Can I make this bike more off road worthy?

It should be easy for you to fit your bike with a set of cyclocross tires. They’re made for off-roading on 700c rims, which is pretty much what you’re asking for.

This being said, most hybrids are set up just fine for light trail riding – crushed limestone, for example. ‘Cross tires are for more “technical” conditions (grass, mud, hardpack), but they won’t roll as well on pavement.

I’ve had a hybrid bike and I took it on light fire trail riding without much trouble. I’d try it with your current tires first.

I have a mountain bike, and I actually changed out the knobby tires to hybrid tires because I ride to work on it. It works fine for me on light trails—I just run into trouble going up a steeper hill with loose gravel. Then I’m usually walking anyway because I’m with my 9 year old.

If by “light trails” you mean smooth, packed dirt then you’ll be fine.

Beyond that, we get into issues of rim strength, and I’ve seen too many rims “tacoed” by people who tried to use a hybrid as a mountain bike. Even if you don’t completely taco the rims, you’ll cause enough other issues with them, as well as risk snapping welds on your frame, that I would be hesitant to even go off-roading on a hybrid.

I prefer a full-on mountain bike with proper tires; interlocking blocks for smooth rolling when upright on hard ground but with enough tread on the sides to dig in during cornering or on anything softer than hardpack dirt. If nothing else, it allows my to hit the occasional crack in the pavement without breaking my bike.

No, you’ll need to change the engine as well, not totally change it, just tune-up.

@SowhatifimfromWV Huh? What engine?

@jerv , that will happen with a cheap factory wheel (from a cheap factory hybrid). Should not be a problem with a better rim. No way you can ride a hybrid on technical trails anyway.

@IchtheosaurusRex Cheap rims “taco”, better rims snap/crack, at least if you ride how I do.

Personally, I have developed a distaste for most alloy rims and a profound hatred fro carbon fiber when it comes to anything off of smooth pavement. And the streets and bike paths in the Seattle ares do not qualify as “smooth”, pavement or otherwise. Most of the rims I’ve damaged/destroyed were on-road, not off.

But that is just me and my experiences; your mileage may vary.

@jerv , have you tried a shockpost? I’m not sure how you ride, but I come in at 190# and I’ve had pretty good luck with rims despite a few face plants. Might want to work on your bunny hops if you have a pothole problem like we do in Chicagoland.

@IchtheosaurusRex Unless I am just cruising on flat, hard stuff, I am up and out of the saddle and letting the bike shake and rattle beneath me without shaking my spine loose or ramming my tailbone into my ribcage.
Back when I rode like a mad bastard, I was 150#. I’ve destroyed a few backrims, a couple of fronts, some bearings, two crankarms, and snapped one cartridge right between the bearings. Add to that a pile of stretched chains and the resulting chewage of gears, and you will see that I am not nice to bikes.