Are roadbikes the new STW niche?

Its too expensive to drive to go riding anymore

Who thinks driving is an integral part of MTBing?

How many people have properly honestly looked and found NO trails within say 10 miles of their house?

NIght road riding with off road lights is fun

Is it bloody hell!

Cost is one of the reasons I’m seriously considering getting a road bike (or possibly just road wheels for my 29er mtb). The cost of replacing parts on the mtb is getting prohibitive, and there’s bugger all that’s fun/challenging within 1 hour’s riding of me, so the car tends to get me to the trails. Road riding certainly wouldn’t replace mtbing for me, but it could replace a couple of off-road rides a week. Gotta say though, night riding on the road sounds well crap!

“Why are you proud of not owning a road bike and how do you know it’s boring?”

Because I’ve ridden many road bikes in the past, though never owned one. Plus, this is a mountain bike forum after all. Why stick to the roads when there are loads of lovely hills to ride about on (off road!)?

Plus, lycra is appalling, no one can refute that. Not one of you. Not one. I mean, most mountain bike gear looks horrendous, but roadie gear…

😀

have you read my post

road v mtb ?

mollski, I am not arguing which one is better, I am just wondering why a MTB forum is starting to be dominated by road bike threads.

yes very true i think mtb has had its day,look what you can get for the price of a mtb,road road road everyday

**** this, I’m away to shave my bum and buy a slick wheeled steed so I can join the party.

I’ve ridden both on and offroad for a few years but was getting a bit bored riding the local trails and got more interested in fitness and barely ride offroad at all now. Lots of route options on a road bike and I’ve found a nice’n’friendly road club too nearby too.

As for sportives, I’ve done a few and like the competitive aspect of them; maybe you feel a sense of achievement finishing in the top 20% or whatever – most of us will never race properly.

I’m not a roadie. I’m an idiot 😀

i think mtb has had its day

good..
let’s hope so..
strange breed of participants in the main.. out enjoying the beautiful countryside..

NIght road riding with off road lights is fun

Is it bloody hell! [/quote]

It is actually, especially on quiet roads. I’ve done the Dunwich Dynamo a few times and I’ll be doing the Wiggle Night Rider Sportive in September. Sometimes it’s the only way to get out on the bike, do it in the late evening.

As to MTB v road, I’d hate to have to choose but road biking is fantastic. Head out for 2hrs and actually do 2hrs riding, come home and not have to spend another 2hrs cleaning the bike and hosing kit down.

I’ve done it arround here with my bastid, but we often have fog/mist which makes it impossible, and I still dont feel safe.

I’m thinkin about throwing my hat in with ‘conventional’ mtb. Big old money pit which I get little pleasure from.

I did this. Well almost. I sold my full sus frame and gears and built a singlespeed for all my off rod needs. Ploughed the funds into a full carbon road bike for the race season. it sits alongside my cyclocross bike which doubles as a commuter and winter trainer. Next purchase will be a TT bike after carbon low profile wheels.

Road kit doesn’t break very often but MTB kit wears quickly and is more prone to getting damaged. This is what lead me to singlespeed and it has the advantage of being goot strength training for the road bike too.

I’m no longer a fat bastard since I took up road riding, and now have no issues with getting into a skinsuit or trisuit to compete.

I am just wondering why a MTB forum is starting to be dominated by road bike threads.

There’s always been loads of road bikes/riding threads here – especially at this time of year

For me, I’m doing a lot more road riding because I can’t find the time at the moment to do any quality mountain biking – decent trails are around an hour away
It’s all riding I enjoy both just as much as each other but I should get back to more off road stuff after May

I think it’s kicking off a bit more than usual, but it has been a long winter and I can understand why people want to get some rays.
Though if you like mountainbiking I can’t see you staying on the road when the trails are dry and dusty.
Then again everyone on here was after a 4X4 when we had snow. And when the TDF starts you’ll sundenly find the place full of experts on every riders form like they’ve been following them all year.
It goes like that.
You’d think 29ers had gone the way of Bird Flu if you went by this forum.
IME your riding eventually goes full circle.

Hmm the up side of this might mean lots of cheap top end kit in nine months. Regardless of what you say they do wear out if you ride all year or else I wouldn’t have 2 1/2 sets of wheels in for rebuilds.

Still can’t bring myself to buy a top end frame.

IME your riding eventually goes full circle.

True that.
I have phases of doing loads of track or loads of road but it always diversifies again soon enough. Was out on the MTB at the weekend, lovely dry dusty trails and if there’s one thing you learn about living in the Peak District, it’s to make the most of dry trails cos they usually only hang around for a couple of weeks!

Road bikes never really appealed to me. They always kinda looked gay and nerdy.
But since i gave it a go. Changed my opinion for sure.
Everything is just so much quicker .. the ups and especially the downs!
62mph is my record so far ..

not have to spend another 2hrs cleaning the bike and hosing kit down

You’re doing it wrong!

15 mins for me max.

Everything is just so much quicker

See I don’t get this. In absolute terms yes, but what’s the point of going faster when where you’re going is boring?

15mph on twisty singletrack is way way quicker than 25mph on flat road.

Plus, lycra is appalling, no one can refute that. Not one of you. Not one. I mean, most mountain bike gear looks horrendous, but roadie gear…

That’s only true if you’re fat and/or have a small willy. I look great in lycra 😀

45+mph on a tight roughly surfaced steep road is alot quicker than 15mph on a singletrack though.

Also a lot crapper. Rough road surface on a road bike is nothing other than extremely annoying.

You don’t have much to do apart from hang on.

This is the only kind of road where speed becomes interesting:

You’d think 29ers had gone the way of Bird Flu if you went by this forum.

I actually saw a 29er on the trail at the weekend – first time ever I think.

62mph is my record so far

UK?

I’ve been road riding for several years now. Normally if I plan a ride it will be on a mountain bike. But to echo the comments above. If I only have limited time or don’t want to spend more money driving to ride then the road bike is very appealing.

Starting some racing this year too which should be fun although it may end up just been an hour of suffering each week (TLI crits)

Plus, lycra is appalling, no one can refute that. Not one of you. Not one. I mean, most mountain bike gear looks horrendous, but roadie gear…

That’s only true if you’re fat and/or have a small willy. I look great in lycra

hey.. I wear lycra on my mountain bike… (I don’t ride road as I find it very shallow)
I am also fat with a very small willy..
somehow I still look absolutely flippin ace.. it makes no sense..

Got to be road,I think you get a better work out on a road bike,MTB is more fun and for a chit chat,all depends on what people want out of a bike

Agonising over which road bike to get at the moment / Ribble Scuro/Cervelo RS/SuperSix/Synapse/Lynskey Cooper.

I want to enter this The Beast and WIN IT.

Probably do neither though.

62mph?? I’ve been pedalling my little legs off and tucking down the steepest/longest hills I can find in Scotland and so far my best is 44mph, although in my defense thats on a 50×12..

I want to enter this The Beast and WIN IT

Gay. The Beast from the East 600km 5200m old men and women have been doing it for years, and not a Cervelo in sight

MTB v road, I’d hate to have to choose but road biking is fantastic. Head out for 2hrs and actually do 2hrs riding, come home and not have to spend another 2hrs cleaning the bike and hosing kit down

So the best part about road riding is the end of the riding? Ah, I get it now.

this is not a well formed thought, but i reckon some mtb’ers are closer to a true appreciation of road cycling than most roadies.

mtb’er: my new road bike is ace! – it’s really light! – it’s really fast! – it’s really pretty! – i just found this lovely pub that does the best chips and it’s only 27 miles away! – c’mon, we can be there in 2hours and they do flapjack!

roadie: you’ve only got tiagra, those wheels are too heavy, don’t wear baggies, take that peak off, i’m not riding with you until you get some proper mudguards, start using a heart rate monitor. and stop using spd’s.

(ps. i love my road bike, it’s ace! :D)

roadie: you’ve only got tiagra, those wheels are too heavy, don’t wear baggies, take that peak off, i’m not riding with you until you get some proper mudguards, start using a heart rate monitor. and stop using spd’s.

You’ll never find a roadie like that, turn up to a reliability trial over winter it looks like a mobile scrap heap…..sort of 😕
Your remark is more likely to come from the mouth of someone buying into road biking for the first time.
Couple of examples, folks on here buy fantastic kit – straight for the best, better than kit I see on the race circuit.
Start at the Blenhiem CX, I rushed over because I could see all this intimidating uber bling on the start line, I needn’t have bothered it was the novices. The main field was a sea of Giant and Kinesis and workman like machines.
Roadies aren’t hung up on kit, there’s actually a bit of reverse? snobbery in roadie circles.

Peaks Camelbaks and baggies are often seen as impractical that’s all. Mudguards aren’t however. Try 100K in pouring rain drinking rain water and diesel of a rear wheel for three hours.
And although you’ll see some dirty bikes the bits that matter will be in tip top condition and they can get a bit anal about tidy cables, freyed ends will give them an epi.

How has riding a road bike become niche? If you ride a bike on the road at all, it is the most efficient bike for the job no? and if you like going out on long rides on the road on a bike, it’s defo the right bike for the job! I think road bikes are actually the standard bicycle. MTB’s are more niche, and derive from road bikes! Personally, I don’t see this as an mtb specific forum, just people that like riding bikes inbetween typing stuff?

We may see a road bike grouptest in the mag soon!

Are roadbikes the new STW niche?

Yeah!!! WHy not?

Roadies aren’t hung up on kit, there’s actually a bit of reverse? snobbery in roadie circles.

+1.

The best thing about riding on the road is that there is nowhere to hide. You either can or you can’t, you either do it or go home, with none of that ‘I put the wrong tyres on’, ‘My shock is at the wrong pressure’, ‘I’m quicker on the downhill bits’, and other nonsense that seems to accompany some, not all, but some mountain biking.

Everyone who has ridden on the road with anyone who is keen or involved in competition will know that it’s you that counts; we’ve all been blown out the back by some skinny lad on a clunker, or some guy in trainers and a parka.

Flash kit counts for nowt.

…and I’ve certainly been at my fastest on a cheap aluminium frame with at best Ultegra; spend money on good tyres and train like a madman…

We may see a road bike grouptest in the mag soon!

that will be when i cancel my subscription! 😥

It’s still rubbish riding on the road though.

when I was a kid I had road bikes and the early mountain bikes and although there was a fair gap in between when I was riding a lot less I’ve always mixed and matched. there are cliquey bikers regardless of what size tyres/shape of handlebars they have… but thankfully these are very few and far between the overwhelming majority of cyclists are great

they are bikes – bikes are good