How many came from MTB?

KevChallis

Sorry if this is in the wrong section

I ask as I have 2 months ago bought a new MTB, last year I had a road bike but was forced to sell it.

Although, last year when I had my road bike, I was out maybe 3 or 4 times a week, with my MTB I am out less than once a week, the amount of enjoyment I get is maybe slightly (and I mean slightly) more on a MTB, but, I am doing it a lot less.

I was wondering how many people switched to road from MTB for this reason, for the reason that it is available right outside your front door, I have to travel for a minimum of 45 mins to get to anywhere to MTB, as lincolnshire is fairly flat

Thanks

homers_double

I'm a MTBer at heart and bought a road bike in an attempt to lose a bit of weight. So far it hasn't worked as I havent really gone for it.

My MTBing mate did the same a few years earlier and is now a devout roadie and way too fast for me to ride with him.

A couple of other guys have bought road bikes but are too slow at the moment so I'm struggling with pace.

On a nice sunny dry day I don't think you can beat riding in the hills on a narrow ribbon of dirt but I'm sure the road crew would appreciate a level flat section of tarmac in the same conditions.

sniper68

I've been a MTBer for 20+ years and have had a road bike for the last 6 years.Until recently I haven't really used the road bike much and always thought it was a bit of a chore.I never really "got on with" my road bike so replaced it last September and things changed from then.I now ride the road bike more than the MTBs and I really think my outlook is changing.I really enjoy it on the road now(I live close to the Peak District which helps)and it's good to just ride from the door 8) I've entered a Sportive in May(High Peak Hog) and feel fitter than I did 10 years ago.
I still love being out in the hills and doubt(at this point) I'd ever not have at least one Mountain bike but I'm not getting any younger and the body takes a lot longer to repair after a fall these days.
We go to the Lake District for a weeks MTBing every September and last year we took road bikes aswell.It was a bit of a "light-bulb" moment and I was left thinking "why the hell haven't we done this before" :?:
I look at this way.I'm still out in the fresh air,still out in the hills(albeit not so high) and riding further faster so it's a win/win for me

markhewitt1978

Not quite MTB but came from a hybrid - like many road bikers I would assume. The hybrid couldn't do off road properly, and couldn't do on road properly, so I picked one.

Speckled

I came from mountain biking as i just over time lost more and more interest.

At the time i was working 3 shifts, and i struggled to be available when my friends were going out so i wasnt getting many rides in and couldnt keep my fitness up. I think mountain biking is more of a social thing and i dont find it any fun going out alone.

For nearly 12 months my hardtail and full suss were sat in the garage collecting dust, i'd always had an interest in road biking so i decided to sell up and make the switch, i lost money on the bikes, but thought i'd loose alot more if those bikes continued to rot in the garage.

Since doing so ive never looked back, i have a fresh hunger for biking again, i can go out whenever i like and i actually enjoy doing it alone.

PerformingMonkey

BMX to MTB to Road Biking over the last ten years.

Currently ride around 10% BMX, 40% MTB and 50% road.

bianchimoon

road as a kid (pre-mtb) then lots of MTB and last 10 years 95% road 5% mtb

veronese68

When I was at school I had a Falcon 10 speed racer and used to go everywhere on it. rode it to school and honing across Wimbledon Common with my mates at the weekends. So it was really just a bike and I'd ride it on and off road. It got nicked one day and I was without a bike for a few years, but was driving by that point so not too fussed. I got back into bikes by getting an MTB and messing about on that. Not much serious off road, more trails and towpaths. Started to do a bit of off roading later. Started to commute to work on my old MTB a few years back and then got myself a CX bike as it was much better on the road but could still ride in along trails if I felt like it. That went in favour of a newer CX bike with discs for much the same purpose with the added advantage of being able to stop in the wet. I never got on with the cantis. I do some road rides with it as with road tyres on it's probably as quick as I would be on an out and out road bike. I've never actually got round to getting a full on road bike. I still keep an MTB for messing around with my mates, and I do enjoy it.
I don't tend to enjoy out and out road riding as much, probably because of where I live. I actually prefer riding into London than out into Surrey. On the lanes in Surrey I find the cars pass closer than in town and they tend to be going a lot faster when they do so. Although a mix of roads and trails on the CX bike is great fun, the road sections are more to get to and then join up the trails.
Sorry, that's a longer answer than I intended. In summary; kind of.

SlipSpace

I reckon this is a bit ageist There were no MTBs when I was a kid. There were 'racers', shoppers and then things like the Raleigh Grifter etc. For messing about with your mates it had to be something durable. I guess even the racers I had would make a current CX look flimsy in comparison. my first MTB was a Raleigh Mustang (in pink/purple) and was a hoot, got me all over the place. I then bought a road bike, then an MTB. I've always flipflopped between the two. I just bought a nice MTB earlier this year but am now looking for a road bike too.

veronese68

SlipSpace wrote:

I reckon this is a bit ageist There were no MTBs when I was a kid.

Very true, that's why I had a racer. But this reminded me of a bike I put together when a teenager. An old steel frame with a strengthening brace welded across the main triangle and straight forks, single speed and old style 26x1 3/8" wheels with knobbly tyres. It was kind of fun, but it weighed a ton so wound up sitting unused most of the time. Just remembered it only had a back brake because there was too much drop so the front wouldn't reach. As a result I ripped up back tyres like they were going out of fashion. The joy of being young and stupid.

sniper68

SlipSpace wrote:

I reckon this is a bit ageist There were no MTBs when I was a kid. There were 'racers', shoppers and then things like the Raleigh Grifter etc.

We used to put foot 3ft wide Cow-horns on racers in the 70's and thrash about in the woods.Then BMXs came on the scene about '79/'80 and if you couldn't afford a BMX it was a Raleigh Commando or Grifter

davep1

Speckled wrote:

... I think mountain biking is more of a social thing and i dont find it any fun going out alone.

...

Sorry to highlight your line above, I have been thinking about this aspect of cycling recently. I have had a road bike for 30+ years; got close to an MTB (Gary Fisher Hoo koo e koo on hire for a week) in the late 80's but didn't take the plunge. We moved to the South Downs about 16 years ago and I gradually got into mtbing, and it peaked when I did the SDW in a day about 3 years ago. As part of training for that, I dusted off the road bike and began putting the miles in on the roads, and I fell in love with it again. I like the fact that you cover ground quicker on the roads, it seems to open up possibilities and journies that off-roading doesn't.

Anyway, back to your point, I think the social side is different; on road it is easier to be in a bunch and have a conversation as you ride along; I find that harder off road. The trails are usually narrower and you have to concentrate on the ground as well as branches etc etc. Off road you tend to stop and have a chat more often. I'm lucky in that I can quite happily go out for 4-6 hours on my own, whether it is on or off road.

Initialised

When I'm on the road bike and I take a cross country detour sometimes and think this would be great on the MTB. So I make a note of it and return on the right bike later. I do the same when I'm driving, scope out the roads for descents, climbs, quiet, interval friendly, flat bits and rolling hills for hill repeats without having to make a circuit.

mercia_man

I started off as a mountain biker, getting my first mountain bike in 1986 as a natural progression from motorcycle trail riding. I got into touring bikes a couple of years later and progressed to road bikes in the 90s.

I no longer have a mountain bike. It was fun to ride them. But a touring bike is better for touring on roads while the pure thrill of riding a fast lightweight road bike is just brilliant. I now get my off-road thrills fell running.

DesB3rd

I suspect a lot of people my age, being teens at the time, were sucked in the MTB zeitgeist of the 1990s; road bikes were desperately passe and MTBs were must have. The 90s seem that way regarding a lot of sports; "alternative" disciplines became popular while the classical thread of the sport became seen as awkwardly conservative. Actually getting out and properly riding some trails, as opposed to just thrashing about as kids do, followed from there - we didn't give a thought to the alternative of road riding.

That I (and local freinds) all lived in a rural area so access to trails was immediate certainly made for an MTB biase; having lived in city/suburbia for the last decade a road bike now makes sense, it'd be good few miles to the first sustained bit of off-road riding whereas the quarter of a million miles of tarmac starts outside my door...

chris_bass

i started off on my dad's mountain bike when i was younger but more as a means of transport than anything else. then when I moved away I got a mountain bike but quickly switched to a road bike when i got more into cycling and liked going longer distances and very rarely ventured off road.

cyclingsheep

I started off racing on mtb's in my late teens and have always owned one. Bought a road bike for training but never really liked it so lent it to a mate. Used mtb as a cycle courier in London as that was what I was familiar with then in 2004 a mate suggested we buy road bikes and do a stage of the Tour de France and have since spent most of my time on the road. However I always wanted to get off road again so in a compromise last year I bought a CX bike and started racing again......love it. The perfect mix of the parts of both disciplines I enjoyed, I'm so looking forward to the next CX season.

Agent57

ibbo68 wrote:

SlipSpace wrote:

I reckon this is a bit ageist There were no MTBs when I was a kid. There were 'racers', shoppers and then things like the Raleigh Grifter etc.

We used to put foot 3ft wide Cow-horns on racers in the 70's

Oh my word, I'd forgotten those. I had a Grifter, then got a racer when I was 11. A Viking Warlord, with a rear rack for my school bag, and tiny little mudguards that extended a few inches from the brakes.

As for the initial question, I often say that I ride road more because it's convenient and starts at my door. If I lived in the middle of the Lakes, Peak District, Dales or similar, I dare say I'd be more inclined to ride ATB more.

sigorman85

Me 2 years on MTb 1 year on the road bike and love it

johnny25

I've gone the other way.

Fancied a change from road cycling, especially over the winter with all the rain and bought a hardtail. Riding a mtb is a completely different challenge from the road bike and my leg strength appears to have benefited.

However as the weather is now becoming more 'road friendly' I will be taking the road bike out again.

I find it good to have a mix of different bikes, as it keeps me interested in cycling.

slowmart

Mountain biked for more than 20 years and never felt the need to go on the road.

Having my first and only seizure made me re evaluate that view as I didn't fancy a second seizure in the middle of the boonies so I bought myself a road bike and haven't gone back despite being seizure free for the last 16 months.

Pituophis

Like the OP, I started out mtbing but had to get in the car for twenty minutes minimum to get anywhere worth riding. Started with a few of us, who gradually drifted into road bikes or out of riding altogether, and ended up mostly going on my own for a couple of years (Billy no mates :oops: ) until I just got bored.
Got fed up of looking at the mtb hung on the wall, and sold it to help fund my first road bike for about 35 years!
Get on at the front door and off you go.
( I assumed that lack of suspension parts and servicing would make it a cheaper option, but how little did I know! :roll: )

kajjal

I still do both but road biking is a lot more convenient especially in the winter months. Now the trails are drying out I am moving more into the mountain biking again. We are lucky to have quite a few good trails on our doorstep, otherwise it would be mainly road biking.