Serious question: Why do you do it?

on the road

One of the other good things about road bikes is if I'm short of time, I can get on the bike and do half an hours sprint and be back in time to do other stuff.

But for MTBer's, if you've only got half an hour to spare, then unless you have the countryside on your doorstep it's going to take you half an hour to drive to somewhere first.

SteveR_100Milers

The challenge and thrill of racing. mass start RRing is as big an adrenaline kick as downhill MTBing is, with the benefit you have to be fit anough to ride fast enough up hill aswell. And hairy legs and baggy shorts... :shock: come on now, seriously??

ddraver

you can ride uphill on a mountain bike too people........

only its somehat more challanging because of the technical difficulty - imagine alpe d'huex with cobbles all over it

IMO as someone who does both - road riding (NOT racing, i admit steve, as with all things thats another dimension) is more like running - where the satisfaction comes from going faster than last time, getting your time for a specific route down etc - I rarely get as much satisfaction from the countryside etc from road biking as off roading no surprise really

MTB is more technical, the fun comes from dealing with trail obstacles, even little small ones, nailing a drop for me can make or break a ride, I know i'm gonna get the country air, where ever i go BUT i could do it in an aircraft hanger and it would still be fun - road biking would nt

mikeitup

I got a MTB through work and use it to commute. I do it mainly for fitness
and it's good to get out with the wife and kids for a few hours on my weekends off.
Manage to go for a 10-12 mile ride in the evenings at the moment. Think it is great!!! wish i had done it yonks ago. Have changed the mtb tyres to schwalbe road cruisers and they have made a hell of a difference. Not so knackered now

Noodoo

Got to laugh at the Noodoo, Voodoo, You do comment! lol


I think I see a factor that I hadn't considered here... availability of routes.

My house backs on to Tame Valley http://www.tameside.gov.uk/countryside/tamevalley so for me, the availability of MTB trails isn't really something I think about. I guess if I was miles away from anywhere to ride MTB, then I would end up with a road bike.
I do prefer getting out in the hills, but if I want to nip out on the bike for an hour, I know the woods are just over my garden fence. I guess i'm pretty lucky in that respect.

My brother has an early MTB (a British Eagle...?) which he's put bar ends and road tyres on. I may have a play on that at some point.


Cheers folks.

pneumatic

Off-road requires concentration and agility and nerve and motivation and all that other yuppie stuff that is supposed to make us more fulfilled.

Me, I prefer the open (smooth) road, with a regular rhythm, a predictable pace and forseeable obstacles so I can let my mind drift pleasantly by itself while my body gets fit.

BTW, there's hardly any traffic where I live, so you can do that kind of thing.

heavymental

Nah man...get a thoroughbred and do it properly!

Have a good weekend folks, whatever wheels you take to. 8)

neilv

I think this is an interesting question and as most people in the UK own a bike that they would see as a mountain bike it probably impacts a load of people.

I spent most of my life on road bikes then in my late 20's I was introduced to mountian bikes. I was instantly hooked by getting offroad, away from cars and having fun just seeing stuff and focusing on the technical skills not where the wind is coming from.

I really enjoy REAL mountain biking as in riding off road and I hate riding my mountain bike on the road (its so bloody ineficient).

Then about 2 years ago I dug out my old road bike and started riding to work and I was instantly reminded about the buzz of speed, the return in fitness and you abaility to get places so much faster.

I now really enjoy ripping down b-roads riding somewhere that seem quite far away but also getting much more (from a fittness perspective) from 1 hour on a road bike than you do from 1 hour on a mountain bike.

I do the occasional sportif on the road and the occasionaly mountain bike race and the road bike really helps my mountain bike fitness.

So I ride both and a road bike is so much easier to keep clean :-).[/quote]

pneumatic

Don't get me wrong, I like the thrill of speed, I just don't fancy falling off onto anything other than soft fluffy snow.

I suppose the ideal for me would be road cycling up the Grands Cols of the Alps and then downhill skiing back to the bottom.. Only snag is that you have to wait several months for the snow to fall when you get to the top.

TomF

I used to ride MTBs almost exclusively. I believed in the "getting out into nature, away from the traffic, this is real cycling" stuff.

Then I bought a road bike. And, within 6 months, another.

I'm pretty slow on the road, but can comfortably cover 100 miles in about 6 hours. A recent MTBing "epic ride" (as described by my mate) in Scotland took 8 hours. We coverd 30 miles.

I have hit just over 60mph on my road bike.

Oh, and then there's where I live: to go road riding in the countryside (on B roads with few cars) it takes about 40 mins of riding from my front door. To go MTBing, I could spend twice as long riding the same distance, or the same amount of time in the car with the bike on the back.

And then there's the faff of MTBing - it takes hours to get my mates ready to go for a ride.

MTBing has a very American slant about it (save for the STW singlespeed beardy-weirdness...), wheras road riding has an air of European glamour: I'd rather be dressed by Rapha than by Fox (even if the latter is more suitable for my, er, "physique"!).

Don't get me wrong, I do love MTBing, but it doesn't stir my soul like riding a road bike. The feeling of being able to go anywhere just by pedalling. The quiet as you cruise along. The cake at the cafe stop. The sheer, bottomless exhastion after a hard 120 miles in the Dales.

Tom

ddraver

thats my point about road cycling being like running - who cares if you did 100miles or 30 miles as long as you enjoyed the time over both

i'm not mocking road cycling,\from\commuting i understand a little bit but given the choice bewtween doing burrator to princetown (dartmoor) i ll tkae the bridleway over the road anyday, even though i ll get to princetown much earlier on the road

its quieter, more natural and even the boring bits are significantly more fun to ride-who cares if i spend an hour going 10 miles or 20 miles - my HRM will be the same so the fitness beneifts will be the same

I am playing devils advocate \i nadlit but someones got to defend the other side

on the road

Another point, some of us live in the middle of big cities, so to ride off road, we would have to ride on the road first and for at least an hour before getting to the countryside.

Rich Hcp

I have a rigid MTB and an Allez.

I love riding them both.

I feel safer off roading with friends and ended up training on the road more than off for the South Downs Way (Done in May in the wet!)

So I bought the road bike.

I ride to get and keep fit, I had a couple of what turned out to be minor health issues, shingles and a cancer scare (Which was OK)

I was 2 stone over weight, which didn't help and decided I wanted to get fitter to live longer and annoy more people!

It gets harder to get fit when you get past 40, but it's well worth it

rdaviesb

Not losing the seasons. Even if they are a bit muddled this year.

treize vents

Some of you think there are "sides" of and "argument". But most of you make some very heartfelt and honest comments, and above all, see the pleasure in both kinds of riding. I never had a VTT (as we call them in France), until I turned 61. I immediately found out why people like riding off road. Although I seem to have accumulated more minor injuries falling off than I ever did in forty years on the road. And riding the VTT didn't diminish my pleasure of road riding whether alone or with the club. In fact, although it might be hard to believe, I actually like riding slowly with a less than fit companion, and ALSO riding in the city, with all the traffic. I have nothing to add to the reasons you all have mentioned, but my advice would be really simple. If you have not tried all forms of cycling, then make some attempt immediately. They are all fantastic. In fact, just to remind you, riding a recumbent can be really different and fun as well. All forms of cycling have a social component and an alone component. Its a good idea to experience them all. Mind you, this means you have to have somewhere to store a few different bikes and the money to buy them. Unless you rent a city bike in towns like Paris or Lyon. Vive le velo.

xover_runner

Lycra fetish

SteveR_100Milers

To be honest I also ride an MTB along the taf trail a lot in the winter; the absence of traffic is fantastic, and you can really just lose yourself in the open countryside in a way that is impossible even on a small country lane. I would also love to ride places like cwmcarn and afan argoed, but I'm a bit of a wuss with no head for heights or "extreme" sports. I can certainly appreciate the challenge of the technical skills required: when I was a kid all we ever did was go "scrambling" in the fields behind our houses. Until you could do a 180 degree spin without putting you're foot down you weren't one of the boys (and girls). Although both activities use a bike, the difference between road riding and proper off roading (not as in riding along canal tow paths) is so great as to make a comparison no more meaningful than that between skiing and road cycling.

Jeremy Parker

Noodoo wrote:

'Afternoon folks.

Now I know this makes me look a complete and utter ar$£, but I want to ask:

Why?


I ride cross country MTB stuff and I do it for the fresh air, the open spaces, the scenery and the socialising.
I can't see what you guys gain from Road riding. You're on roads (ie civilisation), the traffic is scary, and you don't appear to ride in groups or talk to each other...

As I said, I know it makes me sound like a tw@, but it is a serious question that has been puzzling me for some time...

I can only think that the desire to ride the roads is for personal acheivement and an increase in fitness.
When I see guys hurtling past me on the road at 30mph, on a bike that weighs approximately the same as a Gnats pube, I obviously wish I could travel that fast, but from a 'What does he get out of it?' point of view, I just don't get it.

Once again, i'm not being arsey, i'm genuinely intrigued.


Cheers.

Well, that is a good question, and its a difficult question to answer too.

First of all: scariness. Everything is scary the first time you try it, and perhaps justifiably so, because nothing is completely safe, even staying in bed.

Driving a car for the first time is far more scary than riding on the road, but people learn to drive because they think the benefits are worth working through the scariness, and getting used to driving.

If you thought it was worth it, the same process would work for cycling on the road, as well. As you gain skill and knowledge, scaredness changes to confidence. You already ride off road, so you don't have much you need to gain in skills, its only knowledge.

To some extent you can get that knowledge out of a book, John Franklin's "Cyclecraft" is the classic, but really you have to try things for yourself to be convinced that they are all true.

As for enjoyment, most of the off road items apply to on road riding as well. The countryside is worth looking at, but so are cities. People come from all over the world to be tourists here. As for socialising, I remember the days in the first American bike boom, when you could chat up any girl you were stopped at the same traffic light with. I'm not sure it works quite the same way in today's London, but cyclists are friendlier than motorists, and the common way to give a warning that you are overtaking is to say "good morning", or whatever, not to blast a horn at them

Besides, on the road, you can combine enjoyment with doing something useful, like getting to work, or the shops

On the road you can get to feel very smug, from just having so obviously the most superior form of transport. For motorists the rush hour is sadly misnamed. On a bike you will likely be sailing past all the cardines, sealed in their tin cans

Away from the rush hours, a country lane can be almost as remote as a country bridle path, and you eat up the miles more quickly on smooth tarmac paving

Here in London we have a tube strike coming up. Its the ideal time to try riding on the road

Jeremy Parker

MattBlackBigBoysBMX

Road bike, MTB, car, it's all the same for me; sense of freedom and ok, speed.
There are other factors unique to each mode of transport but I think the first reason is the most important. 8)

nolf

I think you get a lot more freedom on a road bike than on a mountain bike.

The one thing I really love about my road bike (s) is that I generally haven't decided where I'm actually going until about 5 Miles in, as there are so many roads to choose from, whereas there are only limited off road tracks.

The best example of this was I woke up on Wednesday and thought, I feel good today think i'll go cycling this morning, so took £5, 2 bottles of energy drink and a sandwich and just blasted whichever way gave me a tailwind

Ended up going to Abergavenny, then Chepstow and back home. Hadn't planned to do a 100 mile ride, but i was feeling good so I went for it.
You have a freedom to do whatever type of riding you feel like that I don't think you get with MTBing.

Also yeah the feeling of speed, fitness gains, distances you can cover and eliteness 8) of road bikes all make me prefer them!!

mh130

I started cycling again this year to get fit. Quickly got back into the 'speed is good' frame of mind and this is still the case now.

The scenary thing is also good - I've discoivered some beautiful parts of Herts that I knew nothing about - including some rather lovely pubs.

But the biggest reason I do it now is that it is one of the few times you really focus on one thing. When you're on the road you're not thinking about your other half*, the kids, your job, the shed that needs painting or any of that stuff. Personally I find it really refreshing to have time away from day-to-day life.

*Unless my wife reads this in which case I will deny all knowledge of having posted this and claim that someone has hacked into my username

MattBlackBigBoysBMX

nolf wrote:

I think you get a lot more freedom on a road bike than on a mountain bike.

No way! I can take my MTB anywhere you can take your road bike, can you say the same?

nolf wrote:

Also yeah the feeling of speed [snip] of road bikes make me prefer them!!

I also love the speed of road bikes, but having said that the fastest I've ever been was on a MTB, at over 50mph. Most I have done on a road bike is about 43.5mph.

nolf

Yeah but an MTB on the road is rubbish!
It's slow and loud and annoying!

I was just saying that you can't just wander around in unlimited woodlands and MTB trails for as long as you want as there aren't enough of them.

Noodoo

I see your point about 'go anywhere on the suitable terrain'...
OK, you can use an MTB on the road, but it is a slog.

I also see the point about not thinking about anything else but the riding, though I think that applies to anything that takes your full concentreation. I get the same from MTB and Snowboarding.

jhon

The pure pleasure you get when you stand up off the saddles and power your legs up a hill on a frame weighing less than 2kg... if pure bliss.
I can't really explain it plus not all roads are scary once you get outside of a city.

Millidog

The thrill of it all !! As a recently converted MTB rider ( 6 months ) my advice is go do it and you`ll find out why. PS enjoy cleaning the crap off your bike this winter.

danseur

What a fantastic thread! Great to read so much passion.

I rode mountain bikes exclusively until I bought my first road bike a year ago. I love both aspects of cycling. Getting muddy and riding up or down a rocky track without putting a foot down for the first time is a great feeling.

So is caning it up a steep hill on a lightweight whippet feeling like your heart is about to burst out of your chest followed by the exhilaration of the descent with only a thin layer of lycra between you and the elements.

If only there was more time to do both...

in the wire

To be honest, I was going to come up with something glib.

But was wondering about the danger of it all

-How much more dangerous is MTB than road riding?
-How much more dangerous is bike commuting than crossing busy roads?
-How much more dangerous is horse riding than bike riding.

too many variables

baudman

Look at my sig. I have three bikes.

My heap commuter - for commuting
My road bike - for riding distances
My mtb - for riding off-road, on the increasing rare times when I actually get it off its hook and go somewhere.

I love doing all three, for different reasons. OK... I'd prefer not to have to be AT work, but at least the getting to/from makes it fun.

But to the orig question - riding as a group on the roadie is great fun, and it's with the road bike that I feel more 'at one with the machine'. It's smooth, it's fast. It's more 'real'. It also gives me an excuse to wear the increasing amount of free lycra I get doing these ride events - coz I can't bring myself to wear it on the commute or the MTB.

Monty Dog

As someone say, there;s a certain 'zen-like' trance you can achieve on a road bike, because of the cadence, the speed, and the distance that's pretty difficult to achieve on an MTB - I find that I can sustain this for long period with few distractions, whereas on an MTB it's too stop-start and not challenging enough terrain in these parts to make it quite as satisfying. I use a cross-bike these days for off-road - the increased skill and technique is far more rewarding than just blatting terrain with big fat tyres, countless gears and heavy suspension - and then the maintenance, cleaning and worn-out parts. Choose the right roads and road cycling is a very rewarding, sociable experience - I ride with friends - often 50 miles to a cafe or tearoom and have a good burn-up on the way back. Physically, the demands of a road bike are better for your fitness than a road bike as you can sustain higher efforts for longer. Until you've tried it, you can't really explain what the sense of speed and feeling of handling give you - descending alpine passes at 50mph plus, being the fastest thing on the road, overtaking cars etc is about the biggest buzz you can get - challenging the limits of your physical and handling abilities. Get out there and try it, you might actually like it!