A community for cyclists in, around, and just passing through the Greater Toronto Area.
I’d like something light so I can go faster with less effort, but I also don’t want to limit myself in terms of paths I can take. I’m not sure what it’s like in the GTA yet in terms of paths. Is it worth getting a hybrid for that purpose? My goal is to be able to go long distances, but my VO2 max kind of sucks so it’s going to take a while I think before I can go to other cities in one trip.
Also my budget is like $500-$1000 if that matters
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Endurance road bike or a gravel bike would be my vote.
But depending on what you're after you might not find much for under $1,000
This + I would add cyclocross.
Light bike with a wider tire like a gravel/atb might be the trick. A road bike is tempting, but there are lots of potholes, construction and streetcar tracks to traverse. There are a lot of great quick rolling wider tires available these days if you’re worried about the speed.
I bought a road bike for the first time in my life this year and my first ride went through the bumpiest section of Royal York and died inside. All the sewer grates are also brutal. When you catch a nice section of paved pavement though it’s so nice
The roads quality sucks in Toronto and peripheral edge. Get something with at least 28mm wide tires, preferably ~32mm. No need to hit the 40's, that's probably too much. The main difference between hybrid and road bikes is the drops, which can really increase your speed above 20kph when wind resistance really becomes a factor. Also some people prefer the multiple hand positions that a road bike can offer,. especially on longer rides.
Decathlon has some decent bikes around that price range, and sometimes Rakuten has a 10%+ rebate. Right now it's only 4%. The new RC120 for $750 seems pretty good, with a good gear range, carbon fork and a versatile frame. Comes with 28mm tires. Seems like the best new all-rounder right now at that price point. Otherwise going used can be great but it's a bit hit/miss
Montréal is full of Tribans, which makes me feel the price/quality ratio of the Decathlon bikes is the right o e for what OP is describing.
Other than used, this is probably the best bet under $1k, or Costco's Northrock SR1 bike for $699.
Sticking with decathlon..for a modest budget increase you can get rh rc500, which is overall a better bike (sora group) for $1,100 or spring even more for 105 and get the rc520 (on sale for $1,300). But the rc120 or Northrock SR1 are good enough.
I feel like 32mm is not enough. If you're a Bay or Yonge commuter, there are 20+ cracks and potholes on the road where 32mm tires will let you eat dirt if you're traveling at a normal road/gravel bike speed, not to mention those streetcar tracks
I've never encountered a path that I can't take my road bike on. A road bike is going to give you the best aerodynamic position, for less effort and more speed. Concensus currently is that 28mm tires offer the best trade-off between rolling resistance and comfort. I wouldn't even try to ride a long distance on a hybrid bike.
I was in your shoes. I had a hybrid it was good but slowwww. It had 650b 2.2 tires and wow those rolled sooooo slowly.
Budget 1000, I picked up an older Felt endurance road bike for 700 over the winter, worn tires, disgusting dented drop bars, tacky sticky lever covers, terrible cable disc brakes that squealed like a banshee and a few dents on the aluminum frame. But overall, decent enough.
I spent 300 on new tires, Gravelking 700x35, new bar tape, new chain, picked up used gravel drop bars, open box Juintech cable hydraulic brake set that came with new brake pads and rotors, used fizik seat and carbon seatpost off Facebook. Ok I cheated, maybe closer to 400.
I also picked up new lever covers and pedals on AliExpress but it'll be a while before I receive it.
A road bike will be able to take you on any paved surface and most hard packed dirt or gravel routes. They are lighter and faster than hybrid bikes but you’ll be pitched forward in the saddle and not everyone likes that. Your VO2 max doesn’t really measure your endurance though.
Any bike can take you long distances. And if you’re not in shape to do it on the date of purchase, you just build up to it over time
^ this. I take my road bike (was 23mm tires, now 25mm) pretty much over every hard packed surface, except for where the stones are bigger than A gravel. The main downside is that the tires suck in the rain (I’m wary of mud) and no cargo capacity on my bike. So I’m searching for a gravel bike now that I can perhaps put panniers on..
Not many options for light and fast with your budget if you're looking for a new road bike but you'll have better luck in the used market.
If your goal is to ride far out to different cities in the GTA, you should stick to a modern road bike. Although hybrids are nice comfortable bikes and are capable of tackling long distances, I'd attribute them more as urban commuters. You'll rarely see someone on a hybrid travelling from Toronto to anywhere in the GTA—for good reason.
I probably wouldn't worry about your VO2 max unless you're with club riders. You'll be fine as long as you just ride your bike routinely and learn how to use your gears to optimize your cadence efficiency.
Mountain bikes. Specifically Cross County. I'm always passing road bikes with flat tires.
Hybrid or hard tail mountain bike is my recommendation. Look, this might be an unpopular opinion but these are safer options than a road bike. You can put slicks on the rims, and do 30-35 kph on a mountain bike. I suggest that riding faster than this is not a great idea in a dense urban environment. This bike is what I ride on in the country. A mountain bike is less vulnerable to streetcar tracks, rough roads, etc. and these bikes are inherently more stable than a road bike. With a road bike on thin tires, any patch of loose gravel is a potential trip to the hospital. I say this because patches of gravel is how friends wound up in severe accidents on road bikes. And a street car track incident on a road bike is a reason why another friend refuses to get on another bike in his life. My mountain bike shrugs this stuff off.
Afterthought: minimize weight, whatever you get.