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I realise I've not used my road bike for a year. I do train on the road but it's on minor b roads with rubbish surfaces and as it's for XC I'd rather do it on a bike with a similar position to the one I race. I have a rigid HT set up for road now, having discs is a big help to keep in zone by riding against the brakes on descents.
I might do an audax - no reason not to do it on a HT with slicks? I can't see myself getting out to the Alps for road given it would take up MTB time. It would be nice to join a local club and manage a Saturday morning chain gang but I've not managed it in 5 years so realistically I'm not going to now.
Seems to me there is no reason for me to keep a road bike?
How much is it worth?
I thought similar with my hardtail after buying my full suss. I have a cx and a road bike and thought that I had everything covered.
Put the HT up for sale and couldn't even get £400 for it so decided it was worth more to me than selling it for that much. I'm not pushed for storage space so I kept it.
I've used it loads since, especially as my CX has got slicks and a dynamo wheel. MY HT is now my bike for pootling around and light XC stuff.
If you're not desperate for cash or in need of the space, i'd hang onto it as you can guarantee something will come up as soon as you get rid of it.
My decision would come down to whether I thought it was worth selling. In general the answer is yes because I'm trying not to have a life filled full of things I don't use.
No reason you couldn't do an Audax on a mtb hardtail. About the only thing you couldn't do is a race where the type of bike is specified.
I used to commute on a rigid hardtail and would do solo road rides in winter. My main reason I bought a roadie to commute was winter club runs. In reality it made little difference to speeds. I assume you have a racing HT setup anyway but you can make life easier for yourself having narrower bars and bar ends. Amtb with fatter tyres would make a pretty good winter bike. Quite versatile to if you want to do more of the CX style riding that involves gravel and cycle ways. Depends on what they are like near you. Miles of them in Newcastle that are great for riding on.
Nice to be able to vary hand positions and narrower is more aero. Sticking bigger sprockets on the front and a closer spaced rear cassette is also a good idea but I'm guessing you knew that.