Yeah, I’ll be accused of trolling, so maybe there is an element of that, but also a genuine interest.

Following on from a thread the other day and a comment that MTB’ing was dying off and road riding coming to the fore (not sure I entirely believe that). Maybe road is increasing in popularity, but I don’t reckon MTB is dying – if it is, then meh, more room on’t trails for moi!

So, some will ride a road bike for exploration, fitness, speed, I appreciate that – and still use an MTB as well.

What about those that have drifted away from MTB’ing and are now into road riding? What has drawn you to it? And what is more appealing than MTB’ing? Was your MTB’ing boring?

For me – I did road riding when I was younger (admittedly not at a serious level), I can’t think of anywhere I’d want to explore on a bike locally on road – I’ve driven literally every inch of road within a 50 mile radius (slight exaggeration), MTB’ing gives me a moderate level of fitness and I can get all the exhilaration and physical/technical challenge (as well as a massive buzz) riding off road.

So, hope my few paragraphs has gone some way to show this isn’t a full on troll. Not an anti roadie post, just curious as to how anyone can actually ‘prefer’ it.

No doubt some shirtyness will ensue though 😉

I like riding bikes. Mtb, road, cx, tandem, brompton…
It’s all good. No?

Always happens at this time of the year, it’s probably due to tour fever, nothing to worry about.

FYI, racing on road is way more fun then racing off road.

Getting out of my box for a moment 😉 and having just woken up, working nights in hot weather, grrrr.

I started out as a mountain biker, then did some fell running, then got into road riding, then mountain biked, then road. I’m not sure if I’m a bit different to other folk, but I always saw each thing I did as a sport rather than as an activity. I tried to do each thing in a competitive way, racing as many mountain bike races as I could, then fell races, then road racing.

I was in at the start of the MTB boom, and loved the idea of the races and national series events, I stopped when we had children which coincided with what I thought was a change in the MTB scene; it started to become a bit more like surfing, a bit more about the scene rather than the racing. After fell running for a bit and as the kids got older, I started road riding with a view to racing. I still rode my MTB, but again felt that it was moving away from the competitive and towards the …activity.. side of things.

I’ve always viewed road riding/racing as an older, more established thing to do, with much more in the way of structure should you choose to see how far you could go with it, and really just preferred to ride road for a long time.

I’ve always thought of myself as a cyclist though, and still ride a mountain bike when I want to, but my heart lies in road riding.

I love riding all types of bikes but road is now my main tipple. Cannock chase is the best part of a hour drive and once the bikes have been loaded into and out of the car you are looking at a hour and a half and a tenner in diesel before a pedal has been turned. That’s three hours of driving and faffing or to put it another way 60 miles on a road bike. The local trails are crap and not worth the effort if I am being honest, if I had the peaks as a back garden then things would be a lot different. For me a big part of road is fitness and getting faster. I joined the local club two years ago, the lads are great and now I can’t imagine going up the chase on a Saturday morning on my own instead of riding with them on the road.

I think for me MTB is more of a social thing in as much as when your out with your mates there’s plenty of stopping , chatting, trying a certain line again,or just laughing at each other’s off’s, where as when I’m on the road bike there’s not as much talking, and its about getting the miles in.

If feel like I’ve worked harder when back from a road bike, mainly due the the average speed and distance covered.

Summing it up, I love getting out on both bikes, depending on mood, weather and time of day.

Happy riding.

Firstly I’ve never raced, not really interested in it. Enduro maybe.

I do them for different things, started on MTB and for years brought into the stupid ‘stiff back’ MBUK tribalism. Mentioned before that this place piqued my interest in road, and after really not enjoying the commute on mountain bike I gave road riding a go. Definitely ridden more on road over the last couple of years.

Sunny weather has got me back on the mountain bike and increased fitness from the road makes such a difference.

Can’t say I prefer either though.

Maybe that’s it with me – I have great riding on my doorstep??? Derbyshire Dales, White/Dark Peak, it’s always fun and interesting.

If I had to drive to the trails, I’m sure it may be a different story.

MTB’ing is such a sociable event for me too – we have a chat, have a laugh, try and out-Strava each other – and always end up at the pub. It’s just a boys adventure every time.

Ride both and depends on how the mood takes me, and what the next event is I’m booked in for. This year has been heavy road bias but virtually all racing has been cross, both summer and winter, with a few crits chucked in and one singlespeed mountain bike race just for fun. So training has tended to be on the road.

Chatting with my lbs indicates that road bike sales are better than mtb, and have been for a while, a lot of this being mtbers, like me, adding a road bike to the fleet of mtbs. For me, I had a go on one and liked it. The speed, the ease of just riding out from home or work without all the faff of mtb were the reasons I got one last year, tour fever may have played a part, as a trip to alpe d’huez may also!

I have no real interest in me doing any races on either type of bike, cept maybe an enduro. Done one of them last year.

For me the attractions are:
1: On the doorstep, even though I have got good riding not that far away on the MTB it isn’t jsut a case of out the door:there it is.
2: Better for fitness, you can plan & program easier on the road & the effort is more continuous.
3: MTB is more sociable. I work shifts and a lot of my riding is therefore solitary, I prefer to do that on the road.

I’m still riding off road, but I have done a lot more road riding over the past couple of years.

a lot of road bikes are cheaper than MTB,S also there is the marketing and all the stage races on tv won by road racers then there is the fattist isue, if youre a bit overweight youre not going to wear lycra, so baggy shorts and a mtb.

Mtb for fun but local rides can be a little tame
Road for fun and can get to some nice places from my door

Also touring bike just to get about on in winter
Summer retro road bike for getting about

Cx bike rather new to me but livened up some dull local trails

Got a CX bike about 7 or 8 years ago thinking it would be a one bike solution. Immediately hated it and all things drop bar, plus tarmac was dull as ditch. 5 years on got the urge to try road riding again, find I now prefer it.

Reckon it’s an age thing, lower testosterone. Went for a ‘proper’ mtb ride the other day and found myself worrying about how dangerous it was. Am just too soft now? Shorter and intense is preferable for the young, endurance for the older.

Depends where u live though, am lucky enough to have plenty of c roads and moorland nearby.

Started commuting, then realized there was a different kind of ‘fun’ to be had, you can pedal much harder for much longer on a road bike and really tire yourself out, MTB limits you to only riding until you’re tired enough that you start making silly mistakes.

For me it’s been having young kids and therefore limited free time. I love riding my mtb, live in a cracking spot to do so, and feel it’s a giggle, like being a kid again. A day spent in the fells with a couple of mates, whatever the weather, is always a great crack.

However, if I’ve got a spare couple of hours between kid drop off/pick up I know I can get a really good, and really enjoyable, workout on the road bike where every minute is spent riding hard, getting stronger or exploring new places. I seem to appreciate the fitness/training aspect far more than I used to, and am probably the fittest I’ve been as an adult now (at 39) as a result of this new found enjoyment of suffering!

Age? I’m 41 and throw myself at everything. My mates dad is out with us every week and at 57 tackles everything with just as much vigour.

Before you know it you’ll be dead – enjoy the buzz!

For me :

MTB : Having a laugh, Getting Muddy, Socialising, Having a Laugh, Bit f Fitness, Having a Laugh, Learning how to “ride a bike”, scaring myself a bit.. beer. meh.

Road : All out fitness, Going as fast and as hard as I can, heart rate monitoring, cadence monitoring, V02 Max, nutrition.. tea. meh.

Different things, Chalk & Cheese in my opinion. In car speak, you wouldn’t compare WRC with F1.

For me it was the realisation that even if I ride my MTB loads, I might get a few seconds quicker here and there, but I would never be challenging the fittest people in terms of aerobic ability. Initially I just wanted a road bike for fitness – to improve my performance on the mountain bike. I can ride my road bike for 3-4 hours without stopping, and I can see performance gains with obvious crossover to MTB. Now I see road rides as something to look forward to in themselves. The means has become the ends. Go figure.

Never ever seen myself becoming a roadie. It just…happened. Over time my MTB rides covered more roads. Nobblies were replaced with almost slick tyres. The journeys got longer. The adventures greater. And I realised I was having more fun.

So I bought a road bike.

I do have access to a lot of great roads mind. Otherwise I wouldn’t bother.

Offroad was always my first love. Then road, then something called mountain biking which was remarkably like something everyone had been doing before it was invented), then road, then some MTBing again and finally a bit more road. I ride mostly CX now. That’s like road and offroad at the same time.

I like bikes me. I don’t care whether other people like one kind of bike more than another. It’s all good. The more people ride bikes the better as far as I’m concerned. Right now, TV shows a lot of road biking, that’s great and probably why you see more increases in that area. Some road riders will also try mountain biking and stuff.

OK, why do I ride more road now? Time. I can get in 50 miles in two hours and not have to do maintenance at the end of it. MTBing would be 20 miles in that time and a load of cleaning at the end of it.

What about those that have drifted away from MTB’ing and are now into road riding? What has drawn you to it? And what is more appealing than MTB’ing? Was your MTB’ing boring?

the endless mud and cleaning and maintenance.

that, and my fiance.

there’s loads of good riding around sheffield, but the good stuff is mostly chuffing tricky – especially for a noobie.

there are almost zero fun+easy trails – but there are loads of quiet roads through amazing scenery.

there’s loads of good riding around sheffield, but the good stuff is mostly chuffing tricky – especially for a noobie.

there are almost zero fun+easy trails – but there are loads of quiet roads through amazing scenery.

Really?

Never mind the easily accessible Peak, with loads of fun stuff that doesn’t have to be too challenging, but get yersen up Wharncliffe – yeah there’s tricky stuff, but you could easily spend a day up there pootling about on stuff that isn’t challenging, with the option to push your boundaries a little if you feel like it.

Ride out from Fox House on an Autumn evening and stand astride Houndkirk overlooking the city lit up – it’s quite breathtaking at times!

I ride to enjoy myself not to be fit or healthy. I enjoy being silly and trying daft lines. When I have tried road riding I get none of that. Road is OK if your with a mate and it is much better for fitness than my style of MTB. However being fitter means you can pedal harder and hit things faster and for that reason alone I do a bit of road riding.

Have been riding mostly road for the last few months in training for the London 100 this coming weekend. I have to say that the bits I enjoy are the visible increase in fitness, the speed you can travel at always makes me smile, and the feeling when you get one of those inclines that isn’t too steep and you can power up it, feels great.

Saying all that. Am selling the damn bike the moment I finish the race due to the potholes and cars which will at some point cause me serious injury. I have missed my Rocket and can’t wait to get back on it.

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR – Member
Really?

Really. i love the trails in Rivelin, but my fiance is years away from being able to ride the good stuff.

Never mind the easily accessible Peak, with loads of fun stuff that doesn’t have to be too challenging,

example?

(and anyway – i find that the good stuff in the Peak needs a lot of road work to link up, riding a road bike just seems logical 🙂 )

but get yersen up Wharncliffe – yeah there’s tricky stuff, but you could easily spend a day up there pootling about on stuff that isn’t challenging, with the option to push your boundaries a little if you feel like it.

we tried wharncliffe/grenoside – much too hard.

Ride out from Fox House on an Autumn evening and stand astride Houndkirk overlooking the city lit up – it’s quite breathtaking at times!

yes it is, but you can do more or less the same thing around the roads at Strines, and cover 3x as much ground, and even go around a few corners.

People have finally realised that mountain biking in the UK is shit

To me there are only 2 good things about road riding- it makes me fitter for mountain biking, and it’s better than a turbo or the gym. But other than that it is completely shit. It’s just like mountain biking, with all of the good bits removed, and a bunch of extra bad bits.

Sometimes I wish I could get some enjoyment from it, it’s a part of the sport I’d like to be into, but I don’t see it happening.

Wait until they go road riding on the Continent or the Canaries/Balearics

Road biking covers such a range though – as does mountain biking. Some think the latter is all about uplift and 180mm forks. Others want to run rigid 29ers over long, winding trails. And there’s a whole load of stuff in the middle.

The bits of road riding I enjoy are mainly to do with touring around other parts of the country. I do find it hard to get up any motivation to ride the local roads at the moment – but that’s mainly because I’ve done them so many times.

djglover – Member

People have finally realised that mountain biking in the UK is shit

You always seem to come across as quite bitter about something – and this post does nothing to dispel that.

My riding group has done the Alps and Sierra Nevada (I haven’t been abroad biking yet), yet they all seem to love riding in the UK still. What’s up with you djg?

living in the city is a pain, take wheels off bike, pack it in car, get petrol, drive 45 mins to nearest countryside-like place, re-assemble bike, spend 2 hours cycling 20km, take apart bike, drive home via jetwash to clean bike
or take bike out of front door, get on and ride 20km in 50 mins and be back at my door

What about those that have drifted away from MTB’ing and are now into road riding? What has drawn you to it? And what is more appealing than MTB’ing? Was your MTB’ing boring?

I still mtb but don’t live near any good trails so I always have to put my bike in the car and drive at least 35 miles if I want a good ride. The draw of road is that I can go straight from my door and get a load of miles in. Good workout, more fun than running and more fun than riding an mtb on the road or boring bridleways we have round here.

I got turned by doing a tour about 5 years ago. I got hooked on (a) riding from A to B instead of going round in a circle and (b) distance.

Commuted first, with social and sportive riding. Then changed jobs and spent 10 years driving to work (60mi each way), with occasional commute by bus/bike and only rode at weekends. With two small boys, this involved a kiddyback tandem and babyseat! That keeps you fit.

Then moved closer to work, kids joined a club and we started mtb at Swinley, then joined a road club.

Now I commute, club ride twice a week, race (badly) and mtb a few times a month. Even have the broken collarbone badge of honour. It’s all bikes and bikes are fun.

I can’t think of anywhere I’d want to explore on a bike locally on road – I’ve driven literally every inch of road within a 50 mile radius

Hmm.. main roads, maybe, and possibly B roads.. but there are a hell of a lot of lanes in this country. I’ve ridden every lane within maybe a 5 mile radius of my house, if you count the countryside half. On the other side it’s city so I have only ridden maybe 30% of the roads, if that.

Why do I like road? Well, I like being able to keep moving at a good pace for hours on end, and being able to cover lots of ground. You can see a lot of road and a lot of different places as you zip through on your road bike. A lot of MTBing is going around and around in a bit of forest, or based around a particular mountain, valley or some other feature.

I’d still choose MTB though if I had to, but I’d be sad about it. Fortunately I don’t have to.

I got a road bike to try and commute a bit and do something different. I tend to road ride solo for fitness mainly. The trails round here are not standing up to well to the weather so sometimes the road bike is the best option. If I wasn’t in the right place for the bargain I probably wouldn’t have got it.

I’d still rather do a proper mountain bike ride but I can use the road bike to improve my mountain biking more and mix things up a bit more. Normally it involves a cup of tea and some food in cafe somewhere.

Roads start right by my house. So if I’m pushed for time I go on the road bike. Low maintenance, nice countryside around here, it’s all good.

Nearest trails are a drive from here. Plus most every ride needs a clean up afterwards. That needs a bit more time to fit in. if there were decent trails in the doorstep I’d be out on the mtb more.

Anyway I like both kind of riding.

For the first 20 years after I moved to the North West I was the world’s most fanatical mountain biker. I did the lot, even tried rail centres but found them boring and repetitive and was horrified at the litter. Slowly mountain biking lost its appeal, especially the winter night rides, coming home filthy and freezing and having to clean everything then do it all again a few days later. Then one day four years ago I FOUND a carbon road bike dumped in the river near my house, took it to the Polce who gave it back a month later… it happened to be my size so I fitted some good wheels to replace the wrecked rear and that’s whan it all started. In a year I haven’t ridden the hardtail and I’m even thinking of sellling it.

My first love is riding off road but I bought a road bike earlier this year to start using to part ride to work and have fallen in love with it somewhat which had surprised me. For a long time I had no interest in road riding and had a pretty immature attitude towards it – I just dismissed it as ghey. I really just couldn’t see the point which I think partly was because I was living in Sheffield with some amazing riding on my doorstep.

Having since moved to the midlands, decent MTBing involves a drive which can be a pain when time is limited or the weather is nasty. However, I have access to some nice quiet roads from my doorstep so when I have limited time or the trails are in a bad way I can still get a good ride in. I tend to ride solo on my road bike and enjoy the peace and quiet! It’s made be fitter on the MTB and means I’m usually out in a bike a lot more…what’s not to like? Only downside is the rubbish tan lines!