MTBers who've joined the dark side, unite!

Surf-Matt

Quite a few of us now!

cycle_addict

I too have joined the dark side - have a wide array of lycra (shorts, bib-shorts, tights! and road shoes)....and I'm loving it [MTB now gathering lots of dust]!

MikeWW

Well tonight it will be darkside, Saturday a bit of both and Sunday will be the Beast and Tarw at Coed Y Brenin
BTW if you do wear lycra other roadies tend to nod rather than blank you

Barkiesnake

Jake151 wrote:

Oh and not all roadies shave, Some of us have an image to uphold haha

Jake, I've seen your image, try shaving or is it that you are not old enough to require shaving yet?

Are you still enjoying the Defy as much as i am?

Finbar Saunders

I'm the reverse....been riding road bikes for years and got a MTB in December. Still have the spoke protector on it, although I wouldn't be caught dead with one on any of my road bikes. It just seems so much more acceptable for a MTBer!

I have one pair of padded baggies and a closet full of lycra. I find the baggies significantly hotter than lycra as far as shorts go, and as a result I....ummm....tend to hang low as the twins try to keep cool!! I use road jerseys on either bike as I love the pockets. I can't see the point of an MTB jersey over a loose road jersey, especially a road jersey with a 3/4 or full zip. Am I missing the point here?

I have done 2 XC races so far. I still find myself worrying that my front wheel is going to slide out from under me! I have to keep reminding myself an MTB is designed for the conditions.

At the end of the day it's just another bike. And the rest of the public just see us as cyclists.

MattC59

Hey all !!

I've just got into road biking and I've been mtbing since about 1988. The first thing I did was buy some decent lycra. I wear baggies with padded lycra when I'm mtbing anyway, I just needed (read wanted) some new ones. I can highly recommend the Endura FS260 Pro shorts, they're comfy, look good (as far as lycra can) and your ar*e won't be in tatters after an hour.

As for shaving my legs........... sod that !!

I still use a camelbak, all be it a 1.5L version, 'cause I prefer it to bottles (although bottles would give me an excuse to buy shiney carbon bottle cages )

As for shoes and SPDs, I wnet the whole hog and bought some Shimano R086 shoes and Ultegra pedals. I'd highly recommend these, but I don't see any reason not to use XC race type shoes and mtb SPDs.

To be honest, I got a bit sucked into it all and now find myself in the position of "All the gear, no idea", but hey, I'm happy

I would recommend a pair of roadie shorts though. They're a great deal more comfortable and practical on the road.

I'm sure people will notice you're a mountain biker, despite all of the roadie gear, I still find myself hanging off the back on steep fast hills, kicking the bike over in the turns and loading my weight onto the outside pedal and......... bunnyhopping / manualing the rougher sections of the road

I was out last week and one of the guys commented on my pedaling style and that I was spinning circles rather than just pushing down with the leading pedal. He's a racer and told me that mountain bikers generally have a better/smoother pedaling tecnique than seasoned roadies. something to do with mountain bikers struggling to maintain traction, which makes sense).

I know there's a lot of traction to be had from these rediculously thin slick tires, but does anyone else get the fear when leaning the bike into fast corners ?? :? the thought of pedal strikes on a road bike is not amusing !!!

Cheers........ Matt

pickled

Well, I took the advice and removed my helmet peak.
I'd like to report that it has made a big difference...
... the sun now gets in my eyes.

Soul Boy

I would consider getting a roadie for my commute, but space and money won't allow right now. The when you get the bike, theres all that money on team replica lycra, matching lid, fancy shoes and little white socks to wear over the top. Not to mention the extra expenditure on razors.

But I do think theres milage in the idea of getting a load of MTBers to do a sportive one weekend and let the roadie loose on the trails. Would be absolute carnage all round

hopper1

I went over to the dark side about two years ago, and I love it!
I originally bought a road bike to enhance my training, as I felt that rides with continuous pedalling were better than my offroad training which had a lot of stop/go riding in it because of the terrain.
Once I started to ride the road bike I loved it, now my MTB gets aired around once or twice a month, but only after I've done my road training ride!
I now have/wear all the kit for road riding, same as MTBing. I think that if you're on a road bike, people don't bat an eyelid that you are wearing lycra, and to me, baggies look out of place on a roadie.
I'm even a road club member, too...

Oh, I recently got a skin suit for TTing!!! :shock:
Now the Summer is here, I've just replaced my road tyres with Michelin Pro 3's, no tread what so ever... Very pretty though.

Paul

Mark_K

i Got my road bike in Jan "just for training :roll: " now i find that i tend to split my time 50/50 between road and off road ! And yes i have switched to full Lycra for on the road, its a lot cooler and more comfortable than baggies!
But i have Shimano spd SL shoes and pedals and try as i might i just don't seem to get on with them when it comes to uncliping, i'm not sure if its just the changing back and forth from mtb spd.s to the SL that's catching me out or not, but i know one day i'll end up on my arse :oops:

neil_sheehan2000

Soul Boy wrote:

But I do think theres milage in the idea of getting a load of MTBers to do a sportive one weekend and let the roadie loose on the trails. Would be absolute carnage all round

That's a brilliant idea! We would all have to wear full-facers and kneepads for the sportive though- just for the banter.

Further to my original question though, I'm still not sure what 700c means. I mean, I know it's the wheel size but what does the '700' stand for? What does the 'c' stand for? I though it might be a measurement of circumference but...

(29 x 2.52.... divide by 2... square... times pi... errrr...)

...oh, I can't work it out, but there's no way the circumference of the wheels is seven metres!

p.s. when did people find that their hands had gotten used to the hoods and stopped aching so much?

softlad

Soul Boy wrote:

But I do think theres milage in the idea of getting a load of MTBers to do a sportive one weekend and let the roadie loose on the trails. Would be absolute carnage all round

you are assuming that 'roadies' are crap offroad - let me know if you're ever up this way and we'll do a couple of laps of Brechfa together....

strodey

I turned into a roady 2 months ago, even bought a new wardrobe to show off my skinny legs with lycra!
Must say really enjoyable though! got back on my mountain bike and found i was loads faster then before, i put it down to not having the silly granny ring and having to make myself hammer it up the hills! definatley improved my power! Leaving my mates for dust!

Zendog1

It's the diameter of the tire (tread - if you have any to tread) in mm. The wheel rim itself is about 640mm from memory. No idea what the cc means (centre to centre?)

Two road bikes and an MTB for getting muddy

cjw

c stands for clincher. Which is the tyre type used - clincher if I recall refers to a tyre with a wire bead, ie almost all tyres used nowadays.

PS... another MTBer who will be on the road after my hols which start next week for almost 3 weeks

softlad

cjw wrote:

c stands for clincher. Which is the tyre type used - clincher if I recall refers to a tyre with a wire bead, ie almost all tyres used nowadays.

it doesn't stand for 'clincher', because tubs are also available in 700c fitting....

cjw

softlad wrote:

cjw wrote:

c stands for clincher. Which is the tyre type used - clincher if I recall refers to a tyre with a wire bead, ie almost all tyres used nowadays.

it doesn't stand for 'clincher', because tubs are also available in 700c fitting....

Really... what does it stand for then....

"29 inch wheels / 622 mm rim
Main article: 29"er
“29-inch wheels”, which also conform to the popular 700C (622 mm diameter clincher wheel standard) are becoming more popular for not only cyclocross bikes but also cross-country mountain bikes for larger riders. Their rim diameter of 622 mm (~24.5 inch) is identical to most road, hybrid and touring bicycle wheels but are typically reinforced for greater durability in off-road riding. The average "29er" mountain bike tire has an outside diameter of about 28.5" (724 mm). There are advantages and disadvantages associated with this change discussed in detail in the main article.

"

softlad

cjw wrote:

Really... what does it stand for then...

I honestly don't know - and it honestly doesn't really matter.....

cjw

Finally found what it stands for (I think) on Sheldon Brown....

French sizes:

In the French system, the first number is the nominal diameter in mm, followed by a letter code for the width: "A" is narrow, "D" is wide. The letter codes no longer correspond to the tire width, since narrow tires are often made for rim sizes that originally took wide tires; for example, 700 C was originally a wide size, but now is available in very narrow widths, with actual diameters as small as 660 mm.

LardLover

Another one here, came over in January after mountain biking for the last 17 years.

636sean is another.

vonobox

Me too, I spent 20 years as a MTB fanatic and broke my ribs on a nasty fall face-down onto a boulder, so was laid up for a couple of weeks which was spent watching last years Tour de France, I was inspired and bought a bargain upgraded Spesh Allez Elite off eBay.

When recovered, I tried it and couldn't believe how fast it moved. It was like comparing a Ferrari to a tank (ok... it's a Spesh Epic Expert so let's say Range Rover), when I found myself going up a steep uphill at 13-14mph I was hooked.

Not sure about feeling every tiny little bump and stone in the road, but it's still awesome how fast you can go on them compared to the MTB on the road.

I've got some reservations though:

All my mates still ride MTBs and so I go out alone. I daren't join a road club for fear of being dropped after 2 miles, I have no idea if I'm fast\fit or not compared to others!

My peak is still on my 2D helmet - I can't see the benefit of not having it on :?:

I used to wear lycra in the 90's but can't bring myself to show off my bits in public after wearing baggies for so long. I fear being arrested on an indecency charge.

I daren't corner very fast as boy, are those tyres SKINNY!

It appears to be wrong to ride on cycle paths on a road, despite them running parallel to the road. But surely it's better to not risk being whacked by White Van Man?!

Anyway, my MTB still gets at least a weekly run-out 'cos of my non-roadie mates, but in all honesty, I think I prefer the dark side :oops:

hopper1

vonobox wrote:

I daren't corner very fast as boy, are those tyres SKINNY!

I'm riding on Michelin Race Pro 3 tyres... completely tread free, like riding on inner tubes! But, I doubt there's much difference between the size of the contact patch on these tyres and that of my Michelin MTB tyres, there can only be a couple of knobbly bits touching the ground at any one time (on road).
Cornering at speed is a little weird at first, skinny tyres, twitchy steering geometry, etc, but you do get accustomed to it.

I thought I was reasonably fit, until I got my road bike. I live in Norfolk, so it's not exactly hilly, but the difference in gearing was blatantly obvious, all too quickly! I must have got stronger, as I don't have to change gear so much now!

Stick at it guys

punctureboy

another recent convert to the dark side here, more because i'm getting into triathlons, and doing them on an mtb is only funny and have-a-go-esq for a couple of races.

no probs wearing lycra here. i wear it on my mtb as well when the weather is hot.

i always thought the 700cc referred to the volume of the tyre.

Chris Swansea

When I swapped my Giro Xen for a Giro Atmos (when riding my Allez), I started getting friendly waves from passing roadies.

Now I have my Assos shorts, 'proper' mud free road shoes and I'm sans Camelbak they actually come and talk to me!

But when they see me ride off, they know the truth

bice

vonobox wrote:

My peak is still on my 2D helmet - I can't see the benefit of not having it on :?: :

I use a hat with a peak and it is quite useful for shade. It also helps me going up hill because I can't see how far i still have to go. Contrariwise, it is pretty dangerous downhill on the drops as you can't see where you are going. i recently went into massive pothole because of this

Steve_b77

I'm about to take my second visit to the dark side, I'm picking up a Carrera Vanquish on Sunday to be used as a commuter and training rides as I'm moving to London Village from Cheshire with work f or the next 18 months, and from what I can figure out there isn;t any proper (welsh style) MTB'ing within the M25.

I recon, a MTB riders sportive may well be a right laff, must include beer though as most all day/night/mid-week MTB rides round my way end with a beer or two

strodey

All my mates still ride MTBs and so I go out alone. I daren't join a road club for fear of being dropped after 2 miles, I have no idea if I'm fast\fit or not compared to others!

I'm the same but can't help but think a bit of draughting and i'd keep up easy!

softlad

punctureboy wrote:

i always thought the 700cc referred to the volume of the tyre.

700c - not cc

lastwords

I have been won over by the dark side too.

I still cant get over the acceleration you get from a road bike when you stand up, at first it felt vert twitchy and i wouldnt corner very quick but now i have got the hang of it its great. I just hope there plenty of grip lol.

I wear lycra shorts remove the peak because i need to see when using the drops, but at the moment i still use my camelbak.

Still love rinding my mtb did cut gate path in the peaks at the weekend and it seemed easier after all the road training

Surf-Matt

bice wrote:

vonobox wrote:

My peak is still on my 2D helmet - I can't see the benefit of not having it on :?: :

I use a hat with a peak and it is quite useful for shade. It also helps me going up hill because I can't see how far i still have to go. Contrariwise, it is pretty dangerous downhill on the drops as you can't see where you are going. i recently went into massive pothole because of this

My 2D peak goes on for MTBing and off for road riding. Partly because that seems to be the "done thing!" Looks better too.

Use the Camelback (Mule) on the MTB for essential repair kit (pump, tyre levers, patches, phone) and use a Topeak Aero Wedge on the Allez. Same water bottle though (only fill the Camelbak bladder (and more repair/eating kit) for really long MTB rides), same SPD shoes, similar pedals. And still wearing baggies (Singletracks) over the lycra shorts (Altura Progel) - I can't see myself ever going lycra only. The baggies are perfectly comfy.