Hybrid Bikes
We use TREK 7300 FX bikes. Trek make lots of bikes, from Lance Armstrong's beautiful Madone race bike down to some pretty basic entry-level mountain bikes.
The 7300 benefits from the superb Trek Alpha frame, which is probably the best thing about the bike.
It makes the whole bike very light, and the level of equipment specified by Trek makes these hybrids what I call 'click, click' click'.
One small click on the gear lever, and everything behind you clicks up or down perfectly, like it should.
On cheaper bikes, this beautiful feeling lasts for several days, but that's about it. The whole thing about decent equipment on a bike is that it stays true, and can be properly maintained.
The same is true of the brakes. If you start with a good frame and add good equipment, everything can be better adjusted. You should experience no rubbing, no rattling, and no grating noises. And if there are any, they can be adjusted within seconds.
Sadly, that means that if you're struggling up a hill it's probably your fault, and not the bike!
The Trek 7300 has a total of 24 gears, including a very low gear for climbing difficult hills.
Good quality headsets mean you can descend hills in confidence, and the V-brakes combined with the Bontrager wheel rims make braking quite amazing.
Much better than you'll find on any road bike. They're a bit heavier than our road bikes, with slightly wider tyres which cause more drag on the road, but they come into their own when we leave roads and cycle along tracks and paths
On our Italian cycling holidays we only offer hybrids because of the terrain.