Discovery Cycle
Best Bike Store in Austin, Texas
(512) 452 4225
Hybrid Bikes
Hybrid bikes are designed for street and road use. They are excellent commuters, exercise, and around-the-neighborhood bikes, and upper end hybrids make good touring bikes. Most hybrids will work well on groomed trails, like the Lady Bird Lake (Town Lake) Hike and Bike Trail.
Hybrids are a cross between road bikes and mountain bikes. They have the comfort and convenience features of mountain bikes, and the wheel diameter of road bikes. (The larger diameter wheel size gives higher gearing.) Hybrid gear ratios are usually higher than mountain bike gearing and lower than road gearing.
Hybrids also have a more upright riding position than either road bikes or mountain bikes. The upright riding position is more comfortable for a lot of people. On the other hand, a more leaned-forward position is more efficient and athletic. We feature hybrid models to fit different rider's needs--from very comfortable bikes, to faster somewhat less comfortable bikes, to real athletic models.
Diamond Back Kalimar
The Diamond Back Kalimar is a relatively simple bike with a performance feel about it. It has an aluminum frame and rigid fork. It is a 7 speed bike, with no front derailleur, but the rear gears give it a fairly wide range of gears. The rider position is very upright. It has comfort features consisting of a suspension seat post, cushy saddle, and adjustable stem. It has linear pull brakes and a twist shifter. This would be a good commuter bike (if there are no huge hill on the route) or around-the-neighborhood bike. Due to its simplicity and low cost, this is one of our favorite bikes. Price under $260.
Gary Fisher Tiburon
The Tiburon has been our best selling bike for three years in a row. It looks great, and it is a very good all purpose bike (except we do not recommend it for vigorous offroad use). It is excellent for commuting, exercise, and around-the-neighborhood use, and it is a reasonable bike for long trips. The Tiburon has an aluminum frame and a RST suspension fork with 60 mm travel, 700C double wall wheelset, Shimano Acera rear derailleur, Shimano Rapidfire shifting, Tektro linear pull brakes, and Bontrager Invert tires. The stem can be adjusted between a very upright riding position and a more leaned-forward position. It has comfort features including a suspension seatpost, cushy saddle, and adjustable stem. MSRP $360, but on sale for $330.
Gary Fisher Wingra
The Wingra is a fast hybrid, with a more forward-leaning riding position and fewer comfort features than the Tiburon. It is great for commuting, exercise, and longer trips. The Wingra's frame is highly engineered butted aluminum, designed for lightness and efficient power transfer. It has a rigid fork, single piece stem, lighter 700C wheelset and tires, Shimano Alivio rear derailleur, Shimano Rapidfire shifting, durable bolted together crankset, and Tektro linear pull brakes. MSRP $480.
Gary Fisher Monona
The Monona is a fast hybrid, like the Wingra, but with more expensive, efficient components. Upgrades from the Wingra include a lighter wheelset, Shimano Deore derailleurs, Shimano Alivio shifters, nicer Avid linear pull brakes, and a lighter crankset. Though a very athletic bike, the Monona's riding position is still more upright than a road bike's. The Monona is great for every street or road use, including extended touring. MSRP is $570. On sale for $519.95.
Gary Fisher Kaitai
The Kaitai is a dual purpose bike, for a rider who will use it a lot on streets, but who wants a bike that can handle rough offroad use and that has a leaned-forward riding position found on road bikes and high-end mountain bikes. It's the same frame design as Fisher's 29r mountain bikes. The Kaitai comes with dual purpose tires that are skinnier than mountain bike tires, but you can put fat tires on it for rough offroad riding, or skinny road tires for long road tours. It has a highly engineered aluminum 29r frame, Suntour suspension fork with 63 mm of travel, Shimano Deore rear derailleur, Shimano Rapidfire shifting, and Shimano mechanical disc brakes. The gearing is similar to hybrids--lower than road bike gearing and higher than mountain bike gearing. MSRP is $660.