Are MTBs losing out to road bikes

stubs

I went back to the shop today and there was a big van unloading Pinarello box after Pinarello box plus there was a big pile of Wilier boxes already unloaded theres some serious money being spent on shiny road bikes.

njee20

Not all Pinarellos are expensive, but take your point.

I know my LBS have sold several very top end Pinarellos (ie £8,000+), whilst having never sold anything like that on the MTB front, but then an S-Works is 'only' £6k. I think many MTBers have a reticence to spend the top money because things wear out, break, become obsolete etc.

Road bikes seem like more of an 'investment' in that respect, perhaps makes them easier to justify as an slightly self-indulgant purchase.

markhewitt1978

Well it's been said before, that cycling is the new golf! Those who wouldn't contemplate getting dirty in a forest quite like the idea of spending £6k on a road bike.

97th choice

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Britian's turning gay.

That should be labour's new slogan, i'd vote for them then.

SlipSpace

round here there are 3 or 4 cycling clubs with very active road scenes. All mention MTB but from my enquiries have nothing going on. OK so East Anglia is not mountanoius but lots of good single track around.

WindyG

SlipSpace wrote:

round here there are 3 or 4 cycling clubs with very active road scenes. All mention MTB but from my enquiries have nothing going on. OK so East Anglia is not mountanoius but lots of good single track around.

Iceni Velo are one of the most active all round, NABC are pushing more with the MTB side of the club and there is Timber who ride out every Monday night, you must have found all the wrong club, there are also a few good Suffolk clubs too. All the lbs around East Anglia seem a good mix of Road and MTB.

SlipSpace

WindyG wrote:

Iceni Velo are one of the most active all round, NABC are pushing more with the MTB side of the club and there is Timber who ride out every Monday night, you must have found all the wrong club, there are also a few good Suffolk clubs too. All the lbs around East Anglia seem a good mix of Road and MTB.

Thanks WindyG. I'm based in Norwich, Iceni show MTB on the website but have not got back to me about it despite several mails, no mtb club rides listed, VCNorwich don't seem to have any MTB references, NABC have a bash organised in April but not a regular mtb club meet, can't find any reference to Timber.

Agreed on the LBS though, they do have a good mix of bike styles round here, generally knowledgeable guys who are happy to help too

WindyG

IV are a little slow responding to email as the guy works away I believe, they do ride at Bacton and Thetford some of that is organised on a private Facebook page, I just signed up but I did know a few members before hand so was an easy option IV also have a very good race presence in the region in both Road & MTB. NABC are trying to build up their MTB side of things but the number are small.
For Timber http://www.timbermtb.org/

IV is sponsored by Streetlife which have a good mix of stock and the owners/staff are all mixed riders too.
The only LBS which is to me is very Roadie is Pedal Revolution and maybe Howards in Wymonham, Howards is first class for wheel truing though.
I am sure you know of Pauls Cycles which is local to me, I'd buy a bike from there but that would be all.

JMcP92

When I worked in my LBS there were around about equal MTB's (granted mainly low-end) to hybrids, then the road bikes and high end MTB's had a relatively small section

RevellRider

njee20 wrote:

I know my LBS have sold several very top end Pinarellos (ie £8,000+), whilst having never sold anything like that on the MTB front, but then an S-Works is 'only' £6k. I think many MTBers have a reticence to spend the top money because things wear out, break, become obsolete etc.

In the last year I can recall several S Works Epics going out, many Carbon Bronson custom builds and even a Project One Superfly hardtail

That said, this year alone we have sold 4 S Works road bikes and a couple top end full groupsets (SRAM Red and Dura Ace)

FishFish

If you are buying a bike after a gap of 10 years or so then buying an mtb is too much hassle - easier to buy a road bike - choices are basically price and colour. Agree that the road cycling brand is flying and mtb is not.

The Rookie

I disagree with the first half, but I do think that more people looking to just cycle on the roads are less likely now to by an MTB, especially if you lump 'road biased hybrids' in with true road bikes (what we called racing bikes when we used proper names for bikes!)

njee20

In the last year I can recall several S Works Epics going out, many Carbon Bronson custom builds and even a Project One Superfly hardtail

That said, this year alone we have sold 4 S Works road bikes and a couple top end full groupsets (SRAM Red and Dura Ace)

Those MTBs are cheaper though and they're being outsold by the road bikes, which was my point. I'm not saying no one's buying the top end MTBs, but it's now at the stage the LBS don't hold S-Works MTBs for stock, whereas I remember having 8 S-Works MTBs at a time a few years ago, whilst you'd never sell a Project One Madone or similar. There's definitely been a shift there.

what we called racing bikes when we used proper names for bikes!

I'd estimate that less than 1% of which are used for racing, so actually it's a stupid name!

markhewitt1978

But that in itself is part of the reason they are more popular. By changing the name to road bike, fitting compact cranks and taller head tubes you've got a bike for riding on the road, rather than racing.

njee20

I've never called them racing bikes! Strikes me as the sort of thing non-cyclists say "ooo, you've got a 'racer'". Stupid term. I race my MTB, that's my main race bike, I do a bit of road racing, so I have 3 race bikes, they're all quite different.

markhewitt1978

I was referring more to the idea that not only has the name changed, but the bikes themselves have changed. They were called racers because that's what they were. You can't say the same for many road bikes sold today.

cooldad

njee20 wrote:

I've never called them racing bikes! Strikes me as the sort of thing non-cyclists say "ooo, you've got a 'racer'". Stupid term. I race my MTB, that's my main race bike, I do a bit of road racing, so I have 3 race bikes, they're all quite different.

That's because you are so young. When I was a lad there were bikes (flat bars, mudguards etc) and racing bikes (skinny wheels and drop bars.)
Just after the era of penny farthings obviously.

The Rookie

Ditto.....after all calling only dropped bar bikes road bikes is just a daft when a skinny tyred flat bar hybrid is clearly a 'road bike' in plain English.

My 3 speed hub geared Raleigh Grifter was dropped bar so in the 1970's was called a racing bike to differentiate it from other road going bikes.

bennett_346

Fair few mountain bikers including myself are switching to their primary bike being a road bike. I just find it easier to get out on and it has that new feeling to it. I've grown weary of the ridiculous confused marketing in the MTB world and i'm reluctant to spend any more money on it as prices are rapidly inflating.

Even just the cost of components such as tyres and drivetrains is increasing by a huge percentage for bog standard quality. With road riding I can get away with using my 6 year old converted Carrera with slicks and have just as much fun as someone on an 8k carbon malarky. A crap mountain bike however is not much fun off road.

njee20

Having switched back to the 'nice' road bike this morning for the commute I can confirm they are more fun than a cheap one still :-)

bennett_346

njee20 wrote:

Having switched back to the 'nice' road bike this morning for the commute I can confirm they are more fun than a cheap one still :-)

I've been on both and I can disagree, I use my "road" bike both on country roads and cycle paths, some of which round here are loose and rocky. I can pretty much use it on any surfacing without worrying about damage etc. It is a great all rounder.

markhewitt1978

njee20 wrote:

Having switched back to the 'nice' road bike this morning for the commute I can confirm they are more fun than a cheap one still :-)

Too right they are . And they bloody well should be, the price of em!

kiwi66

Might just be a UK thing. In New Zealand we have recently opened up a series of cycle trails that are Mtb oriented and the bike shops i visit have more mountain bikes than road bikes. There needs to be more "everyday" basic routes and trails as these attract more couch potatoes to Mtb riding than a new road attracts road cyclists.

njee20

I think it's probably been buoyed in the UK by the huge success of our road and track teams in the last 5 years or so. Cycling has gone from a proper niche sport where Joe Average couldn't name a single participant to being thrust into the public conscience where every man and his dog has heard of Sir Chris Wiggins, Bradley Froome and Victoria Hoy, or something.

markhewitt1978

njee20 wrote:

I think it's probably been buoyed in the UK by the huge success of our road and track teams in the last 5 years or so. Cycling has gone from a proper niche sport where Joe Average couldn't name a single participant to being thrust into the public conscience where every man and his dog has heard of Sir Chris Wiggins, Bradley Froome and Victoria Hoy, or something.

It changed with Wiggins but that was only 2012, road bikes were enjoying big growth long before then.

njee20

Which is why I said the last 5 years (since Beijing really), rather than the last 2...

kajjal

kiwi66 wrote:

Might just be a UK thing. In New Zealand we have recently opened up a series of cycle trails that are Mtb oriented and the bike shops i visit have more mountain bikes than road bikes. There needs to be more "everyday" basic routes and trails as these attract more couch potatoes to Mtb riding than a new road attracts road cyclists.

You have better weather over there

mattrixdesign2

I reckon £ to spec you get more bang to your buck with Mountain Bikes.

Profit margins must be higher for road bikes, "simpler" machines (no discs, no suspension) and each year it seems the manufacturers drop down a spec, for the same pound notes, what was a 105 bike is now Tiagra, what was Tiagra is now Sora... its now at a point where you are getting Sora/Claris on £600-£800 bikes! Nothing wrong with that stuff (the new Claris is really well made, if heavy), all I am saying with the demand there has been some cheeky profits and some bizzare options, i.e. high end frame, low end kit.

Still, I like the choice, road bike tomorrow, MTB when I can be arsed to drive somewhere decent!

angry_bird

bennett_346 wrote:

Fair few mountain bikers including myself are switching to their primary bike being a road bike. I just find it easier to get out on and it has that new feeling to it. I've grown weary of the ridiculous confused marketing in the MTB world and i'm reluctant to spend any more money on it as prices are rapidly inflating.

This, I initially got my road bike so I could get a few extra miles in when I was strapped for time and/or didn't want to get muddy. These days I have CBA when it comes to mountain bikes, it's far easier to get out on the road bike, I really enjoy it as much as the mountain bike. I guess when I have time I'll start riding them a bit more but at the moment the EG is in the shed with a buggered headset still and the HT is just sitting pretty waiting for the summer so I can get out bikepacking again maybe.

It doesn't help that I'm also fairly sick of the local riding spots and when I'm down at uni due to limited space the roadie gets priority and the SSSSS gets the other spot because I don't have to worry about insuring it or leaving it dumped around uni all day. No space for anything else.

bennett_346

Angry Bird wrote:

bennett_346 wrote:

Fair few mountain bikers including myself are switching to their primary bike being a road bike. I just find it easier to get out on and it has that new feeling to it. I've grown weary of the ridiculous confused marketing in the MTB world and i'm reluctant to spend any more money on it as prices are rapidly inflating.

This, I initially got my road bike so I could get a few extra miles in when I was strapped for time and/or didn't want to get muddy. These days I have CBA when it comes to mountain bikes, it's far easier to get out on the road bike, I really enjoy it as much as the mountain bike. I guess when I have time I'll start riding them a bit more but at the moment the EG is in the shed with a buggered headset still and the HT is just sitting pretty waiting for the summer so I can get out bikepacking again maybe.

It doesn't help that I'm also fairly sick of the local riding spots and when I'm down at uni due to limited space the roadie gets priority and the SSSSS gets the other spot because I don't have to worry about insuring it or leaving it dumped around uni all day. No space for anything else.

I can relate to everything you've said there. I've got sick of the high maintenance requirement of MTB, i've got sick of the same riding spots locally, i've got sick of getting muddy and having to clean stuff, i've got bored of the preparation required.

Road bike i can virtually wear normal clothing and be out the house in 15 minutes and stay clean, plus I enjoy it just as much if not more right now.

I may get back into mountain biking when it's warm weather but even last summer I didn't ride MTB much.