Following on from another thread it’s clear a lot of us started cycling off road but now ride mainly road. I’ve certainly found myself heading that way. For me it’s the simplicity of grabbing the bike and going, minimal fuss, good work out and a feeling of achievement in miles ridden. I think it’s time related, I don’t feel I have enough time to properly enjoy a good off road ride at the moment.

What’s your excuse.

I haven’t.

But if I lived somewhere that didn’t have good mtb riding from the door I probably would have.

To get to the other side?

edit- I just grab the bike and go anyway- t-shirt, jeans, trainers (no special shoes) and off I jolly well pop, thank you very much. It’s riding a bike for fun FFS, why do people see the need to drive somewhere to do skids and wheelies?

For me it’s the simplicity of grabbing the bike and going, minimal fuss, good work out and a feeling of achievement in miles ridden.

That’s as good an excuse for buying a single-speed as ever I’ve heard 😉

I do a bit of road, but probably only 1 in 6/7 rides. If I’m time poor and want a work out I grab the SS and head for the hills.

For me it’s the simplicity of grabbing the bike and going, minimal fuss, good work out and a feeling of achievement in miles ridden

I enjoy both road cycling & Off road stuff.
I do far more rides on the road or gravel bike than the mountain bike but that’s down to time & convenience,because any half decent mountain biking is a car drive away.

It’s a sign of living somewhere where the off-road is poor. 😉

I used to ride about 50/50 off and on, I rarely use my roadie now, unless the weather has been such that I really can’t face the hassle of knee deep sheep poo…

Don’t get me wrong, there’s the things in road bikes that you can’t get with MTB, the speed, the effortless climbing that is joyous, but for me the lure of the off road riding here is just hard to resist.

There has been no swap. Sometimes I fancy road. Sometimes I fancy mtb. Some times I fancy xc, dh or jumping on the mtb. I just do whatever type of riding, whenever the mood takes me. It’s all just riding around in pointless circles on bikes. It doesn’t need over thinking or labelling.

tiny humans came out of the wife, meaning rides had to be 2 hours door to door.

I’d like to do more offroad, but I grew up with road bikes and missed out on learning offroad skills while I was young and care free, so my offroad is very basic bridal paths and alike!

Last summer I visited Bassett Sports Centre to check out the bike runs created by a few on here, I went down them a few times, but the prospect of catching any air scared the bejesus out of me as a 43 year old after the rta I had on the road which meant spending Xmas 2013 in Southampton General.

I also noticed that in the other thread and thought that this really isn’t a mountain bike site any more.
I ride my mountain bike for probably 95% of my rides, mainly because I find it a lot more fun than road riding and l can’t really see a point at which this will change.
I am just about to go out for a road ride, but only because my mountain bike’s rear shock is away for warranty work.

I’ve always put in a few miles commuting on a road bike, but in the last couple of years I’ve had problems with cartilage deterioration in one of my knees that means riding over rough surfaces & constantly twisting and turning makes it feel like it’s full of broken glass – toyed with the idea of a lightweight full suss XC bike and easier trails to see if that helped, but ended up buying a pram instead 😆

I wonder what people want out of off-road though. Is it that there’s not a patch of dirt anywhere for miles, or is it that you’ll only ride gnarcore trails and they’re miles away and thus a drive?

Myself off road is just anything not on a road. Tonnes of it from the doorstep for me in the form of tow paths, bridleways and *ahem* footpaths. It’s not whipping down singletrack and jumps everywhere stuff. Though I’ve got common lands and woodlands close by and while no dedicated singletrack in some of them, I can still have fun or enjoy a nice ride away from traffic in nice scenery (and admitted I’ve got a pile of nice singletrack only half an hour away down the canal tow path, and better still stuff an hour away 😀 ).

Even if I have to drive though, 15 to 30 mins, couple of hours on trails, back home.

I’ve started riding road and turbo trainer over the last year or so, 50/50 road/mtb now, and only mtb at weekends during winter.
For me it was a variety of reasons….
Time, easier to ride from my doorstep and make best use of the time I have. Also less time cleaning the bike if riding road.

Miles/training, I can do more miles and possibly better value exercise on the road.

Something different, I like bikes, all kinds of bikes, road riding is still “new” to me and has reignited my interest in all things bike.

I’m still MTB crazy. I commute 6 miles in on my FS so I can get a off-road ride in on the way home. I do have a skinny tyred BMC single speed hybrid and I’ll use that for 39ml round trips to visit mates on a Sunday, but really it’s being out in the country I love.

Wife had various surgeries on her knee and can no longer ride off road as although pedalling is fine she can’t really stand up on the pedals for more than a second or two.
She moved into road riding & I followed to support her. I actually quite enjoy it & now probably do 70% road, 30% off.

I would hope I would have the decency & state of mind still to put myself under a bus if I ever felt the urge to wear lycra & clog the roads up.

Oldtalent +1

Road riding round my way is basically a 50/50 death run of A and B roads. Road riding for me is an absolute necessity as I just can’t avoid the 4 miles on road that I have to do on my commute (luckily the rest through the forest on my cx).

I absolutely cannot see the appeal of thrashing out endless miles of tarmac, lubricating your arse with grease and wearing awful lycra that makes most people other than sky team riders look like vacuum packed lambs liver.

I think I would take up tennis or golf if road riding was my only option.

In a word, faff, or lack thereof. Off road involves either loading up the car or 5 miles slog on the road then muddy kit at the end. Road bike is straight out of the door. In a way, it’s the same reason that I now run a lot, even less faff than a road bike. Time is precious for me and I feel I get more bang for my buck from road work.

OK so perhaps I was a little negative…I will say though I do find myself riding much more cx or (hate the marketing guff) gravel / gnarmac / adventure etc

I think that’s a really good compromise between the need to grab and go. You can stick to the road if you like (with extra comfort with minimal loss of speed)…. If you see a path or want to explore a bit you can. It opens up loads of options for you.

Myself off road is just anything not on a road.

Same for me. I can ride off road and on road on the same ride and vary the ratio depending on what mood I am in. Currently riding more road, a few months back was mostly off road.
All on the same low maintenance bike.

I started road riding as the winter muddy slog of local off road rides became less and less appealing. Turns out I really enjoy road riding, and have carried on in the summer months. Still like mtb, I just avoid it if the conditions won’t be enjoyable.

I ditched the MTB as I found that i wasn’t brave enouh and didn’t bounce well enough to keep up with younger mates on the rough stuff. I also found it a bit samey. Have always been a roadie since about 1978 so it was more a case of changing tha balence than starting something new. Gravel bashing had been an alternative to roads since then edn of last century and the MTb gave way to that.
The final straw was the devastation of the FoD by both the FC and all the bloody visitors. No pleasure being surrounded by a crowd of grumpy sods who have driven for miles, adding pollution to the world, only to want to change the thing they have come to see.

Like the OP a lot of it is convenience. I frequently work from home and find I can grab a we quick hour over lunch on he road bike. I’m about 20 mins cycle from the trails so they don’t make as much sense. A lot of my riding has been like that. But I enjoy road cycling too. Started it a couple of years ago after cycling around France. Still enjoy the MTB but I ride road more at the moment. If I cycle with a buddy then I’m more likely to be MTB but if I’m alone I prefer road.

Sort of on topic. Just fitted some new wheels. Can’t wait to try them.

Not yet but I frar its on the cards. I say fear as I hate traffic and love being in the “back country” away from civilisation. After my knee injury I was told to ride only on smooth surfaces (ignored that) and given how deterioration is going in the joint I suspect I don’t have too many years of Alps / real mtb riding left. Been looking at an Escapade or maybe a Solaris as a stop gap but I can feel the switch is inevitable

I bought a road bike in February to ride when conditions weren’t good for off road. I found that I really like it, more so than mountain biking so I do more of it probably an 80/20 split in favour of the road.

However I do really enjoy mountain biking – XC in particular.

Trouble is I’ve gone from N+1 to N+2 – XC hardtail and single speed disc brake single speed.

(Anyone want to buy a nice Orange Four? 🙂 )

I haven’t (yet). I also do far more road miles due to commuting, but most of my leisure rides are MTB rides.

I like both and like having both bikes though. The speed of a decent road bike is pretty nice, especially when it’s not been out for a while.

I’m lucky in that I have trails on my doorstep, and can do anything from a 1.5hr spin (or a half hour with my 5yo) to an all dayer on the MTB.

Both are fun though, and I can see that you save a little time on a road bike (only have to clean drivetrain really well, rather than forks and dropper posts you have to do on an MTB). I think if I couldn’t ride from the door I’d do more road miles – I certainly did when I spent a bit of time in London.

When I started my attempt to get fit again through cycling back in January, I stayed very local to home around Bitterne and Harefield. It did its purpose, but I had to be constantly on the lookout for traffic, junctions, traffic lights etc.

These days, especially since getting the Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc a month ago, I do a lot more road rides heading north (as far as Hockley aquaduct), east as far as Shedfield and the area in-between them.

Once I leave the boundary of Townhill/ West End/ Hedge End, by and large it’s absolute bliss on the roads (often via Allington Lane or Moorgen Road, which are surprisingly quiet), so little traffic and plenty of decent length roads without junctions and very few traffic lights. It’s all about how fast I want to try and push myself, while trying to enjoy the rural scenery a little and leaving the urban traffic chaos behind.

I’m still MTB crazy. I commute 6 miles in on my FS so I can get a off-road ride in on the way home.

My behaviour is similar – I commute on either my full-sus or hardtail, just getting one or two two minute blasts down some downhill trails on the way in out of a total 45-60 minute round trip. Plus a few urban hucks on the way home. I hate being on the road, I’m constantly looking over my shoulder in case a gormless motorist inadventently drives through me…

I’m fortunate that for most rides I only have 350 yards of tarmac before I’m onto bridleway and the singletrack starts a mile later.

Lincolnshire

Roads round this way are in such bad repair I’d want to upgrade the mtb before quitting the slightly-too-groomed trails. I’m only half joking.

I’m kinda fortunate in that I’m right at the edge of town. I head out my house and turn left onto a relatively quiet road from Bearsden out towards Drymen with plenty of nice loop options. No fear of traffic lights and queueing traffic.

mattsccm – Member 
The final straw was the devastation of the FoD by both the FC and all the bloody visitors. No pleasure being surrounded by a crowd of grumpy sods who have driven for miles, adding pollution to the world, only to want to change the thing they have come to see.

I could say that about Swinley, but then I discovered there’s tonnes of stuff elsewhere in the surrounding area, even just in Swinley when away from the sanitised motorway.

In my case plenty enough to avoid being samey. From what I understand of the wider FoD you’ve got loads to explore also.

Just realised this fits my attitude to bikes…

“Roads, where we’re going we don’t need roads.” 😀

To those people who say they just enjoy road cycling more than MTB.

Huh? Wha…bu…why? Are you crazy? Just look at all the (hundreds) of threads about grumpy roadies not waving hello. Do you real want to end up a humourless mamil?
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I’ll add a 😉 here just in case people take the above comments too seriously.

I’ve done exactly this, even to the point I’m thinking of selling most of my mtbs off and keeping just one.

I like the road as I like the feeling of ruining myself on a big climb etc, wringing out every last bit of muscular and cardiovascular effort I can put in. The endorphins from it are amazing.

I know you can go hard on an MTB but for me a lot of mtb can be slower going and having to back off due to tech terrain. The ability to be pushing hard for 45 minutes at s time without ever stopping turning your legs doesn’t happen as much for me on the mtb.

I also enjoy the lack of muddy kit and driving to somewhere an hour away before starting riding.

I also love the look on people’s faces when they wave at me and I just blank them. Makes me smile inside.

So many factors for me. Cost, faff, time, baby, crash risks, boredom. I feel my cross bike is currently the best compromise for me right now.

The main reason is convenience. Living on the outskirts of London if I take the road bike I can be out the house and after a short warm up along busier roads I can be on reasonably quiet roads in about 10-15 minutes, can do a nice ride out somewhere and back without a minimum of fuss. If I want to ride the mountain bike anywhere vaguely interesting I’ve got a minimum 30-40 minute car journey to do first. I’d rather not drive in order to ride my bike.

Bought a road bike as I was training for MTB endurance events and doing most of it on the road on a hardtail.

Quite liked it, mates had road as well as MTB. Started doing more road as the trails around here are pretty poor when wet. Less faff in cleaning.

I never liked driving somewhere to ride, seemed to defeat the simplicity part.

Did LEJOG in 2010.

Went to the Pyrenees in 2011. Found I liked riding up big mountains on the road. Figured I’m an endorphin junkie, not an adrenaline junkie.

Since then every year has been a couple of big target road events in Europe.

Still, MTB ride tomorrow!

I’m fortunate in that I have good mountain biking trails from my door and great road riding routes. I probably ride 70:30 road to MTB. Factors are: I get a harder workout on the road, can go further, faster and tailor routes according to what I feel like. I hate having to clean my bike (or ride slowly) so I tend to go out on the road whenever it’s wet and muddy, which is two-thirds of the year. So, I guess that makes me a fair-weather MTBer. On the flipside, I make the most of the summer with MTB racing, after-work rides and pub rides. Gravel bikes have been a great ‘invention’ – I now combine bridleways, lanes and roads on most of my rides and I own two MTBs, one gravel bike and one road bike. And a SS. It’s all just riding around on bikes really.
Edit: if I had to drive to ride my MTBs I’d probably sell them to be honest.

Upto about six years ago I split my riding about 50/50 MTB/Road (along with a bit of BMX).

Then I had trouble with my suspension forks, and it was a particularly grim Winter. I moved into a spot where I only had space for one bike, which was the road bike. Soemwhere along the way, the MTB got put in a shed at an ex’s house where it stayed until I decided to just sell it because I hadn’t used it for so long.

I think if I could live within riding distance of Grizedale again, then I would definitely still have an MTB. TBH, I’d like to get back into it as road cycling has now turned into a bit of a MAMIL Stravaist ex-mtber scene. Not really for me, I like to stay ahead of the curve. Perhaps I’ll get an ebike.