Equipment recommendation

I do not like the hybrid concept.

I think it would be best to slap on some slick narrow tires on your mountain bike and give that a try. Much cheaper.

If you see yourself doing road rides all the time look into a road bike in the future.

I agree with xavier - typical hybrids don't do anything particularly well.

A hardtail mountain bike with slicks will go just as fast, is not going to be any heavier (in the same price range), provides more standover clearance, and still gives you the option of rough trail riding by going back to knobby tires.

Or, for faster riding on smooth trails, you might want to look at a road touring/cycle-cross style of bike like one of the following (these are just a couple of examples):
Specialized Sequoia Sport
Kona Jake the Snake

That actually wouldn't be bad. I have a Sequoia, and the gearing and durability would be good if you put on a little different tire. It comes stock with 700X26 slicks, but an all weather tire this bike would fare well. Cost is full retail $850

Hello, My name is John Marcus. I had a top of the line Sports Tourer 10 speed racer from Schwinn from back in the late 70's. It was a good bike with thin tires. After riding a 22 mile ride with our scouts, (I am a leader), I decided that the high speed street tires just don't do well in sandy trails. I thought of a mountain bike as they are not too costly, for your average bike, but the good ones are costly. Going over rocks and logs are what mountain bikes are good for, but they are not good for speed on the street or level smoother ground.

The hybrid is an excellent bike, if you get a good one. I got one with a thin, knobby tire. It is slightly fatter than the 10 speed wheel and grabs dirt, sand and some loose gravel well. It has fork shocks and a seat shock. It has 24 gears and the low speed is very slow. It has so much power I can climb a 12 inch lip if necessary, up a steep hill well and ride well on sandy loose trails. I compared all the different brands and prices, after determining to spend under $1000. I found an excellent bike that is the best of all worlds.

If you don't plan to ride regularly on mountains or down streams, the hybrid is great if you get a good one. It can develop good speed on the road, of up to about 22-28 mph, yet it can do well on relatively easy trails.

The bike I picked and would highly recommend is the Marin Sausilito. It has front and rear disk brakes (the best feature I have seen), a Gel seat, dual front shocks and a seatpost shock, excellent balance, gear weighting with excellent easy to use shifters, excellent craftsmanship and an overall good bike. I am the envy of all the leaders. Many have offered to buy my bike. The bike goes for around $700. With all the accessories, (small bike bag for under seat, tools, spare inner tube and repair kit, quality lock and cable, water bottle, gloves and nice helmet), you can expect to spend $900+ for this bike. As I said, I chose a hybrid and reasearched it in all the magazines. This bike easily fit all my needs. If you need to climb mountains, forge streams and ride over logs, then you really need a heavy duty mountain bike. And I would not settle for a cheap one if you are a serious rider. Expect to pay over $600 for a quality bike that will last. Some cost thousands.

John Marcus
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Hybrids are good on the road if you want a more comfortable upright riding style but speedier. I have used trek's 7500FX and it is great on roads. But it has very thin tires and doesn't do very well off road. I personally own a Trek 820 mountain bike with slick road tires on it and ride mostly on the road. It is a great bike, IMO and I can get some good speed on it.

If you plan on riding only on roads then looking at a hybrid is fine, but many of the cheaper hybrids are really just bad mountain bikes. So if you don't want to spend a fourtune just try adding slicks to your existing mountain bike.

While I agree with TKOS about cheap hybrids being junk, the Marin Sausalito, in my opinion, is better quality than most mountain bikes sold, including many Trek's. It appears that in the hybrid, Marin only makes one quality - good.

Also, if you intend to ride a lot of hilly, bumpy trails with logs and rocks, then switch to the road, a mountain bike can do the trick. But if you have the extra cash, and you want that extra bit of speed advantage, comfortable street riding most of the time like me, but ride on slightly sandy trails once in a while, a good hybrid does the trick.

I find the real good quality, extreme mountain bikes do not have the speed. They are all about the torque and flexibility for climbing. A quality, mid-range bike that is called a mountain bike but really not made for riding heavy duty mountain trails is more suited to a good all around bike. In fact it is more of what I would consider a hybrid.

The Marin hybrid is a thinner, very durable (7000 aluminum frame), bike with thinner knobby tires. They are not knobby on the sidewall however like the mountain bikes. They are much like a quality street bike, with knobby tires, great shocks, better brakes, cushier seat and they handle the sandy trails so much better than street bikes. Oh yes, the lower gears really give a lot more torque, (as much as 5 times the torque), as the street racers. But they still have high end gears that develop some good speed, thanks to the 28 speeds instead of 10. And typically, for the money, the hybrids are somewhat lighter than a full mountain bike.