Anybody use a MTB for Road Riding/Training?

Soni · June 2009

Hi, i have a 2009 Trek 1.5 Road Bike, however recently its spent more time off the road than on the road.....the gears have been playing up, got it serviced, then a spoke broke on the rear wheel, had it fixed, then the rear wheel buckled, had it trued, then another spoke snapped in the rear wheel, all this withing about 2-3 weeks...

The bike is back in for another spoke to be replaced, won't be expecting it back until next week....

So, for the last 3 weeks or so, i've been using my MTB every morning, but for road riding, no off road, did 1.5 hours this morning, and i actually enjoy the MTB on the roads more than the road bike, it feels safer, handles better, brakes work a lot better as they are hydraulic disk brakes, and it just genuinely feels a lot more stable and solid....

Anybody else prefer to use their MTB for road riding/training?

Although i still have thick off road tyres on the bike, it still shifts really well....

Infamous · June 2009

Buy better wheels.

andrewjoseph · June 2009

I prefer my mtb for the mountain trails and my road bike for.... the road.

there is much less effort riding a road bike on the road, it's not as comfortable as my mtb but it's not as heavy either.

If your back wheel is having problems after coming back from the lbs, have a word with them. They should be making it better, not worse.

Big Shoes · June 2009

I do, i use my GT Avalanche 3 with 1.95 semi slicks on. People always say 'get a road bike, its easier' I agree, it would be easier, but i dont want that, i want it to be hard. I dont go to the gym and say ' give me the lighter weights, its easier'

Tom Butcher · June 2009

Fair enough if you aren't training to race a road bike and you aren't interested in getting places quickly there's no reason to have a road bike. I wouldn't say one is easier than the other - the road bike just goes faster for the same effort.

Soni · June 2009

BigShoes, you've got the GT Avalanche!

I've got the GT Aggressor XCR 09, they are fantastic bikes, really happy with mine....

Soni · June 2009

I've got to be honest, there seems to be little difference in my MTB and Road Bike, from a difficulty point of view, however 12 miles on my road bike take about 45 minutes, wheras on the MTB it takes about 50 minutes - 1hr.....

The MTB seems to be better in all aspects over the Road Bike.....and the MTB is a joy to ride, especially cornering, on the road bike i don't corner as quickly as i do on the MTB......the MTB reminds me of being a kid again and feeling the speed and fresh air against your face

Soni · June 2009

Infamous wrote:

Buy better wheels.

I can understand your theory, however a £900.00 bike should come with wheels fit for purpose surely....if i paid £900.00 for a TV and the knobs kept coming off, i would send it back!

andrewjoseph · June 2009

owever a £900.00 bike should come with wheels fit for purpose surely

Your mtb wheels are fit for purpose. but that purpose is riding over rough terrain. not going fast on a road.

for going fast on a road you need lighter, thinner wheels with slick tyres. But if you are want thinner wheels on yoru mtb you may as well get a road bike.

my experience is that I ride faster for less effort on a road bike, it rolls and accelerates better and corners much much better than my mtb with slicks on.

If you are happy to ride your mtb on the road, that's fine, I did it for a while, then decided to get a road bike.

As for spokes breaking, it happens. But I'd suspect the lbs has made things worse after the first 'repair'.

bompington · June 2009

Big Shoes wrote:

I do, i use my GT Avalanche 3 with 1.95 semi slicks on. People always say 'get a road bike, its easier' I agree, it would be easier, but i dont want that, i want it to be hard. I dont go to the gym and say ' give me the lighter weights, its easier'

Have you tried adjusting the brakes so they're on the whole way, that would get you even fitter

Soni · June 2009

andrewjoseph wrote:

owever a £900.00 bike should come with wheels fit for purpose surely

Your mtb wheels are fit for purpose. but that purpose is riding over rough terrain. not going fast on a road.

for going fast on a road you need lighter, thinner wheels with slick tyres. But if you are want thinner wheels on yoru mtb you may as well get a road bike.

my experience is that I ride faster for less effort on a road bike, it rolls and accelerates better and corners much much better than my mtb with slicks on.

If you are happy to ride your mtb on the road, that's fine, I did it for a while, then decided to get a road bike.

As for spokes breaking, it happens. But I'd suspect the lbs has made things worse after the first 'repair'.

I think we are getting our wires crossed here, i meant the wheels on a £900.00 road bike should be fit for purpose, in another words the spokes shouldn't be snapping and the wheels buckling on a bike of £900.00.......

Its not right to purchase a £900.00 bike, then have to fork out another £300.00-£600.00 for wheels that won't snap!

OK, £900.00 is probably nothing compared to what some of you have spent on a bike, however that type of money is a lot of money to me, and if i was aware before i purchased the bike that the wheels are not meant to be used, then i would have never purchased a road bike!

andrewjoseph · June 2009

Soni wrote:

...
I think we are getting our wires crossed here, i meant the wheels on a £900.00 road bike should be fit for purpose, in another words the spokes shouldn't be snapping and the wheels buckling on a bike of £900.00.......

Its not right to purchase a £900.00 bike, then have to fork out another £300.00-£600.00 for wheels that won't snap!

OK, £900.00 is probably nothing compared to what some of you have spent on a bike, however that type of money is a lot of money to me, and if i was aware before i purchased the bike that the wheels are not meant to be used, then i would have never purchased a road bike!

Yes, sorry.

But I still think a spoke can snap at anytime, The first time is unfortunate, however, the problems seem to be worse after taking them to be fixed. The wheel going out of true following a repair would suggest a bad repair, not that the wheels were 'not fit' in the first place.

A decent lbs would have told you if the wheel was setup incorrectly, and fixed it (with your permission). But having replaced a broken spoke nd the wheel still has multiple problems after the lbs had seen it.... well, I'd demand a proper repair be done for free.

or possibly take it to another shop if you no longer trust the first.

zoglug · June 2009

I rode a mountain bikke for around 5 months on the road before it got nicked. Rather than replace it (id not been offroad on it ever!) i decided to get myself a road bike and havent looked back since.

I can cycle further and for longer which helps with my fat burning, i can get to work around 10 mins quicker than on my mountain bike. Although i feel a whole lot more of the state of the road than whhen on my MTB i am more than happy with my road bike!

I will haowever pick up a new mTB in january when my works cycle to work scheme kicks in again!

Infamous · June 2009

Soni wrote:

Infamous wrote:

Buy better wheels.

I can understand your theory, however a £900.00 bike should come with wheels fit for purpose surely....if i paid £900.00 for a TV and the knobs kept coming off, i would send it back!

If you spent £900 on a car, you wouldn't expect it to last forever.

Your wheels aren't strong enough = get better wheels.

Soni · June 2009

Infamous wrote:

Soni wrote:

Infamous wrote:

Buy better wheels.

I can understand your theory, however a £900.00 bike should come with wheels fit for purpose surely....if i paid £900.00 for a TV and the knobs kept coming off, i would send it back!

If you spent £900 on a car, you wouldn't expect it to last forever.

Your wheels aren't strong enough = get better wheels.

£900.00 on a car would be like buying a used bike off EBAY for £30.00......which in that case, no i wouldn't be surprised if the wheel spokes were to snap.

However, paying £900.00 for a brand new road bike, is like walking out of a Ford dealer with a brand new Fiesta 1.1, and if the tracking was to go out several times in a couple of weeks, then i would expect the Dealership to take the car back in as it would quite obviously be inherently faulty.....

The Prodigy · June 2009

Soni wrote:

Infamous wrote:

Soni wrote:

Infamous wrote:

Buy better wheels.

I can understand your theory, however a £900.00 bike should come with wheels fit for purpose surely....if i paid £900.00 for a TV and the knobs kept coming off, i would send it back!

If you spent £900 on a car, you wouldn't expect it to last forever.

Your wheels aren't strong enough = get better wheels.

£900.00 on a car would be like buying a used bike off EBAY for £30.00......which in that case, no i wouldn't be surprised if the wheel spokes were to snap.

However, paying £900.00 for a brand new road bike, is like walking out of a Ford dealer with a brand new Fiesta 1.1, and if the tracking was to go out several times in a couple of weeks, then i would expect the Dealership to take the car back in as it would quite obviously be inherently faulty.....

You're quite right, there is no way you should have to keeping forking out on wheels. A £900 bike should give you plenty of service before the problems you have had.

Soni · June 2009

The Prodigy wrote:

Soni wrote:

Infamous wrote:

Soni wrote:

Infamous wrote:

Buy better wheels.

I can understand your theory, however a £900.00 bike should come with wheels fit for purpose surely....if i paid £900.00 for a TV and the knobs kept coming off, i would send it back!

If you spent £900 on a car, you wouldn't expect it to last forever.

Your wheels aren't strong enough = get better wheels.

£900.00 on a car would be like buying a used bike off EBAY for £30.00......which in that case, no i wouldn't be surprised if the wheel spokes were to snap.

However, paying £900.00 for a brand new road bike, is like walking out of a Ford dealer with a brand new Fiesta 1.1, and if the tracking was to go out several times in a couple of weeks, then i would expect the Dealership to take the car back in as it would quite obviously be inherently faulty.....

You're quite right, there is no way you should have to keeping forking out on wheels. A £900 bike should give you plenty of service before the problems you have had.

'forking out on wheels' - i love it

I wonder if you realised

BigJimmyB · June 2009

My Bomber forks have been in for repair for over 6 so I have missed shedloads of offroad riding.

I only have it on the road to get to the trails....

Anyway, I have a Giant Escape, which I put some skinny tyres on and I use that on the road to keep fit.

Infamous · June 2009

Soni wrote:

£900.00 on a car would be like buying a used bike off EBAY for £30.00......which in that case, no i wouldn't be surprised if the wheel spokes were to snap.

However, paying £900.00 for a brand new road bike, is like walking out of a Ford dealer with a brand new Fiesta 1.1, and if the tracking was to go out several times in a couple of weeks, then i would expect the Dealership to take the car back in as it would quite obviously be inherently faulty.....

You could spend £1000 on race wheels, ride them every day and they'd only last a few months.

If your spokes are breaking and your wheels are buckling, you need more spokes in your wheels.

Soni · June 2009

Infamous wrote:

Soni wrote:

£900.00 on a car would be like buying a used bike off EBAY for £30.00......which in that case, no i wouldn't be surprised if the wheel spokes were to snap.

However, paying £900.00 for a brand new road bike, is like walking out of a Ford dealer with a brand new Fiesta 1.1, and if the tracking was to go out several times in a couple of weeks, then i would expect the Dealership to take the car back in as it would quite obviously be inherently faulty.....

You could spend £1000 on race wheels, ride them every day and they'd only last a few months.

If your spokes are breaking and your wheels are buckling, you need more spokes in your wheels.

Yeah spoke to the guy at the bike shop i use and said to him i'm not worried about weight as dont race, i just want a solid wheel thats going to be reliable....

Anybody use a MTB for Road Riding/Training?

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