MTB vs Roadie, my mates are putting me on trial!

pyrowill

Hi guys,

So I'm a roadie (commute) but love ripping up the trails on my full sus with my MTB lot. Stereotypically they hate roadies and I pretty much keep all comments of my lycra clad 700C lifestyle hidden from them. However unfortunately recently one of them noticed a photo of my instagram feed of me showing off my quads (in lycra to my fitness pals) next to a photo of my road bike.

They have taken it upon themselves to hold a kangaroo court this weekend at our Wales trail trip where I will be tried for crimes against mountain biking. No one is springing to my defence. Do I have a chance? Any tips?

The Rookie

Take the justifiable punishment you are due like a man, or at least like a roadie pretending to be a man.

(I'm not helping much am I!)

pyrowill

We are doing Afan double and then Cwmcarn double on 2 days. I think whatever punishment they think up would be quite brutal. I think I should move for mistrial, the jury are prejudiced.

markhewitt1978

Ride to Wales on your road bike. Do the mountain biking. Ride home.

mudsucker

Riding a road bike is fine. Showing off your quads however on instagram is not! :-)

rockmonkeysc

Just beat them everywhere, climbing and descending then apologise for the photo and hope they forgive you.

scoi

Either:

You explain you are accused of being a roadie but you are in fact forced to be a lycra clad, cadence obsessed, leg shaving bore due to the public transport system and/or the price of driving and traffic problems. The road bike is used merely for creating more time and fitness for evening and weekend proper riding.

Or:

You are working undercover and infiltrating a group of international criminals who you've tracked down due to traces of oil and chamois butter found at the scene. Just repeat the script of Point Break but swap boards for bikes.

njee20

mudsucker wrote:

Riding a road bike is fine. Showing off your quads however on instagram is not! :-)

I'm inclined to agree with this. WTF? I assume "Instagram" was code for "fudgepacker.com forum"?

Presumably as someone who rides the road you're vastly fitter than them, so just ride their legs off in Wales. Simple.

pyrowill

scoi wrote:

Either:

You explain you are accused of being a roadie but you are in fact forced to be a lycra clad, cadence obsessed, leg shaving bore due to the public transport system and/or the price of driving and traffic problems. The road bike is used merely for creating more time and fitness for evening and weekend proper riding.

Or:

You are working undercover and infiltrating a group of international criminals who you've tracked down due to traces of oil and chamois butter found at the scene. Just repeat the script of Point Break but swap boards for bikes.

Haha, this is excellent, I might indeed use this.

I'd like to highlight the only reason for the instagram picture was that is where I upload pics off the progress I've made with myself, from losing 4 stone and starting to gain some muscle and I share it with other people in similar boat. So I guess yes its a show off, but I'd say a justified show off.

Although I still think I'm going to get torn to shreds by them lol. Best rewatch point break!

Angus Young

You could tell them to go fcuk themselves?

Well done on the 4 stone. That must have taken some doing.

Maro

You'll see toward the end of day 2, especially after 2 goes of Cwmcarn, who is breathing out of their poo-hole and who isn't.

There's nothing wrong with road riding so long as it's purely for fitness or commuting, there's everything wrong with enjoying it and, even worse, enjoying it in lycra.

njee20

Lycra is fine as long as you're not fat. Most mountain bikers are fat. Ergo it's not good.

UncleMonty

Burn them off on the hills then goad them about their lack of fitness, however, if they burn you off your toast and have no way out, good luck !

tlw1

Kill them and bury them under a jump

hanhamreds

Just destroy them with your superior fitness and stamina fella.

from another Roadie

Chunkers1980

njee20 wrote:

Lycra is fine as long as you're not fat. Most mountain bikers are fat. Ergo it's not good.

Lycra is never fine, unless you're racing or can't see it. fact.

njee20

What makes it fine for competition? That's like an acknowledgement that it's the most appropriate kit to wear, but you're too insecure to do so unless there's a number board hung on your bars? :?

Chunkers1980

You're correct. In quite a few circumstances it probably is the best clothing to wear - just there are other choices, so do so.

kajjal

Some road biking gear is very good for mountain biking being light and not flapping around all over the place like a sail.

Doing both road and mountain biking means you get much better all round fitness and still have the bike handling skills you need.

stubs

We had a Triathlete come for a ride with our group (we are all old and fat) he tore us a new one on the climbs but didnt like it when he went OTB at speed and bodysurfed through sheepshit causing much hilarity. He also couldnt get his head round our disregard for time, our habit of stopping to enjoy the view and the "Hey lets see whats down that track" attitude to navigation. Our industrial appetite for post ride cake, coffee, chips and beer also disgusted him, he just wanted to drink recovery shakes and weigh himself.

Never saw him again which was a huge relief to him and us.

njee20

Mmm, I agree with him on the stopping. Don't mind riding slowly, but constantly stopping is really annoying.

The Rookie

njee20 wrote:

Mmm, I agree with him on the stopping. Don't mind riding slowly, but constantly stopping is really annoying.

I'll agree with that, we occasionally slow down a bit (walking speed) when we go past something interesting, but usually stick to a 5 minute social stop (Tangfastics go down well at that point!) only about once an hour, it also helps the less fit keep at the pace we want to ride at rather than slowing down all the riding but not stopping.

Angus Young

The Rookie wrote:

njee20 wrote:

Mmm, I agree with him on the stopping. Don't mind riding slowly, but constantly stopping is really annoying.

I'll agree with that, we occasionally slow down a bit (walking speed) when we go past something interesting, but usually stick to a 5 minute social stop (Tangfastics go down well at that point!) only about once an hour, it also helps the less fit keep at the pace we want to ride at rather than slowing down all the riding but not stopping.

That's why I don't like riding with other people. On my own I can go as fast or as slow as I like and stop whenever I want and nobody's getting annoyed.

njee20

I just ride with people the same/similar pace to me. Easy! Cake stop on a longer ride, otherwise keep going.

Ferrals

I normally ride on my own, as I like beasting myself for a few hours then stopping. If i ride with other people I am often up a climb first, but rather than waiting I just turn around and go down till i meet them and go back up again, no point standing around. It balances out though as I am slow on the descents.

LEY8R

One of the real joys of being off road as opposed to road riding is the lack of need to keep checking over your shoulder for vehicles.Adds to the relaxation for me no end.And I've been a roadie for over 40 years and am savvy enough to look after myself out there .

njee20

Don't mind road riding on my own, but I don't enjoy it in groups so much. I worry about what others are doing much more.

stubs

njee20 wrote:

Don't mind road riding on my own, but I don't enjoy it in groups so much. I worry about what others are doing much more.

Like riding with a small group max of up to 4. Anymore and I find theres too much messing about.

veronese68

I have to agree with most of the above posts. Generally road riding is to get somewhere whilst mountain biking is just for fun. I don't get to do enough mountain biking unfortunately.
Couldn't quite bring myself to buy an out and out road bike though. The cross bike is a good compromise, fast on the road and capable of light off roading.