are mtbs overkill ?

john74

im just wondering what peoples perception of mtbs is. i was a mtber for years and then bought a cyclo cross bike and i ride the same trails but alot quicker and hills are certainly easier so is a mtb just a gimmick do you really need 2.5 tyres and a frame set that could withstand a nuclear holocaust. or will a cylo cross bike do all the same things but not in as fashionable way?

whyamihere

If you're riding smooth trails, you can get away with a CX bike. If you're riding steep rocky descents, with jumps and drops, you need a mountain bike. Horses for courses.

hammerite

I think it really depends on what you are doing. If they are just trails, then a MTB probably is overkill. But if you are doing some proper MTB routes you'd probably not want to put a cyclo cross bike through that sort of abuse.

I went and did a couple of trails in Snowdonia on my hard tail (front suspension) MTB and most of the other riders were shocked I was even considering trying it on one (they all had full suspension jobbies), the hardtail managed it but at times it wasn't very comfortable!

Bikerbaboon

all depends on where you ride. i would hate to try to get a cyclo cross bike round dalby forrest red trail. I do think that quite a few people get more bike than they need but let them if they work hard for the cash to buy the bike and it lets them feel like peaty for 2 hours on a morning as they blast down some trails who are we to poo poo the purchase.

Steve_b77

Like the others say, there are plenty of situations where a mountina bike with just front suspension will provide a better, safer and faster ride than a cyclo cross bike.

When you throw in uneven narrow single track, rocks the size of babies heads, very unforgiving tree roots, not to mention Jumps and drops (say 2ft or more) there's very little in the man powered bike world that'll cope like a full susser.

I for one wouldn't like to try and get down or even up some of the Welsh Mountains/Hills without suspension let alone the likes of the Alps and the Pryanese 8)

synchronicity

I would like to see you bring your CX bike here.
Ride one trail with me and I bet you'd change your tune. :P

The whole thing is the name: MOUNTAINbike. If there are no mountains nearby, they might well be considered overkill by some people.

cee

You could say the same about road bikes...

Does the average sunday/club rider NEED that full carbon sub-UCI-weight-limit pro racer?

I think that BikerBaboon has a good point in that it depends on where you ride most often as to what bike you would get most use out of.

I don't think that the majority of riders (road or mtb) will ever reach the full potential of what their bike is capable of.... Whats the bets that Steve Peat could show you what is achievable on any bike (or pick your favourite Pro Tour rider on a not quite entry level road bike as well)

I have two bikes, a Spec Hardrock and an Orange Patriot (recently bought 2nd hand, first real outing Yesterday).. The amount of confidence that the Patriot inspires, compared to the Hardrock is vast! Same trails, same ability, more confidence....I seriously rocked my quickest times down the trails.

Now I hope that will transfer to the hardtail and maybe I will get my times down, but the instant boost in speed was incredible (attested to by my mate who took the chicken route round the new black drop and gasped as I overtook him at the head height!)

So...thats my 10p worth (inflation)

1892

I've got an old MTB no suspension 1.5" tyres, it's better on road than on rough trails, if you are riding rough trails then you've got to be looking @ bike with suspension.

boybiker

cee wrote:

Does the average sunday/club rider NEED that full carbon sub-UCI-weight-limit pro racer?

Yes of course it needed plus go faster wheels and a silly little cap

Mark Alexander

1892 wrote:

I've got an old MTB no suspension 1.5" tyres, it's better on road than on rough trails, if you are riding rough trails then you've got to be looking @ bike with suspension.

I've noticed that MTB'ers talk in inches and roadies talk about adjuistments in mm. I can't believe that setting up MTB's are any less of a precice 'art' than rodies.

whyamihere

Mark Alexander wrote:

I've noticed that MTB'ers talk in inches and roadies talk about adjuistments in mm. I can't believe that setting up MTB's are any less of a precice 'art' than rodies.

Road bikes were developed in Europe, where the metric system is used everywhere. MTBs were born in America, where the Imperial system is used. That's why.

el_presidente

I did the "Hell of the North Cotsolds" this year, on my 8 year old HT Stumpjumper. Plenty fo folks were on cyclocross bikes, plenty also were on ridiculous 5" travel full-sus monsters that they couldn't pedal up hills. I have never felt so fit on a mass event before!

geoff_ss

el_presidente wrote:

I did the "Hell of the North Cotsolds" this year, on my 8 year old HT Stumpjumper. Plenty fo folks were on cyclocross bikes, plenty also were on ridiculous 5" travel full-sus monsters that they couldn't pedal up hills. I have never felt so fit on a mass event before!

Ah, is that still being run? Obviously so

I last rode it in 1990 on my totally rigid Mercian ATB and IIRC had absolutely no problem riding it all. I suppose I may have walked up a hill somewhere but it wasn't a particularly demanding route (at least at the level of fitness I had then). Great fun though.

I also rode a very low key event a few weeks later called 'The Hell of the North York Moors' which was also very enjoyable. Is that still being run too? At that time there wasn't any distinction between road and off-road cyclists. Most people I knew did both; it just depended which bike they chose to ride.

Unfortunately I had to give up that kind of riding after an accident a few months later.

Geoff