So who doesn't also ride a road bike?

Some of you seem to have completely unrealistic beliefs about the possible dangers of riding on the road. I assume that none of you walk on pavements as a large number of pedestrians are killed by car drivers there as well.

Spinning along on a sunny morning with the wind at your back, feeling the connection between bike, body and terrain;
Rolling out with everything you need in your panniers, nothing to worry about expect travelling from A to B, and a world of highways, byways and hidden camping spots to explore;
The buzz and risk of road racing – feeling the flow of riding at speed in a group, pushing your skills and commitment to the limit, sprinting for the line in a bunch of riders;
Tapping along on a crisp winter club run with your friends, enjoying the chat and the company as the world rolls by;
Enjoying the best start to the day by riding in to work, nodding to the other regulars and realising how lucky you are not to be stuck in the car;
Pootling along with the kids to the swimming pool, or the park or the shops, chatting about stuff and enjoying the journey;
And much, much more…

If it’s boring, you’re not doing it right!

Whats not to like 😀

And the roads arent dangerous, I’ve hurt myself lots more offroad than I have on

😯

things that can’t be unseen and all that….

Ooof!

Don’t stop on a zebra crossing or you might lose it.

When I was an enlightened thinker able to get outside the box and care about the planet[1], I had a “road” bike and rode to work, and I would again.

But road riding for fun? Might as well be in a spin class, plus I’ve never been into the fetish wear that goes with the road scene. And spin classes, actually.[2] So here me now – Road riding is boring, and the bikes are rubbish! 😀 (Fast, yeah – but dreadful handling and no brakes!)

[1]Or maybe my life just fortuitously tumbled together such as to allow me to cycle to work for a few years, take yer pick. 😉
[2]Why do they dress aerodynamically in order to pedal on the spot!?

Only got a road bike this year, CAAD 10, due to the sh1te weather turning the local trails into unrideable swamps.
As it turns out, it’s the best purchase I’ve made for a considerable length of time… 😀

I don’t….yet…due to lack of funds, althought my employer is about to go live with the Bike2Work scheme which I hope will lead to a shiny new £1000 road bike.

Rolling up to a cafe on a sunday afternoon & parking a couple of filthy mountainbikes amongst the pristine roadies.

My (cheap) road bike is a necessary evil. It means that the 25 mile commute is quicker and I get to spend more time with the wife as she seems to prefer road biking if we only have time for a quick ride. I try and tell myself that it will help with my fitness but that is the only positive I can find…….

Otherwise it is a mind numbing torture machine. No technical interest in the riding, too many cars, not enough fun, dangerous for all of the wrong reasons.

i don’t have a road bike.i have thought about getting one (if i had the money to buy one),but i don’t enjoy riding on the road tbh (and not just because of cars e.t.c)
i just much prefer riding off road.

BUT i can see the appeal of riding a road bike if the weather is crap,as i live in wiltshire (clay/chalky) it isn’t fun at all when the clay clogs your wheels up,makes your bike weigh 40lbs or so 😡
so in that sense i would like a road bike 🙂

Yep, i just used it for commuting but getting more into it now. Joined a team, thinking about entering some closed circuit races, they look great fun.

Like a lot of people above I just started out doing local stuff on my own, and unless you live somewhere particularly pituresque its going to end up boring. Having joined a team though its opened a whole load of new tactics and things i never really thought about before. Its a lot more mentally stimulating than i used to think, certainly nothing like a sitting an an exercise bike spinning. 😉

Have no interest in the time trialing side of things though.

Just got one yesterday. Was planning on a CAAD10 but plumped for a carbon Eddy Merckx. I share the concerns about dangers but it’s a cool ride and something to do when the local trails are muddied up. Also possible 25 mile commute.
I’m interested to see whether roadies will greet me when riding it. I could never understand why they ignore you on a mtb.

Only have space for one bike…plus I just cant carry off the lycra look

I don’t and never will…..no crossing to the DARKSIDE for me 😀

They are too mono dimensional.

I reckon it’d be interesting to see if there’s a relationship between people who like road riding and
(1) where they live
(2) their other commitments

I live in beautiful countryside with lots of quiet roads. There’s not a lot of decent doorstep mountain biking though. I’ve also got a young family and can’t devote the time I used to to mountain biking. I can get more quality cycling done in any given time frame on the road rather than off-road with the added benefit that the roads on my doorstep are quiet and stunning.

If I could spend each and every weekend cycling I’d probably spend more time traveling upand down the country to top mountain bike spots. As it is I have top riding from my back door.

I live in beautiful countryside with lots of quiet roads. There’s not a lot of decent doorstep mountain biking though.

I’m a stones throw from lots of lovely countryside but very little really local MTBing. Roadying just doesn’t appeal to me. I mean I’m sure it can be good fun but it seems very exclusive and the vast majority of drivers scare me when I’m in my car, let alone on a bicycle. It’s missed a few essential aspects for me to take to it I think; excitement, technical challenge, the quiet of the outdoors.
All the shaving and lycra is a little homo-erotic for me too. 😀

My n+1 bike would be a ‘cross bike with discs and I really regret selling the Cotic Roadrat I used to have, but can’t ever see myself getting a pure road bike.

I commute on the road but on an MTB which is a much better tool for the job as the route is muddy, singletrack Devon lanes with potholes that could swallow a cow. I don’t think a road bike (or I) would put up with the punishment

Like others have said, I just find riding offroad, and MTBs in general much more fun, and I’m lucky enough to have great trails which are ridable from my front door.

About once a year when the Dartmoor classic crosses the end of my road I’m briefly tempted but really can’t see I’d get my moneys worth.

Came to MTB from climbing, hill walking & fell running so an MTB was a way to get out more, further and faster. 😀

Never saw the appeal of road riding – crap roads, drivers, fumes, all those red lights, no riding on the causey and dress code 😯

Never saw the appeal of road riding – crap roads, drivers, fumes, all those red lights, no riding on the causey and dress code

This comes back to my question about where people live. I nipped out for a opportunistic hour on the road bike yesterday. I covered 15 miles of quiet Staffordshire moorlands back lanes. I think only one car passed me and there were certainly no red lights. The Lycra is optional 🙂

As for boring, sometimes it can get a bit dull if the terrain never varies, but I’d say exactly the same about mountain biking. They can both be boring and they can both be ace. I’ve found myself pedalling through the trees of Kirroughtree before now and been bored.

No.

looking at black tarmac and peoples sweaty backs doesnt sound all to fun.

I’m gay enough thanks

+1 randomjeremy – Member

I’m gay enough thanks

Hmm, I have always thought I would never go to the darkside. The main reasons for not road riding is same as others here – the roads, either busy A-roads or quietish country roads where the locals race round or just not as much fun as in the dirt. I hope to start pedalling again in a couple of weeks recovering from an op and road riding will be possible before riding trails. I have an old Kai Tai 29er, gonna put the semi slicks on and try a bit of dark side riding them maybe, just maybe……….

Road biking is teh awsums.

No road bike here I’m afraid – however I’ve a cross bike with discs so I have a link with the dark side…

Used to ride road bikes when I was younger, but got put off by a number of accidents so stopped riding all together, started riding again in my late thirties on mountain bikes,I do much prefer riding off road, but with few really difficult trails in Essex got a cross bike, tend to ride it much more than my mountain bikes now, but full roadieness is a bit too much I’m afraid. (OK I admit it lycra is worn but with MTB SPDs….).

I don’t own a road bike and I can’t see myself getting one any time soon, although I can see the appeal of road riding to some degree and I wouldn’t dis it.

However, there are certain aspects of riding off road that keep me interested and happy – mud, countryside, nature, solitude and that feeling of just being part of nature when you’re out and about. I’m sure that there are certain types of road rides where you get a similar sort of experience but the thing that really prevents me from riding a road bike is me. I become defensive and confrontational. I am quite willing to explain to a driver how I believe their driving was inconsiderate, dangerous blah blah blah when I ride on the road to get to the trails. I think that where I live/ride has a lot to do with it, as indicated earlier on this thread.

If I lived somewhere remote I think I’d be more inclined to wander over to the dark side but till then it’s knobblies all the way thanks..

There was a road even going on in the Stroud valleys yesterday, and I must admit I did wonder what it must be like to be a part of it.

Truth is, I havn’t got enough time to ride my MTB let alone throw a road bike into the mix so that’s that.

Oh and I am Skint

nope, not living in se england, roads are full of idiots and fumes waiting to send me to an early grave..

I can’t think of anything more mind numbingly boring than riding on the road for ‘fun’ or even ‘sport’. Its boring end of, coupled with the thought/fear of getting flattened by some 18 wheeled hell driver its torture…. I commute to work on my bike and am stupidly bored as its all road and no chance of a cheeky trail or two on the way…. Apart from that its ok 😉

No road bike here. Can’t say I’ll never have one but I’d rather just use my mountain bike to get places. Commuting isn’t an option so why bother with one

Riding round and round the same old trails in the middle of a forest?
That’s boring.

Depends on what you class as a ‘road bike’ really.

Do i have a piece of corbon exotica lovingly crafted to make club racers drool with envy? No.
Do i have a bike designed to be used purely on the tarmac? Yes.
Do i enjoy using said Boardman 700c hybrid on the roads? Yes.

Bought it as an upgrade commuter for if/when i got a job further away, next job was only 2 miles from home so stuck with the old carrera and started using the Boardman for fun and exercise. Don’t find it boring as we’ve plenty of hills and lanes around here, plus it makes a change and all riding is good yeah?

Never saw the appeal at all when I lived at the bottom of the surrey hills.

Moving to Wiltshire there is v limited out the door mtb and living in a flat means mud is an issue. Got a road bike and its been really great. I can get out for quick blasts easily and can enjoy the quiet country lanes.

How long it lasts when I move back to surrey we will see!

Mtb is still my first love though 🙂

I had one years ago but give it to a mate as I got into cross riding a number of years ago and neVer looked back. The crosser is so much more versatile for those think I’ll go explore days where I can mix up road and off road. Even road riding in Mallorca, my cross bike or the Fargo are my go to choices. I love the idea of road bikes and find races like the tour utterly compelling but rarely feel the need to have a road bike. Even on routes like the Fred Whitton, the cross bike does just fine.

Of course, having said that, I’ll probably go out and buy a bloody road bike now. 😀

Some of my most memorable trips have been on a road bike. I can’t imagine not having one as an option.

Originally got it for commuting with, but ended up riding a fair bit more and now I ride it as much as off road.

Doesn’t help that there’s now so few good legal trails round here, and the slightly cheeky trails are getting fenced off.

Very close to buying one but the horror stories of having coins tureen at roadies, assaults and tossers abusing road cyclists certainly are making me think twice.