[Closed] Do MTB riders make better roadies?

MTB riders that go roadie have excellent bike handling skills.

I bet you find you get your arse handed to you by proper roadies on descents. The speeds some of those guys hit (and maintain) are mad

I bet you find you get your arse handed to you by proper roadies on descents. The speeds some of those guys hit (and maintain) are mad

not necessarily. as somebody who went from mtb-road and seen a few others go that way they have terrible posture/position on a bike, no group riding skills and definitely a lack of endurance/fitness, something that comes with saddle time and if you dont ride with other good riders you will never become a proper roadie.
i see a lot of chubby riders with their stems too short and too high noodling around on their own or in similar groups (spread across the road not a nice tight group). i presume a lot of them are mtb’ers.

Most mountain bikers would get left for dead by "proper" roadies. The speeds and constant level of effort those guys can maintain are hard to replicate on a mtb. Also descending is a different ball game on the road.

Someone who was an excellent roadie could transfer pretty easy to mountain biking I'd have thought. Good fitness would mean more energy and concentration to improve on the techy bits. Unlikely they'd be trundling round the Glentress red in 4 hours stopping for a fag break at the top. More likely doing hill reps and smashing the downhills.

Getting speed wobbles at 39mph the other day did give me the willies

Pah, wait till you're had it at 55mph, 150 miles into a 220 mile ride, I was nearly in tears...

griffiths1000 - Member

i get the feeling all that pumping up twisty single track and fast gnarly descents give you a good kick start to the world of roadie......

if mountain biking was really like that, then maybe this would be an interesting idea.

but back here in reality, most mtb rides stop for a nice rest at the top of climbs; get the sandwiches out, take some photo's, check facebook, faff with bike, talk shite for 15mins, etc.

(repeat at the bottom of the hill)

which is all great fun, and very sociable, but not a great fitness-foundation for road riding.

terrible posture/position on a bike, no group riding skills and definitely a lack of endurance/fitness

I went roadie for a bit, no problems with the endurance (lots of commuting), but the fine control of pedal inputs needed to stay 4 inches of someones wheel was something that needed a bit of practice.

In crit races, I found I made up significant amount of time in tight corners, but this only worked if i had an uninterrupted run through the corner, i.e. being at the back or the front.

However, this failed to work in the Crystal Palace crits, which I found very very hard, because everyone had pretty good bike handling skills AND fitness.

If you want to be fast, on MTB or road, you need both.

[i]Do MTB riders make better roadies?[/i]

Depends,it's all about yir average speed init 😛

Pah, wait till you're had it at 55mph, 150 miles into a 220 mile ride, I was nearly in tears...

You must have a massive Penis.

ahwiles - Member

griffiths1000 - Member

i get the feeling all that pumping up twisty single track and fast gnarly descents give you a good kick start to the world of roadie......

if mountain biking was really like that, then maybe this would be an interesting idea.

but back here in reality, most mtb rides stop for a nice rest at the top of climbs; get the sandwiches out, take some photo's, check facebook, faff with bike, talk shite for 15mins, etc.

(repeat at the bottom of the hill)

which is all great fun, and very sociable, but not a great fitness-foundation for road riding.

So your a roadie then? 😆

I seem to remember Paul Sherwen mentioned it once, when referring to an Alpine descent.

You must have a massive Penis.

do they cause speed wobbles?

jam bo - Member

You must have a massive Penis.

do they cause speed wobbles?

No but excellent for willy waving 😆

@ Jam bo, They can be a contributing factor. 😀

Mostly fitness.. I reckon an average MTBer would have his arse handed to him on a plate by even the most average of club roadie.

fasthaggis - Member

Do MTB riders make better roadies?

Depends,it's all about yir average speed init

Of course 😉

Getting speed wobbles at 39mph the other day did give me the willies

An MTBer would simply manual their way out of it 🙂

Seriously though - there are MTBers and MTBers. Not all MTBers faff about all ride long.

It would be interesting to compare the MTBer committed to pace on rides (possibly even wearing lycra) to a roadie. I suspect that a roadie who isn't used to singletrack would suffer more MTBing than an MTBer going road racing. But an MTBer might struggle with the constant effort of road riding, with less time to give your legs a rest.

Six and two threes innit, decent riders make decent riders. I never really had much of a problem riding in a tight group from the off, it felt rather natural and much more relaxing than riding down a techy trail in a big train like tends to happen on the DH bike. Saying that though I do sometimes struggle when the MPH'z get high and you start cornering at 30-40mph, some of the guys I ride with are insanely fast and smooth and I reckon given a bit of time would be as comfortable off-road. Never underestimate an old racer though, they can still throw down a huge amount of power that will def embarrass a lot of mountain bikers, at the same time don't expect all roadies to be insanely fit, a lot of 'em aren't, indeed on my first group ride they thought it'd be funny to stick me on the front and try and make me suffer...I wasn't doing much of the suffering that day 😉

as a part-time roadie from mtb roots, i've never had a speed wobble. Top recorded speed is 62mph so far, so my conclusion is mtbers are better at riding down hills.

monkeyfudger - Member

Six and two threes innit, decent riders make decent riders. I never really had much of a problem riding in a tight group from the off, it felt rather natural and much more relaxing than riding down a techy trail in a big train like tends to happen on the DH bike. Saying that though I do sometimes struggle when the MPH'z get high and you start cornering at 30-40mph, some of the guys I ride with are insanely fast and smooth and I reckon given a bit of time would be as comfortable off-road. Never underestimate an old racer though, they can still throw down a huge amount of power that will def embarrass a lot of mountain bikers, at the same time don't expect all roadies to be insanely fit, a lot of 'em aren't, indeed on my first group ride they thought it'd be funny to stick me on the front and try and make me suffer...I wasn't doing much of the suffering that day

Well said monkeyfudger 😉

[i]decent riders make decent riders.[/i]

true dat

as a part-time roadie from mtb roots, i've never had a speed wobble. Top recorded speed is 62mph so far, so my conclusion is mtbers are better at riding down hills.

My noodly Carbon Planet X road bike might have had something to do with it 😉

i see a lot of chubby riders with their stems too short and too high

As someone with a legitimate* need for a relatively high stem (handlebars pretty much level with saddle) I'd be interested to know what the criteria for 'too high' is. Fashion? 8)

*legitimate as in I can't/won't do the god knows how many hours of pilates is required for me to ride 5 hours without any discomfort from a herniated L5/S1 disc.

Do MTB riders make better roadies than what? Pastry chefs? Barristers? MTBers get pretty fit and might be able to climb ok, but even XC racing is all about short hard bursts and periods of recovery. That doesn't prepare you well for sustained hard efforts.

*legitimate as in I can't/won't do the god knows how many hours of pilates is required for me to ride 5 hours without any discomfort from a herniated L5/S1 disc

T4/5 for me and one in the neck, the chin 2" off the front tire and eyes on the road in front definitely the best position for dodgy backs. 🙄

I've MTB'd for 20+ years and after a few mates went to the dark side, I went for a bike fit for a new road bike a couple of years ago at the pedal precision place in the cycling centre.

After analysing my pedal stroke and complimenting it the guy there said that MTB'ers pedal more efficiently than cyclists going straight onto road bikes. Roadies tend to mash the pedals, whereas MTB'ers, (particularly clipped in ones), pull and push round the stroke.

This is one of those "how long is a piece of string" type questions to which the answer is "it depends".

The top guys in either discipline will be able to transfer many of their skills and fitness over but things like DH take a while to build up the skill set and even within MTBing itself not everyone does pure DH courses.

Riding in a fast group on the road takes a while to get used to and a long while to get good at, sitting at 50kph a few centimetres behind the wheel in front takes quite a bit of concentration.

If you're the type who moans because they've missed the up-lift bus and will have to ride uphill then you'd really struggle with the amount of effort needed for a typical club ride. Similarly if you're a roadie who freaks out at the merest hint of gravel or lumpy roads then you aren't going to like a typical trail centre route.

For me the two disciplines complement one another.

There is a lot more scope for messing about off road, more shits and giggles and it is more difficult to assess and compare your fitness level (average speeds mean nothing given the range of terrain). Road riding is dull and therefore attracts the types who get obsessed by performance. Speed / endurance are also the only real measure of performance where as in off road or even trials or bmx bike skills are the key i.e. If I could land a back flip I wouldn’t care how I looked in lycra or what average speed I could achieve over x miles!

Sagan and Chuckles spring to mind, both of them started out off road and have done alright.

Once you get to the top echelons of either sport its a different world though,
Lots of very specialised and focused training.

Would it be the same comparing a sprinter to a long distance runner as its all just running, putting one foot in front of the other isnt it?

I reckon MTBing gives you good bike handling skills and explosive power.

No

They're probably more likely to say "Hello" as you pass, so on the strength of that...

yes.

[quote=jam bo ]as a part-time roadie from mtb roots, i've never had a speed wobble. Top recorded speed is 62mph so far, so my conclusion is mtbers are better at riding down hills.

ooops. looks like a did gatsby. 62 mph cherry picked rogue reading.

56.4mph will have to do

Sagan and Chuckles spring to mind, both of them started out off road and have done alright

But countless others started on the track, or racing cross, or were just roadies.

It really is just that good riders are good riders.

Look at the womens where the Marianne Vos or Pauline Ferrand-Prévot who are multiple world champions accross track, MTB and road.

Based on reading this......still no

Back to the op..
From what ive seen id say it depends if you have a natural inclination to take everything far to seriously.

Ryder started as a mtber, however for ever good 'un there is a duff one Miguel Martinez springs to mind. Never really made it as a roadie despite his dad being okay.

Plenty of current roadies do mtbing in the winter, so as others have said its complementary.

mountain biking helps with cross and maybe very short sharp road climbs but otherwise unsuprisingly roadies make better roadies.

When I was seriously into my MTB racing I would get dropped easily by a Cat 2 rider on the road. Switch it the other way around though and off road I could drop him. I think if you have focussed solely on one type of racing you can't really transfer between the two readily. If you are a good mountain biker who has also road raced for many years, though, you'd be fine.

Define better... Faster? Safer? Better at avoiding getting off when you get out of shape?

I'm a life-long roadie that started riding mountain bikes around 20 years ago during the 1990s boom. At the time, I remember noticing how much slower most new cyclists went down hill - I put it down to the fact that I was just more comfortable riding a bike at speed.

I'm not sure there are many mtb skills that benefit road riding - possibly pedaling technique can be improved... Bunny-hopping grids etc is just riding and it winds me up to hear cycling commentators attributing "bike handling" on road to experience off road!

I think MTBers can learn more about technique, energy saving, efficiency and group etiquette/safety from road riding...

But really, this is an utterly pointless thread with no definitive answer, so I'm not even going to post a comment... 😉

Did a flat-ish Gorrick once with a guy who was much faster than me on road, and lighter too. We finished very close, because despite being a decent bike handler by road standards, and having MTBed off and on, he just didn't have the technical skills. I made up loads of time on the singletrack bits.

Had it been a course with big climbs he'd have wiped the floor with me I'm sure.

MTB riders that go roadie have excellent bike handling skills.

I thought that too until Chris Froome single handedly blew it out the water with his innate inability to remain vertical when the road gets moist.

As someone who is 'half chips half rice' I reckon that if you want to build decent base of fitness it's easier to do it on the road bike. You're also less likely to stop at the top / bottom of hills and time lost to faff is also minimised.

I remember reading an interview with Cuddles about how long and hard it was to change his body from a short burst power type to an endurance type athlete required for road racing.

I also recall that Schuter (?) spent a chunk of the end of last year competing in road races to help with training & endurance?

In a real world, bogo weekend warrior type rider (as in the majority on here) I don't think there's a lot of difference fitness wise; as there are plenty of 'roadies' who are happy to plod along at 14-15mph on their rides, just like the MTB'ers who like to stop and chat and 'live' for the down hills. Those who put in more time / effort and ride a few times a week the skills separate, the regular MTB'er will be better off road, the roadie will invariably climb better and be able to maintain a constant effort for longer. IMHO of course.