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Road Bikes,... suck?

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#41 ·
I can't say that I think "road bikes suck" but if I had a preference to ride only one bike it would be my mtb. The plus side for the road bike is the convenience of taking off from the house rather than driving to the closest trail and the ability to change up the route and distances with evey ride. Around here we have a decent mtb system, but if it was all that I rode, it would get old halfway through the season.
 
#42 ·
Road bikes don't suck. It's the cars that suck. Get yourself in an organized event closed off to traffic, and you can be immersed in great culture. I haven't tried a higher level road even, but even casual ones makes me wonder why there's no teamwork in mtb, even in XC racing.
 
#43 ·
mopartodd said:
The plus side for the road bike is the convenience of taking off from the house rather than driving to the closest trail and the ability to change up the route and distances with every ride.
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That is a very good argument for riding on the road, if not necessarily an argument for road bikes themselves. You don't need a road bike to ride on the roads.

I'm fortunate enough to live in a village with countryside in three directions. We can go out and ride for miles on quiet back roads. Over the years almost all of the guys I ride with have bought road bikes but I have stuck to the MTB with slicks. Several reasons, I reckon I have to work harder than them which is no bad thing and also there are a lot of very rough farm tracks criss crossing the fields. On a mountain bike, even with slicks, they're no problem. On a road bike, they are a big problem. I still remember when the first of our group turned up one Saturday with a road bike. After that our rides changed. He moaned like crazy when we went down a dirt track and pretty soon it was all about distance on nice roads rather than exploring the countryside.

Don't get me wrong, it's still great to get out pounding the roads, but a mountain bike will take you places a road bike won't. It's great passing an opening in a forest and thinking 'I wonder where that comes out' and being able to charge down it to find out. There is so much to discover, often on your own doorstep, and without mountain bikes it would remain unseen. For that reason alone, road bikes suck.
 
#44 ·
Mr Pig said:
That is a very good argument for riding on the road, if not necessarily an argument for road bikes themselves. You don't need a road bike to ride on the roads.

I'm fortunate enough to live in a village with countryside in three directions. We can go out and ride for miles on quiet back roads. Over the years almost all of the guys I ride with have bought road bikes but I have stuck to the MTB with slicks. Several reasons, I reckon I have to work harder than them which is no bad thing and also there are a lot of very rough farm tracks criss crossing the fields. On a mountain bike, even with slicks, they're no problem. On a road bike, they are a big problem. I still remember when the first of our group turned up one Saturday with a road bike. After that our rides changed. He moaned like crazy when we went down a dirt track and pretty soon it was all about distance on nice roads rather than exploring the countryside.

Don't get me wrong, it's still great to get out pounding the roads, but a mountain bike will take you places a road bike won't. It's great passing an opening in a forest and thinking 'I wonder where that comes out' and being able to charge down it to find out. There is so much to discover, often on your own doorstep, and without mountain bikes it would remain unseen. For that reason alone, road bikes suck.
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I took my "road" bike down some rough class 4 road today. I couldn't ride as fast down it as on a mountain bike, but I could still ride it. That was on a bike with 1.5" (38mm) wide tyres.
 
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#45 ·
Mr Pig said:
I'm fortunate enough to live in a village with countryside in three directions. We can go out and ride for miles on quiet back roads. Over the years almost all of the guys I ride with have bought road bikes but I have stuck to the MTB with slicks. Several reasons, I reckon I have to work harder than them which is no bad thing and also there are a lot of very rough farm tracks criss crossing the fields. On a mountain bike, even with slicks, they're no problem. On a road bike, they are a big problem. I still remember when the first of our group turned up one Saturday with a road bike. After that our rides changed. He moaned like crazy when we went down a dirt track and pretty soon it was all about distance on nice roads rather than exploring the countryside.

Don't get me wrong, it's still great to get out pounding the roads, but a mountain bike will take you places a road bike won't. It's great passing an opening in a forest and thinking 'I wonder where that comes out' and being able to charge down it to find out. There is so much to discover, often on your own doorstep, and without mountain bikes it would remain unseen. For that reason alone, road bikes suck.
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I do road ride with the mtb (offroad tires) as well...even group ride with a large charity rider team that covers all types of riders. I'm always getting comments about showing up on the mtb, Mr Big Wheels, tractor tire guy and such. I love it though. But if i want to hang with the big dogs, I gotta bring my road bike out. 22+ mph average is tough after a while on an mtb...at least for me.
 
#46 ·
CannondaleF9 said:
I took my "road" bike down some rough class 4 road today. I couldn't ride as fast down it as on a mountain bike, but I could still ride it. That was on a bike with 1.5" (38mm) wide tyres.
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1.5'' tyres aren't that narrow, most road bike tyres are less than that. And yes, technically you can get down a gravel track on a road bike but it's far from ideal. A MTB can do it no problem.

mopartodd said:
22+ mph average is tough after a while on an mtb...at least for me.
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No, I can't keep up either. Not for long. It depends. If I'm having a good day I can sometimes lead the way but more often than not I'm falling slowly behind. I get cramp a lot, usually somewhere over the thirty-mile mark, and I reckon it's partly because I'm pushing too hard. I've been sitting behind two guys on road bikes, toiling like crazy, then I realise they're coasting along having a chat!

Like I say, working harder is fine by me. If I wanted it easy I could sit in the house ;0)
 
#48 ·
Mr Pig said:
1.5'' tyres aren't that narrow, most road bike tyres are less than that. And yes, technically you can get down a gravel track on a road bike but it's far from ideal. A MTB can do it no problem.
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I know 1.5" aren't that narrow. I have a road bike with 23c tyres that I don't use because of the rough and steep climbs near me.
 
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#51 ·
Whacked said:
So all this time "wasted" riding pavement on skinny tires (ok 700x28 but still skinny) I was building endurance and strength without realizing it.
So yea, riding road bikes suck :)
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I'm sure that servicing sailors down at the docks would allow me to swallow Herculean amounts of GU and increase my recovery on rides faster, but you won't see me taking that up anytime soon. :)
 
#52 ·
I love riding my road bike. Its fast, smooth, and love the sound my Zipp 404's makes.

Riding at 30+ mph in a paceline is a pretty cool feeling. Being able to descend at 50 mph is pretty cool too.

Anybody ever race a crit? Now thats fast...
 
#54 ·
sisu said:
Unless you live in the mountains, it requires zero skills.
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Anyone who has ever been part of a bunch sprint in a road race probably disagrees with you. I would say staying on your bike while pushing yourself to the absolute limit at 40+ mph all while getting shoulder checked, bumped, and generally roughed up by the other 20 riders that are inches away from you requires a bit of skill, especially if you intend to win said sprint.
 
#55 ·
I've had more crashes and worse injuries on road bikes in a peloton than I ever have on an MTB. It is pretty flat here with very little wind; it's way too easy to get up to stupid speeds in a group then down we all go.

100mile + days on roadies have definitely helped me become fitter and stronger on my MTB
 
#58 ·
Yeah, ok so racing on the road in groups is scary biscuits but generally, riding on the road requires less skill. Normal, average joe blogs riding were talking about. If you want to get silly we could say:

'Well, you think riding at 100mph inches from a group of people who are trying to kill you is tough? You want to try deliberately going off the side of a mountain on your bike and then over a big ramp that throws you fifty-feet up in the air before landing you so far off the trail it takes mountain rescue to find you! That's tough.'

Of course the more competitive arena in any discipline is hard but that's not the point. Generally speaking riding on rough ground is harder than riding on smooth ground, it just is. So you can hurt yourself on a road bike, big deal? You can hurt yourself falling out of a window but it doesn't any special skill! Unless you count recklessness and an unhealthy disregard of the laws of physics.
 
#59 ·
Either discipline is whatever you make it. If your tendency is to push yourself, you're going to do it whether you're on dirt or on the road. For either to disparage the other is kind of silly. In my experience, they are totally complimentary to each other.

Mountain biking has taught me to ride light and stay loose. Subsequently, I don't fret about obstacles on my road bike when other riders suffer serious pucker. Also, since I switched to primarily SS, my climbing on my road bike has gotten MUCH better. Road riding has increased my endurance in a way that I could not have gotten by mountain riding alone. Time on my bike is good, period.
 
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