I have noticed that there are lots of members on here who ride road bikes also, I am finding myself drawn to riding a road bike more and more, my workplace are taking part in the cyclescheme on 2nd Nov and I am very tempted to get myself a 1k road bike.

So is it as good as it looks? Do you ride your road bikes as often as your maountain bikes or just when you fancy a quick local training session?

I must say I am taking quite an interest in the dark side!

I ride my road bike 4-5 times a week and my MTB once or twice. It's very good, it's better fitness training, it's quicker, cleaner, you can go further, can be very sociable.

But it's called the road, not the darkside.

It's also not for sensitive types who will cry if people don't say hello to them. Not great for fatties who have to stop every 30 seconds to discuss how gnarl-core that last bit of trail was!

Exactly what i did, £900 Cube Attempt and a Gore Jacket.

I don't bother with short road rides, if i've got a spare hour or so i'll still take the mountainbike out. i use the road bike for weekend away big rides, did Inverness to Fort William via Aviemore last weekend, 115 miles, biggest ride i've done and it felt great, a different experience to riding a mountainbike, you see much more and can just keep pedalling, keeping a constant high speed (and seriously exhausting yourself in the process). A good long descent down on the drops in your biggest ring rivals any of the trailcentre bermathons i've ever ridden too…

edit: I doubt i'm a 'proper' roadie, more of a tourer on a faster bike. i try to start conversations with other cyclists that i pass and everything 😉

I love it, I normally get out once a week on a long ride, 100 miles or so, and do a couple of hour long high intensity rides around a 5 mile hilly circuit that starts on my front door. I only ride my MTB for special rides now, I enjoy MTBing much more as a result and I'm much fitter

I do like the sound of it, I may get myself a Ribble sportive carbon £999.

Liverpool has quite a history of road riding and a couple of top roadie clubs I may even join a club 🙂

Do it. It's fun, but in a different way to MTB.

You'll be amazed at how far you can go how quickly.

I'm not so sure about the clubs…

I subscribe to the mailing list of one of the more prestigious ones in my area and on the basis of the mailing list alone, the more prominent members seem to be a touch self righteous/inconsiderate/down right anti-social.

Given other experiences I've decided i'd only join one if i was serious about getting good, not the place to go if you're used to mtb style banter etc (similar to what njee20 said above) 😕

Started road riding last year on a friends second bike and got my own in Spring this year. Am now much fitter and this helps enormously with mountain biking, particularly going up hills.

Really enjoy both, though sometimes easier to go out on the road particularly if the local trails have been subject to a lot of recent rain (i.e. most of Summer 2009) but the roads are dry – but my heart remains with mountain biking – though descending at 40+ mph down a long hill is extremely exhilarating 😀

dandan – stop now before it's too late!

It starts with a road bike, next thing you know you've joined a roadie club, shaved your legs, and each tuesday night can't come fast enough so that you can get your 'chain gang' fix.

That's what happened to me! I joined the Liverpool Century…..
Take a look at their club rides. Scroll down to the bottom. Read 'chain gang'…that's where it ends.

I'm not in the "Centch" any more. Happy memories though.
SB
🙂

I've never bothered to join a club, I just ride with the same people I ride MTBs with, usually go out with one or two other people rather than in a massive group. It's great.

i use my road bike more than my mtb and i use my cx more than mtb too , i think im just silly tho 😉

dandan – Member

Liverpool has quite a history of road riding and a couple of top roadie clubs I may even join a club

Just be careful which club you join as some clubs in the area are racing clubs and if you dont keep up you will be dropped.
However road riding is good and dont think you can go wrong with buying a road bike. I have one that i can fit mudguards on as i commute year round but also use it for training runs and the odd event. Still prefer MTBing though just that locally the trails are crap.

You wont regret getting one and am sure there are more people in your mtb club have got them than are letting on 😉 ask Johnclimber

Buying a road bike was a revelation. I go through phases of riding more on the road and more off road.

Can't beat a sunny club run at the weekend for banter, scenery and excitement. Does wonders for your fitness as I find road rides are more continuous effort than the stop start nature of mtb group rides.

One thing you need to ask yourself is do you like hills? Its a psycological jump when you stop trying to avoid them and see them as a means to good descents and start to add them in to challenge yourself. If you ride on the road it's all about the climbs IMO. Sprints are fun, breakaways frowned upon on a friendly run morning run 😉 chain gangs can be exciting too. cruising at 35mph on country lanes certainly focuses you as much as any singletrack descent.

Embrace the lycra, it's more practical and comfortable. I tried to avoid it until one wet long ride which was just unpleasant in baggies.
Join a club, group riding is ace, they will know the best roads, routes and cake stops.Mine is friendly and the top level guys ride at the back and push the slower ones if needed to keep them in the group on hills. Pace is kept steady with groups splitting off to do longer more challenging bits.

Bought a road bike nearly 3 months ago now and its been great. These days tend to do say 3 MTB rides and 3 or 4 road rides a week. Started training with the local club after I'd had it 5 days which was a bit of a shock. Really nice friendly bunch but they train fast!!!!!Not quite up to the Wed night chain gang session just yet as you need to be averaging 27 mph ish
I find it great if I don't have much time as you can get 30 miles in in an hour and a half and don't have all the messing about
I think the clubs are very good if you are going to give it a go-they don't stop every few miles though and once things are wound up it gets pretty exciting!!

No reason not to as far as I can see – I've just done the same with the current Planet X offer on C2W. I'm really looking forward to getting out on the roads again (after a break of 19 years!).
I just see it as an easy out-the-door option when I can't be arsed getting the car out to drive to some good riding. Anything to get me riding more often and hence fitter.
I'm also hoping it'll be like my HT – great fun to get out on and makes my full sus seem sooooo much comfier 🙂

Be good to ride to work when I can too 🙂

I ride 6 times a week and love it! I also race road which is just as fun.

It's nice not having to cart your bike around in the car and gets you pretty fit. So do it.

i refuse to catergorise road and MTB, to me it's just cycling and all fun

Some cracking posts there guys, thanks. Now I need to choose the right bike, I would of went with a Focus Cayo 105 but Wiggle have their own cycle to work scheme.. We will be using cyclescheme, I am looking at the ribble sportive carbon and the Boardman team carbon both £999.

I ride my mtb with flat pedals, but will use spd type shoes and pedals for the road bike, any reccomendations, not too expensive?

Oh and I dont think I could wear lycras, and I will never shave my legs 😀

bought my road bike thru the ride to work scheme too.

Had it for about 15 months and didnt ride to work but used it for those really wet weeks in the winter when you just know the trails are gonna be wet and miserable.

Also rode it the odd evening for a quick spin when its just easier than an mtb as you can go much further, faster.

Then started to commute in March this year and my fitness has gone thri the roof resulting in my weekend MTB rides being much more enjoyable.

Do it!

I really enjoy road riding, I love the speed and the ease of riding long distances. I'm a cyclist rather than an mtber on a road bike though.

The Boardman is a stunning bike for the money but TBH you're not going to go far wrong no matter what you choose – £1000 is a very competitive price point for manufacturers.

Look, Time and Shimano all do road specific clipless pedals, functionally there's not a lot to choose between them – I use Shimano simply cos I always have.

Lycra on road bikes makes a lot of sense. Having baggy shorts flapping in the wind is horrible and, if you're riding in a bunch, it's dangerous since it's all too easy for it to catch on another riders bars and cause a crash. Not all roadies shave their legs. I never have although it's caused a few comments over the years from other roadies (usually the ones I've just beaten in a road race…)

As mentioned above, no need to pigeonhole. It's all bikes and bikes are good.

It's also not for sensitive types who will cry if people don't say hello to them. Not great for fatties who have to stop every 30 seconds to discuss how gnarl-core that last bit of trail was!

PMSL at gnarl-core 🙂

Ride bicycles it's fun.

Enjoy your roadbike!

Personally I've never gelled with road riding, but I've still got a road bike (cheap one mind) which I use as transport, and sometimes just for an after-work stretch when I can't be bothered to get muddy. So, even if you don't get totally into the whole roadie thing, it's still worth doing I think.

I can't ride often enough off-road to maintain/ improve fitness, so I use a road bike for that

ride off-road once a week, ride on-road 3/4 times a week plus commuting every day

I do more road biking, i don't get very dirty and i get much fitter.

Some of the lanes by me are like riding off road anyway 🙄

I ride more on the road than off it. Bit of commuting during spring, summer, autumn extending the homeward journey if its a nice evening. Ride on the roads mainly during winter as the trails round here turn to unridable porridge. Even thinking of trying a few sportives next year and maybe the Etape the year after.

Also you will get fitter than you've ever been as the long steady efforts on the road seem to improve fitness more than the short sharp efforts you get mountain biking.

I love my road bike, got a Boardman Team Carbon through C2W, very pleased with it, recommended. First ride was London to Brighton and back (140 miles) and just loved it, havent looked back. Am on gardening leave right now, have been jumping on a train out of London to somewhere in England and riding back into town. Did Cambridge, Bedford and Colchester last week. Really great way of seeing the country, amazing how far you can go in 3 hours or so.

Visiting my ancestors in Scotland next week, going to do some 100 mile loops into the Highlands, can't wait.

I like the kit too. Retro jerseys, Rapha caps…..go lycra. None of my baggies fit me anymore anyway. Road = skinny.

rOcKeTdOg – Member

i refuse to catergorise road and MTB, to me it's just cycling and all fun

Seconded

I like both, but I started to commute daily this year and it has done wonders for my fitness, which makes mtbing much more enjoyable

Having baggy shorts flapping in the wind is horrible and, if you're riding in a bunch, it's dangerous since it's all too easy for it to catch on another riders bars and cause a crash

blimey James, how baggy are your shorts? 😉

I got a CX bike during last years terrible summer but soon realised I should have got the full road bike I now have. It's great and nothing like riding a mountain bike on the road; fast and smooth. It's easy to do short rides with no faff and cleaning and my endurance has improved no end after long winter weekend rides.
I've also discovered much about the countryside around where I live that I wouldn't have known before.

I commute to work on a road bike three days a week, try and get a long ride in at weekends – the mountain bike gets a mid week night ride and the odd quick blast on the local trails if it's lucky.

Road biking helped my fitness, weight loss, is less faff with cleaning and maintenance, and still lets me see great parts of the country – I live within an hour of the Peak District by road bike. Road riding is also always on your doorstep.

It's been pants for my already useless technical skills though.

I've just bought one. Using it for commuting mainly, but really enjoyed a 40 miler on Friday afternoon with the lads from work. Provide a good base for fitness and actually is very enjoyable.

hopefully my fitness will improve with my 41 mile commute twice a week.

just got to keep it up through winter.

It's bloody ace, I bought a Trek 1.5 off ebay last year for £400. I commute 60km (there and back) two or three times a week to save on fuel bills.

Tonight I got in from work at 6pm, threw my kit on, did my local loop up on to the moors and back down in just over an hour and smugly tucked in to my tea with a massive glass of red wine without an iota of guilt.

The bike gets it's chain oiled every so often and has had a new set of brake pads and inner cables in over a year's steady use. I've just treated it to a set of Crud Road Racer Guards also, which, so far, have been faultless.

I sternly recommend the dark side, it's crackin'

For a different view – I find road riding totally different to MTBing and don't really get much enjoyment from it. My road bike is just a tool to get me to work and back and never gets ridden apart from that.
Aside from having to share the road with all those morons in vehicles there is just no buzz like there is mtbing.
Couldn't live without it of course, cos that would mean driving to work everyday and that would do my nut in.

Yep, I've had a focus cayo 105 for 3months ish. I love it, it's so different to the mtb it's almost z different sport and is very refreshing to go out on the mtb. Not been out with a club yet…. Thinking about it though! In Sheffield if anyone knows a good one for both social rides and balls out training??!

I have been riding both since I was 13 (now 34), the moutainbiker / roadie discinction is a reasonably new development IMO.

They are both bikes and they are both good, get one asap.

rOcKeTdOg – Member

i refuse to catergorise road and MTB, to me it's just cycling and all fun

Thirded

The slippery slope……

Started riding XC MTB and enjoyed a few races…..
Got a fixed wheel for fun and to push up the fitness…
Got a 2nd hand C'dale…..
Got a new C'dale……
Got a better, newer C'dale…..

…somewhere along the way the MTB got dusty and spider webby

…the road bike got way out of hand, sportives, tour de france, la marmotte……next stop £6k time trial machine… please stop me 😯