Are MTB'rs more mechanically astute than Roadies?

brindlescoops

I did the London to Brighton on Sunday and one of the things that I couldnt believe, was the number of road bikes that were oh so poorly maintained and I mean some expensive bits of kit. I heard so many catching brakes on slightly buckled wheels, front mechs fouling the chain and rear mechs desperatly trying to change whilst the riders seemed to plough on obliviously. I really couldnt ride 54 yards let alone 54 miles like that, it would drive me crazy. I neve saw or heard the same with the buys on Mountain bikes, so I can only presume, that on balance MTB'rs are more diligent when it comes to fettling and set up.

supersonic

I reckon a lot of people who did the ride may have borrowed or begged a mates clunker he had in the shed for the last 20 years!

But there is a lot more mechanically to do with an MTB.

brindlescoops

supersonic wrote:

I reckon a lot of people who did the ride may have borrowed or begged a mates clunker he had in the shed for the last 20 years!

But there is a lot more mechanically to do with an MTB.

There were defo plenty of those, but these were £1k plus bikes, even if they were borrowed, the owner would surely have them setup properly. I had to laugh at one old love who was on Noahs bike and the rear ally mudguard was bent and fouling the tyre, not only did it sound terrible, the tyre it was shaving surely wouldnt last the distance. :shock:

nicklouse

One thing I have noticed. MTB side is more bike orientated while the road side is more rider orientated.

brindlescoops

nicklouse wrote:

One thing I have noticed. MTB side is more bike orientated while the road side is more rider orientated.

As in MTB riders upgrade and fettle the bike, where the roadies tend to improve themselves?

thistle_

I didn't notice any particularly badly maintained bikes when I did L2B a while ago, but I wasn't looking.

I think it might be something to do with expectations - road bikes are sleek, fast machines and you'd expect them to be kept well tuned. MTBs are for chucking down rocks and not breaking (well, kind of) so a few wobbly bits can be tolerated.

You mention slightly buckled wheels catching brakes - most MTBs these days don't have that problem because they have discs and slightly wavy discs are less noticeable.
I don't think I've ever got a front mech aligned so perfectly that it doesn't catch in some combination of gears (on either a road bike or MTB). I know in an ideal world you pick your gears so it doesn't happen but it doesn't always work like that in reality.

Also it's London to Brighton - I wouldn't take it as a representative sample of roadies

nicklouse

BrindleScoops wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

One thing I have noticed. MTB side is more bike orientated while the road side is more rider orientated.

As in MTB riders upgrade and fettle the bike, where the roadies tend to improve themselves?

Nope as in the suspension needs setting up for each trail etc..... Gear ratios need to be considered in both sides but that is just about i for the tarmac. It is much simpler.

Mtbers are more likely to need to do a trail side fix. I got very few MTBs in for the I have a ride at the weekend can you fix this. But the number of rodies who would com in 1/2 hour before Beer time wanting the inner gear cables changing on their SRAM gears.......

I am sure Sweden still owes me a bottle of Strong stuff.

omegas

BrindleScoops wrote:

I did the London to Brighton on Sunday and one of the things that I couldnt believe, was the number of road bikes that were oh so poorly maintained and I mean some expensive bits of kit.

Anyone who has taken part in any of these type of events will find that half the people in will be riding a bike for the first time in years and have not owned a bike of their own for even longer.

brindlescoops

omegas wrote:

BrindleScoops wrote:

I did the London to Brighton on Sunday and one of the things that I couldnt believe, was the number of road bikes that were oh so poorly maintained and I mean some expensive bits of kit.

Anyone who has taken part in any of these type of events will find that half the people in will be riding a bike for the first time in years and have not owned a bike of their own for even longer.

I know, I know, I know nut I'm not talking about the aunty veras with wicker baskets or the lads on choppers I'm just talking about the guys with £4 figure bikes, who are dressed like Mark Cavendish.

brindlescoops

nicklouse wrote:

BrindleScoops wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

One thing I have noticed. MTB side is more bike orientated while the road side is more rider orientated.

As in MTB riders upgrade and fettle the bike, where the roadies tend to improve themselves?

Nope as in the suspension needs setting up for each trail etc..... Gear ratios need to be considered in both sides but that is just about i for the tarmac. It is much simpler.

Mtbers are more likely to need to do a trail side fix. I got very few MTBs in for the I have a ride at the weekend can you fix this. But the number of rodies who would com in 1/2 hour before Beer time wanting the inner gear cables changing on their SRAM gears.......

I am sure Sweden still owes me a bottle of Strong stuff.

Yeh I guess so, I carry a full set of tools, tubes, drink food and field dressing pack (due to my tendancy to have more enthusuasm than ability :shock: ) etc in my camelbak, not sure the roadies can keep much of a toolkit in their under saddle pouch!

mcnultycop

I think a lot of it is due to the implications of mechanical failure. If you fail on a road that cars use you can:
Phone a friend
Phone a cab
Wait for another roadie to come past

As happened me when my pump failed at Cragg quarry with no-one else around, you can:
Go for a very long hike.

Thewaylander

I do know a few roadies who can't really do basic maintenance but i can't say if it's typical.

I just figure on road it's less difficult mash things up and have to deal with it where you can of depend on your mtb to get you home from god know's where.

diy

Road bikes make more noise when you brake compared to disc brakes. It doesn't mean the bike is poorly maintained. You really cant judge l2b riders as your avg roady. Most roadies would do 54 miles as a training ride. Enjoy it for what it is a fun ride.

Northwind

My road bike and my commuter need practically no maintenance compared to my mtbs, and you learn by doing generally... So for an equal amount of riding I'd assume that roadies have had less need to learn.

nferrar

Most people I know (inc. myself) ride both MTB and road regularly so there's no difference between the rider. I would say though I'm more inclined to do some fettling on the MTB but that's mainly as it needs it more (disc brakes, suspension, more cleaning etc.). I rarely touch my road bikes until something makes a funny noise or breaks.

bails87

Yep, other than occasional tweaks to gear cables and the usual lubing requirements my road bike doesn't really require much fettling. It works until something gets broken by being dropped/bashed/run over.

Whereas on the MTB stuff needs checking regularly, forks for example are at their best when they're serviced at the suggested intervals.

But then that's a good thing about road riding, there's less fussing about with the mechanics. You (or I, at least) can just get on, put a multitool and a tube in my back pocket and go for a ride knowing that if anything breaks that can't be mended with an allen key, it's probably because I've come off the bike so I'd be in no state to ride home even if the bike itself was fine.

bompington

Oh, am I meant to do maintenance on my MTB then?
I just work on the principle that it's supposed to be indestructible. Maybe that's why I break bits so often ;-)

mrmonkfinger

I haven't touched my road bike in literally years, gets cleaned & oiled every so often, but that's it. Might adjust the brakes every once in a while.

MTBs... stuff breaks, gets rattled loose, punctures, rock strikes, casing jumps, mud gets everywhere, pivots wear out, dampers need servicing... Things just need fixing a lot more often.

I guess a roadie might find the odd pothole, but no need to get your hands dirty if you only ride road.

blablablacksheep

Personally i think things are more likely to go wrong with MTB bikes than Road bikes as you putting the bike through its paces a lot more and given the vibrations going through the bike things tend to go wrong more offen, this means MTB bikers tend to have to deal with more problems and workshop related issues than roadies whos bikes tend to last a lot longer without work needed to them.

then again i saw people with a pair of £10 trainers and carrying a JJB bag with them when i did the 100k run fro L2B.....

oodboo

I was serverd by a roadie at my lbs when I went in to test ride a bike. I told him I'll need more air in the fork as it's far too soft for my weight, he came back with a track pump, made the front tyre rock hard and said there you go. I then took the valve cover off the top of the fork and asked him to get a shock pump. He had a confused look on his face then got someone else to help me.

cooldad

oodboo wrote:

I was serverd by a roadie at my lbs when I went in to test ride a bike. I told him I'll need more air in the fork as it's far too soft for my weight, he came back with a track pump, made the front tyre rock hard and said there you go. I then took the valve cover off the top of the fork and asked him to get a shock pump. He had a confused look on his face then got someone else to help me.

Next ask an MTBer to fit a tub. You may see the same look.

bails87

cooldad wrote:

oodboo wrote:

I was serverd by a roadie at my lbs when I went in to test ride a bike. I told him I'll need more air in the fork as it's far too soft for my weight, he came back with a track pump, made the front tyre rock hard and said there you go. I then took the valve cover off the top of the fork and asked him to get a shock pump. He had a confused look on his face then got someone else to help me.

Next ask an MTBer to fit a tub. You may see the same look.

He must be mistaken, it was in Halfords, surely? Because all LBSs are run by people who know everything and are always happy to help

diy

If it was my LBS, they would have said "shock pumps are £20 and looked at the display.

YeehaaMcgee

In the loose group of people that I ride with from time to time, there are some good mechanics, but the people with smooth running bikes, and (dammit) brakes that actually function properly are in the minority.
There's plenty of riders who'll spray GT85 on their chain willy nilly before a ride, getting it everywhere, including the brakes. Sadly, a polite bit of advice (you guys would probably laugh if you saw me really trying to give polite advice :roll: ) usually gets shot down with a "My brakes work fine, thank you, and my dad always used WD40 on his chain and it never did him any harm.

Anyway, what I think I mean is that cyclists in general are pretty poor at bike maintenance, but the "hard core" mountain bikers do seem to be better at it than the "hard core" road riders I know - who will often ask me to index their gears or straighten a wheel.

One thing that struck me as interesting though, was the amount of people suffering punctures on a 30 mile charity ride last year. It seemed that there was someone with an upturned bike every quarter mile or so, and the bikes ranged from the back-of-the-shed-for-the-last-30-years types, to brand new shiny playthings. On a well groomed path, with nothing to visibly cause any problems.
Trés strange.

gezebo

I took part in a cycle race(road) a few weeks ago and was very surprised by the amount of cyclists who had very expensive bikes but sounded very rough when ridden. However when out on my mtn bike you often overhear people talking about getting their bikes 'serviced' due to various issues.

When I was at Glentress last week people were queuing out of the door to get minor things fixed by the bike shop there such as pads replaced for them, gears tweaked etc

I think on balance you get the probably equal amounts of mechanical savvy and mechanical numpties in both camps. What does surprise me though is how people will spend thousands on bikes and not know how to ride/maintain them. I guess some people have more money than sense.

YeehaaMcgee

gezebo wrote:

What does surprise me though is how people will spend thousands on bikes and not know how to ride/maintain them. I guess some people have more money than sense.

It's not that surprising. People spend a great deal of money on plenty of things. Central heating, televisions, games consoles, computers, cars.
Why does spending money on anything mean they should know how to fix it?

Something that peeves me is the idea that indexing gears is some sort of dark art. It puts people off even trying because they think it's so complicated.

cooldad

Very true. I used to fix my cars and motorcycles when they had carbs. Now even my (very experienced) mechanic hasn't got a clue. Just plugs the computer in and prays.
I can't even see the engine on my new car. For some reason it's all covered up with a plastic tea tray.

gezebo

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Why does spending money on anything mean they should know how to fix it?

Well I suppose one answer would be that a cycling is a hobby that can can take you far away from roads or out of mobile reception meaning it's in your interests to be able to fix common problems and part of the hobby could be seen as being able to maintain the bike. This is unlike TV's, Heating, PC's or Cars which maybe considered a necessity (by some) in life which may need much more specialist tools to repair (car) or qualifications (heating) or are unlikely to break (PC or games console).

nicklouse

gezebo wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Why does spending money on anything mean they should know how to fix it?

Well I suppose one answer would be that a cycling is a hobby that can can take you far away from roads or out of mobile reception meaning it's in your interests to be able to fix common problems and part of the hobby could be seen as being able to maintain the bike. This is unlike TV's, Heating, PC's or Cars which maybe considered a necessity (by some) in life which may need much more specialist tools to repair (car) or qualifications (heating) or are unlikely to break (PC or games console).

I know many people who pay people to fix their hobbies.

Cars. Hell it paid for me to race for two years. The drivers had no idea.

YeehaaMcgee

gezebo wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Why does spending money on anything mean they should know how to fix it?

Well I suppose one answer would be that a cycling is a hobby that can can take you far away from roads or out of mobile reception meaning it's in your interests to be able to fix common problems and part of the hobby could be seen as being able to maintain the bike. This is unlike TV's, Heating, PC's or Cars which maybe considered a necessity (by some) in life which may need much more specialist tools to repair (car) or qualifications (heating) or are unlikely to break (PC or games console).

That doesn't mean anything. You could lose a limb in the great outdoors, or be attacked by wild er, sheep. Or suffer a heart attack, or inadvertently swallow something and need to give yourself an emergency tracheotomy.
Now, fair enough, most people know how to do thise things, but many don't.
It's highly unlikely that you'll find yourself lost in the absolute wilderness on a mountain bike. And generally, those kind of poeple who do venture on that kind of ride, are the kinds of MTBers who know how to fix things.

diy

I employed a qualified plumber the other day who didn't actually know the best way to solder a pipe. (torch on the pipe not the fitting). It seems its all push fit nowadays.

I'll give most things a go, but with cars and motorbikes they are designed to need a dealer to fix. To change the headlight bulb on my sprint, requires the dash off.