Is there any joy in road cycling? Genuine question.....

TBH the bars on my road bikes always seem a long way away and very low if I've been exclusively riding MTB for a while.

I love road riding...I also love mtb, both offer different things...for a great workout , solo rides and turning your brain off riding then road is best
For chatty, technical and crazy fun then mtb is best....but yeah the bike makes a big difference so maybe that's where your going wrong

Most of my riding group own road bikes (myself included) and yet we all still mock one another for going out on the road (which we all do!). I love a sunny Sunday morning road loop with a coffee though! I also went to the Alps and rode there this spring which was fantastic. And do the odd sportive / tri / road event.

As a rule though, i pull the MTB out 80% of the time.

By the way, road bars have loads of variables other than just width. On top of that there are more variables with setup too. The angle of rotation, the height, stem length obvs and where you put the hoods are all important, and also tied in with saddle position. Sometimes it's not easy to dial in all those variables, especially if you have been tinkering already or there's already some fundamental problem e.g. it's too big/small; but a stock bike of the right size should be a good starting point.

I was endlessly dicking around with my old bike because it was just too small and a racy type. But my new one was fine out of the box.

As for smiling roadies - I always smile on certain roads on nice days, or even on moody misty ones. But one reason I am smiling is that there is no-one there to see me smile.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/ @51.5756128,-3.1337102,3a,75y,62.41h,85.49t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZmh0tRi9VBYsdC1Cbnlv9w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

The brakes on my road bike are so poor that the best I can hope for when applying maximum pressure on them on a steep descent is that I’m not actually accelerating 😟

TBH my mate melted some 3t carbon rim brake wheels with on one good descent, they melted the rim and formed a new shape.
(new lycra please - moment and he said the smell was great)

Two of the nastiest bike accidents I’ve seen resulted from baggy shorts catching on drop bars.

~Took their ba__s right orf it did 🙂

I think they are two different kinds of headspace - what I like about road riding is lots of space to think - get into a rhythm, roll along, take in your surroundings, fill your head with thoughts.

Off the road - your mind is focused pretty much in the ribbon of path just in front of you - in that sense you have no real thoughts going on at all - in a sense by being exhilarating its completely meditative  - clear your mind of everything.

So which you prefer can depend on what you have more of an appetite - these days I really like thinking so even off road I'm looking for interesting journeys rather than thrills. When I used to have a lot more professional stress to deal with I liked to be able to escape from my thoughts for a while - so a blast from a trail centre carpark was perfect for that - didnt even have to think about where I was going.

TBH my mate melted some 3t carbon rim brake wheels with on one good descent, they melted the rim and formed a new shape.

I've seen this on Alpine descents - people dragging their brakes coupled with carbon rims not dissipating the heat.

I like road riding, I like road bike cos they're fast, but riding in traffic on any bike is shit!

Their own bars? Or somebody else’s? I’m intrigued now What the hell were they doing to get their shorts tangled up with their handlebars? Circus tricks? They weren’t juggling at the time were they? Were there any seals involved? 🙂

Yep, their own bars. The flappy bit of their shorts caught the drop, god knows how.

One of the two got tangled into a barbed wire fence, they took some of that to the hospital with him and removed it there (I assume, I never saw him before or since).

Other chap used his face as a brake on the tarmac, he looked like dorian grey's portrait for a long while after that.

I’ve seen this on Alpine descents – people dragging their brakes coupled with carbon rims not dissipating the heat.

Dragging due to not being able to descend / brake properly.

But anyway, back on topic I ride more on road than off and like it just as much if not more if I'm honest.

I think we just have to accept that other people have other tastes in sport and recreation. I have a cycling friend who after 35 years of me telling him has just realised I have absolutely no interest in rugby. We find it difficult to understand why people don't like what we do and vice versa.

I like cycling up hills on road bikes and down hills on mountain bikes.

Yes, definitely!

My commute through the edge of Southampton city centre from the east is tolerable on the hybrid, choosing back lanes to keep away from traffic more on the way home, I head to work at 0600 which is busier than it used to be but nothing like rush hour traffic levels so the main road is fine.

Heading north east ish from home, road riding is usually bliss for me, besides the closest ~10mins to home which can be hostile with motor traffic around rush hours and school run times. While I usually love blasting up hills as fast as my failing mamil body can take me, the countryside and fresh do a lot of good for my mental health too. The only shame is i didnt realise how close pleasant road cycling was until five years ago, when I've lived around here for almost thirty years.

The hydraulic disc brakes on my road bike are a game changer, shame my old commuter in Xmas '13 didn't have them, i'd still have all my teeth plus no metal in my hand and palate.

It's two wheels and pedalling which is always a good start. A solo rider and happier for it, the joy part for me is when niggles and troubles clear, views open up, quads are powering, and the mind shuts up. All very blissful, but still not a patch on rolling nobblies onto dirt.

I’ve seen this on Alpine descents – people dragging their brakes coupled with carbon rims not dissipating the heat.

Our first trip to the Alpes, road riding, we booked a chalet in Alpe D'Huez village. First day, first ride was obviously the descent. Most of us flew down overtaking all the cars and motor bikes on every bend. However, one member wasn't quite so comfy descending and dragged his brakes the whole way down. He joined us at the bottom of the last bend whereupon his tyres delaminated with the tread separating from the beading, which curtailed his ride some what. Alu rims, so they survived....

I remember enjoying riding my MTB on the quiet lanes of Northants in the early ‘90s, tyres pumped up to 65psi, like a flat bar cromoly roadie.

I can’t imagine enjoying it with the spectre of traffic to run me over. The small amount on my commute is bad enough!

I think there's plenty of joy in it. But my bike fits me and I am svelte enough to wear Lycra and look good in it 😉

EDIT - I'm also useless on a mountain bike

It's a very different sort of fun for me. It's more about the speed and working hard as well as beautiful views.
Also lycra is 100% the right stuff to wear. I was skeptical and self conscious at first but it's just so much better for road riding as are peak less helmets and no backpacks.

Define "Joy" and you will have your answer. Since this depends on each individual, their perceptions, wants, needs etc, it is a meaningless comparison.

I cannot see any joy in train spotting, yet some people absolutely love it and base their whole lives around it. To me that is absolutely brilliant, as they have something in their life that brings them joy, and any thoughts to the contrary are completely irrelevant.

I didn’t want to splash out too much cash on a road bike, but it sounds like I need to try a different bike! The background to this is that, at 65 (😯) I can’t see myself MTBing forever, but will cease to function without a two-wheeled escape route.

Have you ever seen a smiling roadie? I would suggest not. Plus you have to wear that stupid tight clothing and a cap under your helmet.

Only wear "stupid tight" bib shorts (mine aren't really stupid or tight more to do with the 'model' (me) than the actual attire) for comfort and they are always covered with baggies. Always. I do find it funny that some 'proper' roadies are very cheerful - always an acknowledgment of other bike-ists regardless of their steed of choice, whilst others appear miserable as sin and barely acknowledge existence of anything. Then again, they may have just done 100 miles instead of my token 15 miles 😁 I also, nearly always go out on my road-ish bike (Spesh Diverge with 38c tyres) in the early hours to avoid traffic wherever possible. 5am bike rides are awesome.

Plus you have to wear that stupid tight clothing and a cap under your helmet.

I always wear lycra when riding offroad, never saw the point of baggy attire.

Uncomfortable bikes. Mixing with traffic. Not for me. My hybridised mtb is far nicer to ride. Road bikes do awful things to your back as its a very unnatural position flattening your lumbar curve and hyperflexing your neck. Yes you can force your body to adapt but is really not good for your back health

Touring and gravel yes. Pure road riding no especially not in a bunch. I am never going to put my safety in the hands of others. I simply don't trust anyone else

Always. I do find it funny that some ‘proper’ roadies are very cheerful – always an acknowledgment of other bike-ists regardless of their steed of choice, whilst others appear miserable as sin and barely acknowledge existence of anything.

Just on that, I find that MTBers are consistently the group least likely to return a greeting. And I do find the comments about lycra amusing, given that MTBers (including me) all used to wear it BITD.

I cannot see any joy in train spotting, yet some people absolutely love it

I'll admit to standing on a bridge waiting for a steam train to pass on more than one occasion.

Yes, but you need to be in a group. Solo road riding is awful.

A good group, yes. They are however quite difficult to find - almost invariably there is someone in there with no idea of riding 2-abreast, through-and-off or smooth controlled pacing.

I also have a road bike, which I ride occasionally. I try hard to enjoy it, but just cannot find the love. I don’t know if it’s the bike (harsh ride, twitchy steering, poor rim brakes, totally unergonomic controls), or the tarmac, or mixing with the traffic (although I avoid that as much as possible).
The moment I “hit the dirt” the fun starts. Is there any actual fun to be had in road riding? What am I missing?

Sounds like a bike setup issue, possibly coupled with a crap components issue.
I've got a (now very retro) top-end road bike which I mostly stopped riding for ages cos it was no fun anymore. It felt fragile and delicate compared to other newer road bikes that I'd ridden plus it was getting to the stage where finding replacement parts for it was getting more and more difficult.
So I got a new bike, nothing special, just a mid-level road bike. I'm not racing any more, I'm not looking for a £10k superbike. And it's brilliant - it's opened up road riding all over again for me. It handles better than the old bike, it's much faster, it's stiffer but also more comfy.

So yeah, I reckon poor set-up. I get that it's tricky spending £££ on a road bike when you're not sure you'll enjoy it but there's a trade-off where you buy something that's so poor that you don't enjoy it anyway...

Road bikes do awful things to your back as its a very unnatural position flattening your lumbar curve and hyperflexing your neck

Only badly set up ones. They don't all have to be like the ones on the Tour de France, you don't need to ride like that. I don't. Those TdF bikes are extreme.

I've got 8 bikes and I love them all*. Two of them have curly bars. They are no less comfortable than my MTBs, the ergonomics are no worse, the handling isn't twitchy, and they bring me just as much joy. This morning I did a quick 50k solo road ride and absolutely loved it, and every other rider I saw while I was out greeted me, some even smiled. I'm lucky in that rural Warwickshire allows me to ride pretty much as far as I like with only minimal exposure to A-roads. I sometimes ride with the local club who are friendly and enforce good group discipline so are pretty safe. Lycra makes sense for any kind of bike, apart from a town bike/Dutch bike, and the move to baggies was purely fashion driven as they have only disadvantages on the bike.

* The one I don't love is a 2014 Giant XTC Advanced, size S, 2x10 SLX, ZTR Crest wheelset, recent new chainrings and cassette, fork service at TF Tuned. Ideal for anyone 5'7" or below...

I used to ride far more road than MTB, loved the speed and going on really epic, long rides.  I've ridden my road bike all over the world and have been to some beautiful places.  Always said hello and waved to fellow cyclists too!  But I ended up almost quitting as I got the fear.  One too many close shaves with idiots in cars.  Knocked off a few times (thankfully nothing serious).  So yeah, loved road riding, hated traffic.  It's all MTB and gravel now whilst trying to keep off the main roads.

Nope mogrips. All drop handlebar road bikes flatten your lumbar curve and hyoerflex your neck. Its inevitable with a road bike unless you bring the bars up and back hugely. Its inherent in the position

Lycra makes sense for any kind of bike,

Spoken like a true roadie!

Touring and gravel yes. Pure road riding no especially not in a bunch. I am never going to put my safety in the hands of others. I simply don’t trust anyone else

And yet you don't wear a helmet...curious.

Spoken like a true roadie!

Go on then, explain the advantages of baggies 😁

Meh, I like riding most bicycles, variety is the spice of life and all that...

If individuals need coaxing to find the 'Joy' in something perhaps it's more an issue with them than the specific activity?

Also the whole thing of picking fault with other subsets of cycling gets tired after a while. If you only have the imagination to enjoy one specific niche, just stick to that, the rest of the world doesn't really care if you can't bend your mind around different shaped bars and skinnier tyres...

Go on tell us why you think "Roadies are so miserable" again...

Road riding for me is filled with thoughtful head space moments, and has the benefit of a general fitness boost. But my issue is that when ever I have the choice I'd rather pick up the MTB and go out for a gentle ride to get into that same head space - I'm lucky enough to have a lovely road bike that fits me well, but it just doesn't get the use that my two mtbs get.

Daffy. Passive v active safety.

Ppe is the last resort for risks you cannot mitigate in other ways. Riding in a bunch someone else's mistake can cause you to crash. I want my 1.5 m lateral spacing and 2 second gap in direction of travel

Mtb'ing I love whilst doing, road-biking (in this country) I enjoy after I have finished. I love riding in France, Italy and last week in Switzerland and to do this I need to be fit. Road biking keeps me fit and lighter. I hate running.

Last year I really thought about this... I am not the best at this sport, and thought why do I do it? I have lost a lot of my riding mates (mostly ex rowers) to kids etc. I ride a lot on my own now in the Surrey Hills. I think I was going through a bad patch after a lot of riding on my own, and trying to do bigger and bigger Audax rides, a 400km and a failed 600km on the hottest weekend of the year made me start thinking this way. For some reason in events I still ride a lot on my own. I did my fastest 200 this Spring, I reckon on 180k on my own - I sort of sit in a void in the middle, picking up the odd slower rider, and spitting them out the back but not really catching many...

I then sat back and looked at what I had done, where have I been and the people I have met, and realised I love the sport/s. I love the bikes (I would love a old motorbikes or classic car but dont have the space or money), I love the mechanics, the tech etc, and the clothes :-). I have ridden all over the world Marin County just because, France lots Marmots and Etapes, and just riding up massive hills like CdF, AdH, Glandon, Lacets de Montvernier, Galibier, etc and Ventoux lots; Italy Stelvio and Gavia etc

I stopped mtb'ing from 2013 until 2019 due to no bike and kids - road biking is far less faff for me. We then bought bikes for all of us (instead of new wardrobes), my wife rides and is very good off-road, and my two 11 year old boys are strong on bikes. This year we have been to BPW and and just got back from two weeks in Lenzerhiede and was the bast family holiday ever!

Road bikes can be dull, but its less dull than going to the gym. I do like riding in the rain and night, so maybe I am just weird...

Bikes are my life 🙂

Nope mogrips. All drop handlebar road bikes flatten your lumbar curve and hyoerflex your neck. Its inevitable with a road bike unless you bring the bars up and back hugely. Its inherent in the position

I'm not sure that's a result of it being drop bars or a road bike though is it?

Heck the bars on my mtbs are definitely lower and further forward compared with the saddle than riding the hoods on my road bike, they're probably about the same as in the drops.

I love road riding…I also love mtb, both offer different things…for a great workout , solo rides and turning your brain off riding then road is best
For chatty, technical and crazy fun then mtb is best….but yeah the bike makes a big difference so maybe that’s where your going wrong

I love rainy warm'ish mtb rides in the Surrey Hills. Me and son #2 spent a day in Brachfa last October, bloody lovely moist ride and Mucky-D's on the way back to the holiday home. Mtb is best for smiles, most of my big road rides I could cry...

I love my bikes, but my £2.5k Orange Clockwork I love the look of and look at more in the garage than my new'ish Colnago. Bike fits are key for roadbikes and lots of stretching 🙂

I've tried it a few times. Actually enjoyed it to the point of thinking 'I get this!' once, and that lasted all of a minute or so before being ruined by a vocal c*nt in a pick-up.

I don't even get type2 enjoyment from it. I suspect I'm doing it wrong.

It's a different kind of joy on a road ride - I can go further, or faster, if the mood takes me,I find it easier to judge if I'm feeling tired or stronger than usual. Those moments when you are in the zone" and cruising at 18-20mph, or at the back of a neat group of 8 riders in synch riding 2x4 on a decent bit of road when it all comes together and oiks and feels "right" are great.

Going off road is a more immediate joy, properly in the middle of nature on a track.

My lack of any sort of technical ability means I get frustrated quicker off road.

I’m not sure that’s a result of it being drop bars or a road bike though is it?

Heck the bars on my mtbs are definitely lower and further forward compared with the saddle than riding the hoods on my road bike, they’re probably about the same as in the drops.

Its certainly possible to set up mtbs to wreck your back as well. It is however inherent in a road bike. My mtb riding position leaves my back in a natural curve

Those moments when you are in the zone” and cruising at 18-20mph, or at the back of a neat group of 8 riders in synch riding 2×4 on a decent bit of road when it all comes together and oiks and feels “right” are great.

This.
I still remember the races where I got into a break and was able to do cohesive through-and-off in a small group in a near-sterile road environment; the speed and flow is just sublime. Done it a few times in closed-road Sportives too like Etape du Tour and RideLondon. Coming into London along Embankment, mid-pack doing 30+ mph and all you can hear around you is the whirr and rumble and swoosh of carbon wheels. 💥

Going off road is a more immediate joy, properly in the middle of nature on a track.

Thinking about this, the thing that brings me joy about getting out on my mtb is just the getting out. It's the views, the freedom the exercise, all of those I get on the road.

Sure there's the adrenaline and excitement on a MTB that's difficult to match on road but a ride plodding round the same soulless conifer plantation is joyless, regardless of how exciting the riding might be.