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"And the 15 min of downs doesn’t make up for the 90 min of tedium."
This summarises the main reason I bought an Emtb. I actually think of the electric paddles as a FFWD control for tedium. It allows me to do the equivalent descents a full days enduro event would have in about 2hrs. or I can just use it on full power assist to repeat DH runs until the battery is empty. (Say 4 full DH runs, at places where on my DH bike it would be a 40min push per run). I've hardly done any uplifts since getting mine despite having a season pass for my local DH uplift service.
If you honestly think the assist will affect your fitness simply take your roadbike for a spin afterwards. But bear in mind you can use the assist level on an Emtb to taylor mtb rides to use HR zones as you might do on a roadride and there's nothing stopping you putting all out efforts into an Emtb (Assist tops out at 15mph and an Emtb will be at least 15lb heavier than any other bike you might have)
I think the issue stems from fact that for 90% of the routes I do on the mtb a gravel bike would suffice. Its only the downhill parts that it would be a chore on. And the 15 min of downs doesn’t make up for the 90 min of tedium.
I think you're thinking about it all wrong, or to put it another way, you seem to be enjoying gravel/road riding more. That's fine. My rides are all about the 2mins descending after an hour's climb, but each to their own.
I find myself feeling sort of similar to you OP, I think it comes down to available time as much as anything.
Road and Gravel currently have the appeal of being that bit more accessible from my door, to get the most from my MTB I have to either trundle a bit further to the local cheeky woodland trails (which aren't that extensive and get pulled apart periodically) or load the bike into the car for a trip somewhere, it wasn't always like this, when I got into MTBing I lived near enough to more places to ride and was young enough and had more free time to jump on the bike and go for a full days riding without any real fuss.
As for it seeming like a slog up hill? Well it is. It tends to be a rougher loser surface, often with more technical stuff to deal with, and obviously it's not quite as engaging as going back down. but it's all part of riding an MTB, It always has been but yes it's harder and means your available energy reserves won't take you as far as they do on a road bike... Unless you cheat and let a motor do all the work 😉
I still find MTBing fun, But I've changed over time, I do it less frequently and thus it's become a bit of a "Occasion" than simply going for a Ride.
I don't have the same spare time (whole days/weekends) I used to be able to give over to riding an MTB. and the faff of getting kit together for a ride just detracts from the enjoyment, it all seems to take up too much of the time I could spend riding... It all means that you sort of end up expecting a bit more excitement and fun from any time you do spend on a mountain bike, and of course if it's just a bit 'Meh' and you're tired out after a handful of hours it can serve to put you off the whole experience a bit.
On the other hand, pull on the gimp outfit, fill a water bottle, slap it in the cage on either the Road or Gravel bike and go, a couple of hours on a bike which you've not had to plan or faff as much for, and if it is a bit 'Meh' it doesn't really matter, it'll be better next time probably...
Of course it could be worse, you could have taken up Zwift...
Just don't ride it in the same roads/tracks as you would the road bike/gravel bike. MTB's come into their own on the rough stuff, but it's like pedaling treacle if you've been riding a road bike for a while.
Why do people faff more over going for an mtb ride than a road ride?
Keep your bike maintained and ready to use. Don't use anything that's not sensibly durable and you need exactly the same things to ride mtb as road. (tube/multitool/pump, phone/money). Hardly anyone ever ventures more than 5 miles from a road when out mtbing so why would you need anything more than when you're 5 miles down a deserted country road in stupid (to walk in) shoes?
Rigid 29er. Much better on smooth stuff than a FS or even hardtail.
+1 for ebike. . I never thought I'd say 'that was a fun climb' until I got an e bike. I have found fun factor has increased, the ups and downs have balanced out, more downhill runs are possible and I'm loving finding technical uphill challenges.
Contrary to common thought, fitness definitely does not decrease - generally I'm getting out more on the bike and will stay out for longer, but if time is tight I can do a quick blast whilst being able to control effort and heartrate- making for an effective workout. You can still work really hard, even on full motor assist, but generally I now don't have to pick my lungs up off the floor.
Of course, to maintain fitness with an e bike you do need to either ride by yourself or with other e bikers as otherwise you would just be cruising up the hills.
Why do people faff more over going for an mtb ride than a road ride?
Keep your bike maintained and ready to use. Don’t use anything that’s not sensibly durable and you need exactly the same things to ride mtb as road. (tube/multitool/pump, phone/money). Hardly anyone ever ventures more than 5 miles from a road when out mtbing so why would you need anything more than when you’re 5 miles down a deserted country road in stupid (to walk in) shoes?
So much this. Only thing I need with me in this weather is some water in a bottle, I don't generally bother with tools etc either, as you say, I'm never more than an hour or so walk from the car or home if it all goes tits up and I break something.
Get shorts, top, shoes n helmet on, jump on bike, ride. Zero faff.
If I'm going out for a day, I'll grab my bumbag as well, all my stuff is in there already.
Having to hose myself down and peel off mud-covered clothes for the last endless UK sludge-fest of a winter dented my enthusiasm for mtb a bit, but now it's dry i'm getting giddy just thinking about my local trails 🙂
Might try zwift this winter when it gets too boggy, I have zero desire to go and suck in exhaust fumes and wonder when a van wing mirror is about to re-shape my skull on the roads.
I guess it it's about what you want out of each experience.
So many mtbers seem to want a playstation type experience, great descents etc. For me it's as much about just being out there, and seeing friends. Road riding is for the type 2 fun.
Any hobby/pass-time or sport is what you make it.
A long fireroad or non technical trail is boring on a heavy FS .... but the same climb (end points) and more direct technical route up can be great on the FS and I'm sure the even more direct route fun on a e-bike.
The trick is matching the trail to the bike... or bid to trail.
I just picked up a 7kg crabon Ultegra Di2 road bike to commute on and thrash around on weekends. It's awful. The gears are too hard for my hills, ride is harsh (even with 25mm rubber), braking is crap and the position is uncomfortable. How does anyone enjoy riding these things??? I'm about to sell it..
^^good stealth ad right there.
I currently just have a hardtail and don’t find it that bad on the road. Just a bit slower (and a lot comfier) than the NS RAG I had. If you’re not enjoying it, just stop doing it.
I started mountain biking in 1988 when it began to boom and for years I was absolutely fanatical about it; as I got fitter and stronger and was able to afford better bikes I joined local clubs and did Polaris mountain marathons all over the country. Living in Rossendale put me in a great location and gradually my cycling world expanded to take in all of Calderdale, which has some of the best trails in Britain as well as the Lakes and the Pennines. Then after 21 years I began to tire of the mud, the hurried shivering changes in a freezing garage after night rides, the wear and tear on kit and bike, the constant cleaning and servicing, the bickering in the club and the club members' lack of interest in exploring new routes outside their area. Then one day in April 2009 I found a brand new Specialized Roubaix dumped off a bridge near my house. Took it to the Police who gave it back to me a month later and that was when I became a roadie. It was also when I realised that I actually wasn't very fit either so since then I have been building strength and fitness and have ended up with an endurance bike and a naughtly little Italian climbers' bike, which I only ride on dry unsalted roads but which gives me a huge amount of pleasure as it weighs only 6.4 kgs, climbs like a goat and descends like the horsemen of the Apocalypse. Plus, I also need all the help I can get at my age!
If you want to read about cycling obsession get hold of a little book called The Escape Artist by Matt Seaton, a good book on the lore and etiquette of road cycling and the best explanation for leg-shaving I've seen. It also has a tragic twist in the tail.
I'm in the same boat. I CBA driving to trails so I bought an Arkose and now do mixed on and off-road rides from my door, using lanes to link up bridleways. It's brilliant fun, and pretty much what I was doing on my MTB in the early 90s.
I've moved over to MTB more after a driver broke my spine. I have 3 road bikes gathering dust - I only use one on Zwift.
I'm lucky in that I don't need to touch roads near me and we have plenty of natural trails - admittedly it's more XC type riding, but it's good for fitness - I can mix up relatively flat miles or take to the hills. I can go out for an hour, or even half a day, but still not be all that far from home.
Despite the mud fest, it beats worrying about getting hit by a car again - I never want to go through that again.
I was never interested in manmade trails, mountain biking was about spending hours on the bog studying maps and working out routes then going and riding them. Then people began publishing guides so we went and rode a few of those routes. Then trail centres came along but they were boring and the litter was annoying. I can ride my road bike straight from my house and get the same feeling of self-reliance and adventure that I used to get on the mountain bike, out in remote countryside alone or enjoying the company of a couple of like-minded pals, stopping at a pub or a cafe and coming home feeling absolutely beasted.
GtiJunior and I recently rode out of Manchester city centre with his Uni club and it was a good ten miles of suburban riding before we were in rural Chshire were we were still bothered by SUVs and German saloon cars so I can see that your place of residence can have a big bearing on your enjoyment of cycling.
Took my mtb for a spin tonight for the first time in a while and cut the ride short half way through. I’ve been mainly riding my road and gravel bikes recently so am reasonably fit, but the mountain bikes always feel a bit of a chore.
I know exactly where you're coming from. I've ridden mountain bikes since I was a kid (30 years+ now!) and never had any desire to ride on the road until a couple of years ago when I started to get involved with junior coaching at a local club. Skip forward to today and the MTB now accounts for less than half of my riding (by duration), with the the road and gravel bikes splitting the rest. I'm not the world's bravest rider (and never have been!) but always enjoyed slogging up and down hills and I've found that since doing more road / gravel that I enjoy this bit of the riding more than the very technical stuff.
I now actually find myself looking forward to riding for 5 hours without a break now, something that I would never do when riding the MTB. That said, I've just come back from a work trip to Slovakia, where a local XC rider took me out into the hills and showed me just how unfit I really was over just 25 miles of his local trails!
I've also had the same concerns as you but, frankly, I don't worry as long as I'm out riding and having fun. If that's on the road bike then so be it - it's still cycling 🙂
I find road riding hard work for exactly the same reason you don't like mountain biking much - that is that the slogs uphill are hard to enjoy when the downhill isn't exciting enough afterwards - whereas with mountain biking at least with an uphill slog you have the downhill adrenaline to look forward to...
Doesn't it sort of also depend on the bike? An enduro sled might feel quite different to a hardtail which again might feel different to a rigid bike
Rigid 29er. Good on road and off. There's more to MTBing than local singletrack. Or at least, there is in some parts of the country 🙂
Doesn’t it sort of also depend on the bike? An enduro sled might feel quite different to a hardtail which again might feel different to a rigid bike
It does very much so..although the bike in question is a lightweight carbon xc bike so should not feel like a chore to ride up hill
I find road riding hard work for exactly the same reason you don’t like mountain biking much – that is that the slogs uphill are hard to enjoy when the downhill isn’t exciting enough afterwards – whereas with mountain biking at least with an uphill slog you have the downhill adrenaline to look forward to…
Yes! After posting my complete ambivalence toward road riding, I decided to give it another shot today... and it wasn't so bad after all. Weather and views made it better, but it's still like riding a clothes rack...
Change who you ride with. The ups become less tedious when you and your mates are taking the piss and the ride ends in the pub.
It all depends where u live, I have riding on my doorstep, so I use a gravel bike for fitness and miles, not so much interest in road bikes, I feel sad that on some really good off-road biking places I am one of only a handful of riders in a day, week that is riding these places.
with local government and agencies destroying natural trails (read access for all smooth cleansed tracks) I want to ride now.
As dovebiker says so many people are overbiked, so a tricky trail isnt so tricky, I had a bigger enduro bike, could point it down anything and anyone could make it go fast , sold it.
xc hardtail 90mm and a 130mm hardtail and a 130mm full susser is plenty enough
I find it's mainly the faff which saps my enthusiasm. 1 hour round trip for me to ride a trail I cover in 1 hour. Three hour round trip for anything else. I can understand the attraction of starting a road ride from your front door.
Constantly changing standards and the specificity of bikes is also a PITA.
No such thing as over biked, more a case of under trailed. 😊