ilovefuzz.com

yeah i know that's technically four...

I find the name "hybrid bike" to be somewhat deceptive in the same way that keeping all-season tires on your car in a Canadian winter is a bad idea. Riding on anything harsher than a well-groomed trail is asking to pop your tires or bend the shit out of your wheels. Unless you have a real high-end hybrid, they generally don't double as a mountain bike at all. That's not to say they're not nice bikes, but you can only take them to appropriate places. I'm mainly a city or paved-trail rider, and I've had a few hybrids that served me well. My most recent steed is a cruiser, and though it lacks the shocks, the balloon tires make up for it and make a smoother ride at the cost of a little speed.

Also, I live in a very hilly city. When I had a 21 speed, I found I only ever really used the middle-front sprocket anyway, so I switched to a 7-speed, and it does the trick just as well, with a little less maintenance to worry about, so I probably wouldn't be too bummed about that part.

HIIT cardio equal high intensity interval training. For instance, I do HIIT on a spin bike. I go for 10 minutes right now, but started at 5. You go full blast with no resistance for 30 seconds, then turn up the resistance as high as you can for 30 seconds (ought to feel like biking through mud). Repeat that for the time.