seems a lot of folks have a road bike for winter riding/road riding/training.

I have one bike – its a full sus xc race bike that I just lock the front and rear sus out and pop on the spare wheels with semi slick tyres (bonty xr0) on

other than the wheel and tyre size difference is there any other benefit? should I be looking at a cheap road bike too?

For me it depends where you live and how much free time you have. Mountain biking for me is often a messy, drawn out affair involving the loading of cars, driving, washing etc. Apart from the odd quick night ride it tends to be a whole day of a job – not always conducive to family life.

On the other hand I can ride straight from my door onto some lovely quiet roads and put in 50 miles and be home in under 3 hours having had a good ride.

And after a while it even becomes strangely enjoyable 🙂

You have one bike?

But ok, seriously, does your local riding get a bit crappy in winter? Does the limited number of ridable bits stop you riding as much?

If so that’s similar to me, talk to me in Feb and see if my Ribble Sportive 365 has made me ride more/be fitter/ride it at all…

But i will say this, road bikes are A awesome, and B hard work!

You’ll get loads of techy answers on this one but road bikes are much faster as they’re designed for purpose. In my opinion you can get fit riding any bike through the winter but with skinny tyres and a decent gearing system you’ll go way faster on a road bike!

I’m sure there will be some much more sensible, intelligent answers but I like going fast!

That being said I’d always rather take my chances with the mud and trees than the traffic.

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On a lighter note i’m selling a road frame, forks and wheels if you’d like to go skinny wheels. 😀

well I can ride off road within 10 mins of leaving house, trails can get a bit boggy but there are canal tow paths and some trails that stay dry, I can get to trail centre in under an hour of riding on road but sometimes I just want to ride and not have to spend time cleaning bike before going out again the next day or later that day.

I tend to ride at least once a day and do about 150 -200 miles per week, half of that is on road.

kind of think I would be better on road on a road bike?

but then I also quite like the fact that if i’m riding road on mtb and I see a nice looking trail or a forest/woods I can always skip off into it for a play then back onto the road.

If i’m on a road bike its not really possible. oh decision decisions lol

Exactly what Bregante says above 🙂

Yeah I think Road bikes have their advantages when it comes to a ‘no-strings’ out the front door quickie 😆 – 1 hour drive to decent MTBing so a road ride is a decent alternative.

Sounds like you need a 58cm Columbus tubing road frame and carbon forks….hhhmmm…

do I need a road bike ?

Do you WANT one.?

+1 Brigante and unklehomered …. 🙂

add on some mudguards and even the post ride washing ain’t so bad 🙂

i scratched a road bike itch for similar reasons.

its shit. go to work on it is all, 5 mins. would never ever choose to go out on it over my mtb, in any conditions.

YES 🙂

Sounds like you need a 58cm Columbus tubing road frame and carbon forks….hhhmmm…

lol if only i could afford it, just had to pay out for loads of new bits for my bike as had a bit of a stick in the drivetrain carbon cage crunching, cassette tooth bending, alligator i-link chewing incident 😯

The road bike for me is more about fitness and pushing my body to the limit. The mountain bike is about pushing my bottle to the limit. I love getting back after a Sunday morning ride with club and feeling absolutely smashed. We often ride for 4-5 hours on the rivet and it never fails to please. Love it. It’s also a mental thing. Riding solo during the winter months requires a lot of willpower but he benefits come the next spring are priceless.

To get any proper mountain bike riding I have to pack the bike in the car, drive, faff and get the bike back out. In a 4 hour trip to Cannock chase I loose two hours riding due to pissing around. The road bike is a no brainer for me.

i scratched a road bike itch for similar reasons.

Me too – sold it after just one week. No-one should ever have to ride 400mm width bars – elbows out FTW 😆

It’s all part of the N+1 if you can afford it (sell your spare wheelset). Probably wouldn’t bother if I lived in a city like London miles from any nice countryside but it just allows me to mix up riding with no faffage and get a lot further faster than on an MTB on slicks.
Now a CX bike is in my mind for some flatter mixed routes but I can’t actually justify one at the moment. 😆

Simply yes, of course you need another bike.

If you are a mtber consider a cyclo cross bike.

oooh yeah a cx bike – then if i see some off road i fancy whilst out on the road I can whip onto it for some fun.

Yes – I got my first proper road bike last year, makes it much easier to just ride rather than faff, and its great for fitness, its a slippery slope however and I now find myself getting up at 5am to beat traffic and putting in far longer stints on the road than the trails.

IMO they both build a different type of fitness and handling skill which complement each other perfectly.
I can ride either straight from the door fortunately, and on a fine day it’s a tough choice – couple of hours on country lanes or couple of hours in the woods, both fun 🙂

I bought a cross bike a couple of years ago and use it more than I expected. For exactly the reasons ^^^ around driving/faffing with the MTB. But 95% of the time I ride the 30 mins to a fun wood, ride some trails in there for an hour and then ride back. Be dull on an MTB but fun on the CX bike even/esp in the winter slop. I still come back mucky tho – mudguards not really compatible with winter trails.

I want to love road riding. I really do. When I commuted 16 miles each way on my Boardman Carbon road bike it was fine – better than driving, but I cannot get motivated to ride on the raid. I’ve tried and tried and I just find it dull.

Try before you buy maybe 😉

Try one if you can and then buy one if you like it!

If you want to get fitter for mtb’ing, I personally find I need to road-ride my Mtb as I use subtly different muscle groups for the two.

I’m slowly coming around to my road bike this year but not sure I’ll ever be fit enough to do it competitively.

Yes, do it, it’s ace.

want to love road riding. I really do. When I commuted

If someone said I really want to love driving my car but I get no enjoyment from my commute to and from work, would you really be surprised?!