Road Cycling

Hi all,

I really feel I need to take up road cycling to get my fix of biking. I Live a good 40 minutes to 1 hour drive from somewhere in the Peaks or Llandegla the other direction.

Kids, wife and life won’t let me do this nearly as much as I need to.

Road cycling I can just go from the front door. I’m sure you all know this and have toyed with the idea.

Anyway, a 400 quid bike would do, and there are loads of options. My biggest issue, beside car drivers, is what to wear. I flat out refuse to wear lycra head to toe. What can I do, and what looks ok?

I took into account everything you wrote, and considered it very carefully.

You should buy some slick tyres for your MTB.

Why are you hung up over what to wear ? It’s just a bicycle, your mtb gear will be fine, so would a pair of jeans and a t shirt if your comfortable in that.

Wear what you want, I was of the same opinion. But found being head to toe in Lynda far more comfortable on road rides. YMMV

Lycra is just more comforatble on the road. Get over it really. Main problem is it’s really quite dull generally I’m either working against the garmin or stopping to take pics on a nice day.

LeeW – Member
I was of the same opinion. But found being head to toe in Lynda far more comfortable on road rides.

And what were her thoughts on this? 😆

Take a look at some lighter winter trousers, you get the padding but not the skin tight look. Or padded boxers and Ronhills.

Embrace the Lycra.
It’s a slippery slope to the dark side.

You should be wearing your bargain Endura Humvee shorts with liners, bought from Wiggle two weeks ago. 😉

I bought my CX bike and a second set of wheels for road use 6 months ago, at first I was much the same in not wanting to wear lycra. Took me about 4 weeks to get over it, baggies and flappy shirts are just irritating on road. I haven’t gone full roady just yet though, my legs remain defiantly hairy!

It took me less than 18 months to go from CX curious to fully shaved roadie. It’s a slippery slope

Anyway, a 400 quid bike would do, and there are loads of options. My biggest issue, beside car drivers, is what to wear. I flat out refuse to wear lycra head to toe. What can I do, and what looks ok?

Buy a used bike and wear your MTB kit. Anyone that cares enough that it bothers them is a **** bell end.

But….as has been noticed, you’ll be lycrad up to the eyeballs in full road gimp mode soon enough.

As above. Slightly. You are me 3 months ago.

I bought a 4 year old Giant Defy 4. from a mate with a set of rollers for £250. It’s great. I do intervals when it’s too dark/wet outside, then go for long rides when I can find a couple of hours here and there. Did my first 40 miler the other day, was quite proud.

I wear pure MTB kit. I’m not a fan of Lycra.
Trail tech tees with Troy Lee Skyline Race shorts with liner, or when I’m doing roller stuff then cheap Decathlon Lycra where nobody will see me. Up until last week 5:10s with DMR V12s. Now Shimano AM5s with M530s.

It’s paid dividends. I’m definitely far more able to get up the long climbs, and I can enjoy the rare days I get on the MTB far more. I also do core stuff and upper body stuff (but only using body weight) to help keep me strong on the bike, as that’s one of the things I really notice now I’m not doing it as regularly. Means I can just make the most of the time I have doing fun stuff.

Can’t think of any reason not to wear lycra (but then I also wear it off road)

Much more comfortable and more efficient.
– Tend to be sitting down more so need clothes than work very well (no bunching, no constant flapping)
– You will be riding at a higher average speed on the road so aerodynamics have more of an effect. Having
flappy clothing is really not going to help.

Dr when you start worrying about aero then it’s too late, and you’re officially a roadie…

I’m not out to set KOMs, i don’t care for that extra .2mph. I’m physically and mentally comfortable and happy with what I ride in 🙂 I’m out just to enjoy the benefits of the ride, and baggies never get in my way when I’m doing that.

I can think of many reasons not to wear lycra, least of all I personally feel very self conscious in it. I wouldn’t trundle around in skin tight pants, so I’m not happy in c0ck hugging lycra

Yes, it’s my own hang up, and I don’t judge other people because of it, and I’m fine with that 🙂

On a budget of £400, i’m with Kryton, get a second set of wheels with slicks on for the MTB.
Ride in your baggies.

400 quid can get you a more than adequate ‘training’ bike IME.
2 or 3 hundred on a Defy that’s been barely used for starters. It’s a 600 odd quid bike and there are tons of them on eBay and the like. Probably not much different to the cost of a set of wheels and tyres and a cassette.

I bought mine thinking ‘if I get on with this road bike lark I’ll buy something nicer’ but I honestly don’t feel the need to. And I’m a serial tinkerer.

Providing you’ve got storage space, it’s much easier to just grab the other bike rather than swap wheels all the time. It’s also much more suitable in terms of position and comfort (although i guess this depends? what your other bike is)
And the easier it is, the more likely you are to actually use it.

I bought a road bike.. well borrowed one… It was my 3rd… Once again, i found it ‘ok’ but no more…It was a decent means to an end. But in honestly, they’re uncomfortable, twitchy, rubbish in the wet and unstable. They are FAST though… proper fast… But there’s not much fun in them for sure.

I still ride on the road, on a PArkwood 29er with fast XC tyres.. I can’t keep up with some of the roadies i see, but i keep up with some 😉

OP, There are no rules regarding what to wear on a road bike, just what you feel comfortable in ( with the exception of your birthday suit which may cause issues with traffic/old ladies/nuns/chafing/the police/the judiciary etc.)

Baggies are ok. It just depends how much flappyness you are happy to put up with. Just make sure you loose the peak on your helmet….you’ll work this one out during your first ride. Just get the bike ( making sure it fits you) and get out and see.

If you find that road cycling is for you you might just find yourself starting to look at ads for Castelli and Rapha gear, or, if you’re a cheapskate like me then DHB, but to honest if that happens, that’s ok, just go with the flow. If not, don’t worry, just embrace the speed and distance instead.

I like the road bike on fast and twisty descents, when you can go really really fast, other than that it is just pain and torment.

Totally get the lycra thing but I’ve a bag of harribo says you will succumb in the first 2 months :).
I’m not a tinkerer so spent a bit more on a discounted new bike knowing I’ll have no significant bills for a while but there’s some little used quality bikes second hand, especially if you look away from the more popular models.

I don’t know if you realise this, but we all used to wear lycra on our MTBs as well, BITD.

*wanders off muttering about the youth of today*

Get thee to Decathlon, you’ll pick up a lovely bike for th £400 thatll do you a right job. You can also pick up some clothes there if ion so desire.

Re. Clothes, roadies wear Lycra as it’s the right tool for the job. Irrelevant of any aero savings, it’s just more comfortable. But, if you don’t want to wear it, don’t, just wear a pair of not to baggy shorts, some padded Lycra underneath and whatever top you have. Take the peak off your helmet as the more head down position means the peak will make your neck ache more than is needed.

And what were her thoughts on this?

Ah bum 🙂

This is indeed a slippery slope.

I FEEL the need to stand here and admit… my name is Paul and I am now a road cyclist who rides a bit of mtb.

My journey over the last 6 months started the same.

Rode a road bike in mtb kit
Road bike in road kit with mtb lid.
Bought a road lid..Road bike in full road kit
Started getting really fussed about aero, realized I needed matching Castelli kit to not look like a wally.
Turned up to mtb rides with my old crew wearing lycra with no baggies.
Shaved my legs last week so as not to look like a hippy douche.

Here is my confession 🙁

P.s. it’s made me 300% quicker up hill on the mtb!!!!

I bought a road bike last year, about £200 for a second hand Boardman, which was a lovely bike. Once I started riding it I just got a bit bored, I also hate riding on the road because of how dangerous cars/lorries are too, and every time I saw a bit of singletrack or a MTB rider I just wanted to be on my trigger.

Years ago I bought a barely used £1000 bike for £500 secondhand from here. It’s been great and was only relegated to turbo duties last year. Well worth a punt on a secondhand road bike.

Oh, and full lycra here. Draw the line at road pedals though – too many pairs of shoes.

I don’t know if you realise this, but we all used to wear lycra on our MTBs as well, BITD.

*wanders off muttering about the youth of today*
I don’t know if you realise this, but we didn’t all wear lycra on our MTBs, BITD.

*Wanders off muttering about people who only experienced certain sections of our beloved sport

I’m surprised crashtestmonkey hasn’t replied! He was an out and out MTBer then tried road riding wasn’t sure, went out on another ride promptly spent XXXXX on a pimpy carbon La Pierre… started in baggy lycra as he had a similar attitude to you. Now he wears super tight race kit, barely MTB’s and loves it. It’s only boring if you let it be boring. It takes you to some amazing places, seeing just as amazing stuff as you do on MTB.

Just get out and ride and enjoy it.

Anyway, a 400 quid bike would do, and there are loads of options.

You would get a nice s/h bike for that…

Anyway, lycra is by far the best clothing for the job, but if you don’t want to wear it, then don’t. As someone who raced mtb back in the 90s, it’s never bothered me.

To expand, my journey was:
Fed up with the faff of having to drive or ride 5 miles on the road to get to the trails following a house move I started to look at road bikes.
Bought a road bike on cycle to work.
Rode it in baggies, MTB helmet and MTB shoes.
First the baggies went, “oh, that’s comfortable”.
Then the I bought a new helmet, “oh, that’s comfortable, and very cooling too”.
Then the shoes went, “ah, no more hotspots, this is very comfortable indeed”.
Slowly the MTB was getting less and less use…
Then a second roadie, a winter bike, you know, to save the summer bike getting beaten up in the grit and salt.
Then a few events were entered, Brum to Oxford, London to Paris 24, Manchester to London.
Old MTB was sold, not used anymore, plus I still had my dream build P7, I’d never sell that or stop riding it…would I?
Well, I need a new road bike now don’t I? Aero? Yes. Di2? Yes. Carbon wheels? Yes. Love riding more than any other bike? Oh yes.
So, that dream build P7? Well, it’s not been ridden for a year…sold.
Those baggy shorts? Yeah, they’ve not been worn on 3 years either.
And so, as I sit here, I have 3 road bikes, a lot of Lycra and ride my bikes more than ever. It’s a slippery slope my boy, be afraid.

6 years since I first swung my leg over a road bike, and about 5 years and 50 weeks since I realised lycra and road pedals were by far the best way to go.

But sure, you can ride in whatever you feel comfortable in. No-one else cares, you’ll just look like someone on a bike regardless.

(waves at munqe chick)

what she said, and

Wear what you want, I was of the same opinion. But found being head to toe in Lynda far more comfortable on road rides. YMMV

My first road ride was in a baggy MTB jersey. It got very annoying very quickly. My kit’s got tighter as I’ve got more into it- if you do feel self conscious (though in the words of MIB “I make this sh1t look good 😀 ) hanging out with other roadies will quickly kibosh that. I race CX in a skinsuit, as does half the field.

MC and I met at Sleepless in the Saddle, and up until last year all our big holidays were MTB. MC would still say MTB is her first love. Last year we took the road bikes to the Dolomites and Alps. So I asked her what we are doing this year “going back to the dolomites, obviously”.

And has already been said £400 will get a nice (and probably mint) used road bike.

To be honest, you’d look a bit odd not wearing lycra if you’re out on a road bike, yeah it will feel strange at first specially if you’re a mtb’kr and used to wearing baggies but you soon get used to it trust me, you don’t have to have a ‘racing super snug fit’ just go with some lycra full length back bibbed tights to start with and a not so tight jersey, ease into it so to speak.

If I was you, coming from mtb background, I’d get a cyclecross bike …or as there now referred to ‘adventure/gravel bikes’ either way, who cares, same kinda thing! You can ride on the roads (bob some fast rolling tires on), commute to work, use it as a winter hack about or bob some mud tires on and hit the tracks and dirt as well, it’s an all-round bike that isn’t going to sit in your garage collecting dust, plus you can rock the urban/mtb look and still look pretty cool!

Move house, or build trails.

It’s as addictive as mtb biking so that £400 bike will be traded in for a carbon tastic all singing all dancing machine!
I know as I’ve done exactly that, I bought a cheap giant defy roadie to get fitter for mtbing. Now I’ve got a lovely road bike and I now wear Lycra!!
I’m still a out and out mtber but I do love the road bike for early morning blasts and when I’m short on time to drive somewhere and ride.

But in honestly, they’re uncomfortable, twitchy, rubbish in the wet and unstable.

A road bike that fits well is none of those things.

Someone I know has a pair of Rapha over shorts which are similar to baggies but more suited to road riding. Good for coffee shop dignity!

A road bike that fits well is none of those things.

Depends on perception really. My opinion is that they are 🙂

I’ve been riding road bikes for 40 years and MTBs for over 25 and I don’t get the petty tribalism exhibited by some. I simply enjoy riding bikes, whether it’s on tarmac, MTB on trails or the arctic winter on a fatbike – the great thing is there’s so much choice in terms of bikes and clothing to make sure you’re comfortable and having fun. For those obsessed about what others are riding and wearing, get a life! If you haven’t experienced the exhilaration of riding fast in a peloton, a high-speed descent of smooth tarmac in the high mountains or the cobbles of Northern France or Flanders, then you’re missing out on some great riding experiences – a bike is a great way of getting to see some great places and meeting other people