MTB Roadies….

me they are great – time to find out how unfit you really are! 😉

is that cabled or electro? loop at back of that farm machinery rear mech looks shite.

Electric. Can’t understand why they’ve put what looks like an 80mm stem on it (don’t get me started on the spacers..) and an mtb saddle. Also not sure why the seat tube extends so much – looks like a compromise between a seat mast and a normal seat tube.

Also wondering why they’ve put 3 little bits of “HTC yellow” on it. Apart from that looks good.

And the way the light catches the wheels, makes them look ridiculously taco’d or something. Weird.

Yip. Me too. Scott Addict R3. Fantastic for when I can’t be bothered with having to deal with the mud. Great for riding into the Yorkshire Dales.

Similar to Monksie – 3 road bikes, 0 MTB’s since 2008……

Yep, x2. It’s all cycling, therefore all good.

2 road bikes, 1 CX bike and 1 track bike.
I’ve used my MTB twice so far this year…

😳

Me two

I bought a second hand alu /105 Schwinn.
All I need for the road.
Only changed tyres and the seat in a few years.
I like the carbon forks, takes a bit of the sting out of the ride.

I agree with this though ..

“if you live near hills (I’m edge of the peak district) then avoid the 53/39 standard chainrings – and go for a compact double (50/34) (roadie cool) or even a triple (effective but roadie heresy)”

I am going to swap to a compact chainset or easier cassette. I am used to standing up climbing (with a single speed mtb) but I do find I run out of gears and on longer rides and big hills the “racer” gear setup isn’t good.

roadie_in_denial, more than happy to.

I had a bike fitting session a few years back at Race Scene in Barnsley so my saddle and stem height/length are based around the measurements they gave me.

I’m 6′ 2″ and my frame is a 58cm 2006 Specialized Tarmac.

The issue for me was they came out with my ‘perfect’ frame having a top tube of 565mm and a 120mm stem whereas the Spesh has a super long TT of 583mm so I cut back to a 100mm stem (sacrilige if you follow ‘The Rules’).

They also recommended a steerer tube length of 200mm upto the base of stem (assumming no spacers) but the tarmac is only 160mm so I had to add 40mm of spacers’ again purists would say slam the stem but its made the bike incredibly comfortable.

As for saddle height the precise number escapes me but they used a protractor to measure the angle at my knee when at full extension and moved up and down until it was at 30 degrees (?).

Hope thats of use

Ben

This is my new road bike,loving it atm lighter faster and stiffer than the boardman it replaced

Yep, had a basic Giant Defy 4 for about a year to go with my 2 MTBs.

Hardly rode it last year, just a few flat commutes 10 miles either way. Recently been out on it more, including some good long climbs and wow my fitness has improved massively. I now make sure to get out once a week on it, the difference in fitness and stamina is unreal

I don’t get the adrenalin rush of MTBing but still very enjoyable in a different way

1 x winter road bike
1 x race/summer bike
1 x TT bike
1 x CX bike
1 x MTB

Out of all of them the CX bike is the one most likely to be replaced. I really fancy a Ti CX bike, however, with my living status possibly changing I think cash might become hard to come by to invest so much on a CX bike. The current one cost £450 off eBay, looks pretty nice still and does the job fine – it’s not about that though is it? 😆

Used to have a fixie too, aim was for it to be a winter training bike, but then I bought the race bike and the fixie got no use whatsoever. So I sold that, it’d only been ridden twice in 12 months.

2 pages in and no roadie haters have come in with a pointless comment? Is stw changing?

Current lot in a ridable condition.

3 x road bikes. Plastic, winter hack and single speed
1 x cx bike
1 x plastic race mountain bike.

TT bike is on my want list too.

Yup, Langster, Trek OCLV (bit old in the tooth now) Chinarello and a TT bike

Balancing things on the knobbly side of things are an Orange Sub 5, Tinbred, Carbon HT 29er and a GT DHi

Somewhere in the middle is a Tricross.

However, Garmin suggests things aren’t quite equal, as this year I’ve ridden 3377km on a road bike of some sort, and only 313 on an MTB 😳

Cheers, Rich

I have a CAAD8. It’s alright, I still miss my Langster a bit though. I get bored on rides over 25 miles so sticking with singlespeed probably would’ve been better for the fitness which is the only reason I really ride a road bike anyway. When the drivetrain wears out I’ll probably just singlespeed it, or maybe sell the frame/fork/wheels on and get something SS specific.

Your bog standard aluminium/105 bike, this is the bike you ride every day

Oi, that’s my race bike!

Actually that’s my only road bike, I’m never in danger of approaching it’s limits.. though something spangly in Ti would go down a treat.

I’ve got one but I’ll admit I’m not super keen on the thing…

It’s definately my least favourite bike but it fulfils it’s function perfectly well and hence replacing it isn’t really on the cards.

I’m an MTBist at heart and always will be… but sometimes you just need to get places quick on tarmac and a Road bike is really the best way to do that.

Hey Ben, thanks for the talk-through of your bike sizing.

I have to confess that at a glance I thought the bike was a 56 which is what first made me wonder about the set up.

From what I’ve understood from what you’ve written, the specialized has a long TT length which would mean that going to another size up would have stretched your riding position even more, despite the fact that that would, in turn, have lengthened the steerer tube thus negating the need for the spacers? Out of curiosity, having had a bike fit done, why not go the whole hog and get a custom built road frame?

Oh…and final and most important question…how does it ride?

Road race, road training/winter training bike, fixie, 2 MTB’s.
Haven’t ridden the road bikes for ages but WILL get back on them one day soon. Ride the fixed all the time!

The new madone brake caliper idea is interesting – although i reckon they will get baked in crap.

Wow, STW never ceases to amaze!

I have gone carbon, straight in, and the geometry apparently is ‘aimed at recreational mtb riding wannabe tour riders’. Having sat on the bike and barely able to see the front wheel it seems a bit strange….. my bombers and hub are clearly visible 3 feet in front of me normally!

MM

2 pages in and no roadie haters have come in with a pointless comment? Is stw changing?

More people realizing that it’s all biking ,and that mixing it up is a good thing. 🙂

Yeah the next size up is like a gate, I think it had a 610mm TT so was out out the question.

Ride wise I find it perfect; I can’t say the shorter stem has made it twitchy in anyway and whereas when I had less spacers because it looked better I was also getting numbness in my hands which has now gone completely.

As for the custom frame, its always on my mind, would be nice and I’ve nearly done it a few times, but firstly the money isn’t there and also the Spesh does the job, has decent kit on it and I can’t see a custom frame improving things that dramatically enough to warrant it.

More people realizing that it’s all biking ,and that mixing it up is a good thing.

Finally. 😀

1 x XC/AM – Patriot
1 x DH – 222
1 x BMX – Haro 300.3
1 x Road – ‘dale CAAD8

All get ridden equally these days..

I’m simply a cyclist…

Had mine since January and loving it. Different experience, less shite all over you and bike for a start. I am still suffering with the standard chainset though, 28T cassette has helped a bit. Guess I need to leg press like Hoy!

Yes me too..

I have a Boardman Team Carbon as a winter bike and a Parlee Z5 as my thrash machine..

And now a new Trek Superfly..

I’ve got just the one road bike 😳 it’s a 2011 Raleigh SP Carbon Comp with 105 and some rather nice RS80 wheels.

Love riding it and if none of my mates are available for an off-road ride I’ll head out on that

Electric. Can’t understand why they’ve put what looks like an 80mm stem on it (don’t get me started on the spacers..) and an mtb saddle.

Looks like Campag EPS, weird choice, Di2 certainly looks neater, and that’s what the team use.

Also not sure why the seat tube extends so much – looks like a compromise between a seat mast and a normal seat tube.

“No cut seatmast” as they’ve used for years on the Madone and the Top Fuel – lighter and stiffer than a seat mast, but you don’t have to adjust your saddle height with a hacksaw!

Also wondering why they’ve put 3 little bits of “HTC yellow” on it. Apart from that looks good.

Guessing it’s yellow and white to signify victories for Contador and Schleck in the yellow and white jerseys in the Tour?

And the way the light catches the wheels, makes them look ridiculously taco’d or something. Weird.

Aero profiling innit.

currently cot a boardman comp & a pompino. working on replacing at least one of them.

thinking of selling my 456 to fund new wheels 😐

If you fancy a budget road bike, have a look at Decathlon’s entry-level BTwin Triban 3, quite astonishing value for money. Just bought one for Gti Junior and we showed it to an experienced roadie neighbour who, when challenged to put a value on it reckoned “around £500”.

The price? £299.99

6061 alu frame, carbon fork, Shimano 2300 groupset with a triple. I’ve put some decent tyres on it and it rides beautifully.

Bought a Caad 8 a few months back after 20+ years on mtbs & am really enjoying it. Even since the New Bike Syndrome wore off it gets more use than the mtbs.

Thought I’d need gears so opted for the triple but am already considering my next one & that will be a compact.

And me… Dolan Ares SL and an older converted Raleigh single speed, both living quite happily with my Orange 5

Double post.

Guessing it’s yellow and white to signify victories for Contador and Schleck in the yellow and white jerseys in the Tour?

But weren’t they both riding tarmacs then?

“No cut seatmast” as they’ve used for years on the Madone and the Top Fuel – lighter and stiffer than a seat mast, but you don’t have to adjust your saddle height with a hacksaw!

Light and stiffer then a seat mast? Hmmm.

I have a Kuota Kharma, had it just over a year now.

Pretty much sole use to riding to & from work as much as I can as a means to get fit, for which it serves it’s purpose very well.

Does nothing for me though, it bores me to tears to ride it. Given the choice at a weekend or evening it wouldn’t even get a consideration.

Me. An Orbea Aqua that gets ridden way more than my MTB. I like just being able to go from my front door, no faffing around like you get on the MTB.

Sadly, I now think nothing of walking into cafe’s /around my office/talking to neighbours, etc. when dress in head to toe lycra.

Light and stiffer then a seat mast? Hmmm.

Meant seat post.

But weren’t they both riding tarmacs then?

Contador was on a Trek for Astana in 2009, good point on Schleck though. Perhaps it’s just a slightly odd decal choice.

Can we just turn this into a roadbike lovein with pics now please?

Another with more road bikes (two) than MTBs (one).

Entry-level though it is, I keep the Allez as my nice weather road bike as I have an old, skip-saved Townsend for the usual weather days.

Contador was on a Trek for Astana in 2009, good point on Schleck though. Perhaps it’s just a slightly odd decal choice.

I thought in 2010 they were all on Specialized. It was only 2011 that the Schlecks switched to Trek with Leopard.