Alight models: bigger tires and higher price tags. Unfortunately, when you look closely at the specs, the Alight bikes fall a trivial brusque, despite costing the aforementioned as the Escape bikes at each level. The Escape 2 models have internally routed cables, whereas the cables on the Alight are all external. The Escape bikes are equipped with Giant's supposedly vibration-dampening D-Fuse seatposts; the Debark bikes are not.
The 2019 version of the Specialized Sirrus (the proper name was inverse to the Sirrus i.0), one of our likewise-slap-up picks from iv years ago, went up in toll from $430 to $475, despite having suffered cuts in component quality. In 2020, the price remained the same, but the cycle had a double chainring in front, in place of the one-time triple. This reduced the number of gearing options to 14 (as the rear cassette remains a seven-speed), and those gears spanned a narrower range (12 to 32) than the Marin Fairfax 1 covers (11 to 34). For 2021, not much has changed except the toll, which has risen to $650.
As for Cannondale, it eliminated the entire lower end of its Quick range of fettle hybrids for 2020: no more Quick eight or Quick 7. The line starts with the Quick half dozen, which has V brakes, triple chainrings, and a seven-speed cassette (instead of the nine-speed one it used to have). The toll is $650 for the men's and the women'southward versions; they are identical apart from the range of sizes and colors available, and the fact that the women's version has a footstep-through frame.
We dismissed Batch Bicycles' Fitness Bicycle and the Raleigh Cadent 1 because they use a freewheel cogset rather than a cassette. We had been planning to test the steel Roebling, from Brooklyn Bicycle Co., but equally of 2021, it comes with a single chainring up front end instead of the original triple chainring, which is a dealbreaker. Jamis makes a cheaper version of the Coda S2 called the Coda S3, only its handlebars are very upright and expect more suited to a comfort bicycle—another dealbreaker.
Sources
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Yard. Loren Copsey, co-possessor of The Daily Passenger, Washington, DC, phone interview , September 29, 2016
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Kevin Womac, possessor of Boulevard Bikes, Chicago, telephone interview , September 29, 2016
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Michael Ferrand, possessor of Wheel Michael'southward, New Orleans, phone interview , September 29, 2016
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Emily Thibodeau, former owner of Hub Bicycle, Cambridge, Massachusetts , phone interview , September 29, 2016
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Gene Oberpriller, owner of One on Ane Bike Studio, Minneapolis, phone interview , September 29, 2019
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S.B. Phillips, mechanic, The New Wheel, San Francisco, interview , Oct 1, 2016
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2018 Benchmarking Report on Bicycling and Walking in the Us, The League of American Bicyclists
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Smart Mobility Trends: Bike Commuting (Deloitte University Press), May 15, 2015
andersonanders1938.blogspot.com
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-hybrid-commuter-bike/
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