I’ve decided that the year I’m going to get fitter and will start commuting part of the way to work by bike (only part way because I have a long commute, but it’ll still be 24 miles a day). My SX and BFe would be rubbish so I took the plunge and bought an Allez Sport through the cycle to work scheme.

I collected the bike yesterday, so went for my first road ride ever this morning, nothing too hard did about 16 miles and actually enjoyed it. Couldn’t believe how fast they are when you stamp on the pedals.

I completely under estimated the wind chill factor though…I was freezing this morning. I pretty much always wear shorts on the mountain bikes usually with a base later and a gillet. I now understand why road riders look so wrapped up. My feet suffered the worst.

I’m genuinely looking forward to getting some miles in on the road this year. This has surprised me the most as I’ve always written road bikes off as a bit gay (I know realise I was a bit of a tool about it).

S’all just pedalling bikes really so s’all good. Your position tends to be more static on a road bike so you do need to wrap up a little more, overshoes are good and full length guards with mudflaps are a god send for winter miles, especially commuting. My winter road bike sees more miles than my nice one and it’s just brilliant, dead comfy for hours on end.

Enjoy.

Seems like true lover of the bike.

yep wind chill ads up when your average speed is about 10mph higher.

It’s great when you find a nice quiet long winding road. I used to love riding the road from Monmouth to Chepstow alongside the river on a nice sunny spring Sunday morning before the traffic got out. It’s a more peaceful feeling than mountain biking where you always have to be ready to react to the terrain beneath your wheels.

Its the cycling bug!! I picked up a commuter in the summer for fitness on those weekends i just couldn’t be bothered to pack the car up and head to the trails. The commuter has seen more miles than the mtb, to the point im saving those pennies for a proper road bike this spring, and selling one of my mtb’s to fund the big road bike fund.

yep same here,been riding mtb’s 15 years and hated the idea of being on a road..how can it compare to being in the forests/mountains of walesland etc,but tried it last year and am hooked ,just really get it,just fitted some some new campag zondas to the road bike and am currently trawling through sites to find some nice lycra road kit for the spring……never thought i would utter such words 😥

I broke my collar bone last year and bought an old road bike to get fit , I ended up buying a Giant Defy 2 shortly after and have done about 1500 miles on it since August. Im definately fitter for road riding and as others have said the fact I can ride from my house for 50 miles and come back not covered in crap is a bonus. I think road bikes also improve your mtb bike handling.

Nice one OP.

Check out overshoes, windproof softshell jackets and roubaix-backed biblong tights! And make sure you have warm enough gloves.

It’s so much more enjoyable when you’re not chilled to the bone and can feel your extremities.

I just picked up my first road bike this week too, a Specialized Langster. Primarily for riding to work but will get some road mileage in too.

Took it out this morning for its first run, 33 miles, could of happily gone further but things to do.

Got a set of Roadracers to wrestle on at some point too.

It’s the ease of riding too, I like being able to ride from the door rather than drive first.

never understood (mtbers) bizarre preconceptions about road biking!
A complete novice I’ve only ridden some really tame local trails with a few times told me the other day that he couldn’t possibly ride a road bike as it would be far too dull! funny thing is, Almost all the mtb riding in the area really is fairly lame while the road riding is actually pretty excellent. I asked him if he thought hitting 50mph down an un categorised singletrack road seemed dull?
He then used the excuse of not wanting to ride in traffic, again, I can ride from home for 4hours+ and be lucky to see 10 cars the entire ride.
next he complained about the lack of grip (this, on a type of bicycle tyre he’d never even tried) after correcting him on this I just had to laugh and walk off.

Lycra, road shoes and silly cotton caps do look incredibly silly the second you step off the bike but I’ve always found being gay to be more about the urge to play with other mens ****. Glad to hear you’ve gotten over some of your previous silly ideas about roadbikes OP.

😆 😆 😆

I think I might know this complete novice , strange thing is the said novice does exactly the same fat bike ride all the time at 4.3 mph and gets shouted at for standing up. 😀

I’m a mtb’er through and through, I’ve done pretty much the same as the OP and road riding is huge fun but Tottaly different to the mtb. Im currently a non conformist though flat pedals five tens and baggy shorts!! Oh did I mention peaked helmet! 😀

You’ll be trawling the web for some tighter-fitting less flappy more aerodynamic clothes come the spring.

Hint: dhb from Wiggle is excellent kit.

I’m the same, bought a BTwin Triban3 to get some winter miles in. Trying to explore every road in a30 mile radius at the moment. Unfortunately I’ve been plagued by flu recently, will be back out as soon as the lungs function again though.

The best mountain bikers road cycle. If you are enthusiastic about your mountain biking, that’s all you need to know. To me, there are no boundaries between different niches in cycling, it’s all just bloody excellent.

^^well said

Boxxer7 it won’t be long until you change! Last summer when Mr MC started road riding baggies, flappy jersey all the way and MTB shoes! well he’s now recently got a gorgeous Campganolo windproof from chainreaction (a must for the wind chill) a lovely Assos jersey and some super Gucci roubaix bib Mario Cipollni tights! you’ll be surprised. The peak soon went which was replaced by a roadie specific helmet.

to OP a good windproof and overshoes are a must, especially if you get cold feet.

I like the ease of road riding. Where we live we have a minimum drive of 30mins to MTB anywhere, this way, kit on and straight out into the lanes it is beautiful. you’ll quickly build up the distance we did 106km today and loved it, much more knackered than if we had done a 4 hour MTB ride.

I still LOVE MTBing and my holidays will always be MTbing, it’s just something different at different times.

I think some of my immature and silly views on road bikes came about because where I loved in Sheffield previously my doorstep riding was Wyming Book, Stannage Edge with Blackamore etc only a short ride away. I was spoilt…this lot really was on my doorstep. Having moved further south, I have to drive…it’s not an issue but sometimes (like this morning) it’s nice to just wake up, get dressed have some porridge and head out. No faffing.

I’ve invested in some DHB shorts, but will start to look at some warmer clothing in the coming weeks. I never thought I’d don Lycra, but my baggy Fox or Sombrio shorts would have done my head in today.

As other people have said, it’s all cycling which means its all goo in my eyes. I was nervous, and thought I was going to hate it but the more I rode, the more confident I got. The bike is pretty stable, it feels a bit odd out of be saddle sprinting, but I think I’ll get used to it. The SPD’s caught me out a few times being one sided with the fat bit being atone end, meaning they naturally rotate upside down. It’s been years since I last clipped in, but its not too bad.

Overall I’m impressed and wished I’d given it a shot years ago. I think the variety will help me too.

If you want some real fun, put latex tubes and decent tyres on your bike then join a local road club.

Nah, not a fatbiker at all, barely a cyclist at all tbh

I hear you Derek , must have my wires crossed. 😉

This explains it all….

I had to laugh at you saying it was a bit gay as that’s the way my kids used to talk, now they’re 12 and 6 they’ve grown out of that sort of phrasing.

I used to think the same way about road riding and up till recently vowed to never own any lycra. However since commuting on my Roadrat (SS), I’m now out most weekends with a couple of roadie mates whilst we all get some miles in for the evans ride it (MK), London to Brighton (return) and Dunwich Dynamo this year.
As for the lycra a pair of 3/4 bibs are soon to be on order. Still not a fan of garish outfits but am liking stuff from Rapha etc.

It does make me smile the resistance to lycra, non peaked helmets, using a camelbak instead of bottles. There is a reason roadies wear the kit they do as it works, in fact I recently donned my mt500 lycra shorts for a cheviots ride and soon remembered how comfy they are.

And let’s face it, we all look a bit daft on a bike… 🙂

OP I hope you keep enjoying the road biking…

It does all indeed work. I’m looking forward to some nice summer rides and am already starting to plan some longer road rides.

A lot of mountain bikers seem to have the image that roadies are miserable sods, but all the guys I saw out yesterday were really friendly. More so than some of the miserable people that inhabit trail centres.

I just like being out on my bike, and its just such an easy way to grab a couple of hours with no faffing where I live. I am going to invest in some warmer gear though, there are some DHB toe covers on Wiggle at I may get.