Did Mountain Biking Kill The Cyclist in You?

[rinconryder]

Saw a post by JB the other day that voiced something I have been thinking about lately....I would rather mountain bike than road ride pretty much any day of the week. Dare I say it, but the more I mountain bike the more bored I become when I am on the road - not only do I get the same fitness benefits, but I get the rush of hitting jumps, flying down single track and night riding which is pretty much the ultimate. Not bagging road riding, nor letting go of my road bikes, but for the moment I seem to be drawn towards the mountain bike. Just wondering if any similar experiences out there.

[uno-speedo]

I agree with you, though I've never really enjoyed road riding as much as mountain biking, I must be missing something. The only reason I ride my road bike is to commute to work. Weekends are for riding mountain bikes.

[gdw]

It did for me. Mountain biking is a better overall workout and allows me to explore areas inaccessable by road or cross bike.

[Marcusaurelius]

I always hated the flat bar on a mountain bike. I never felt right till I got my hands on a road bar and could put my hands on the drops. I never felt an attraction for a mountain bike; it was slow and the handlebar just didn't work for me. I however like cyclocross bikes for obvious reasons.

[MMcG]

I would argue whether you ride road or trails (mtb) or BMX even - you are still a Cyclist.

And for the guy who doesn't like flat bars on his MTB - there are several great dirt drop handlebars on the market again such as the On-One Midge Bars, WTB Dirt Drops (again), Salsa Woodchippers, Ragley Luxe bars, and Soma Junebug bars to name but a few. :cool:

[buck-50]

Kinda the opposite for me- I like mountain biking and I'm about to build a new one (drop bar 29er), but the... convenience of road riding always wins for me.

There are beautiful country roads 10 minutes from my house but the nearest MTB trailhead is a 20 minute drive. And it's not a particularly good trail. And since I had a kid, any time I can ride is precious, so 40 minutes of driving to a lackluster trail for an hour of riding is better spent as 2 hours just riding.

[Bob Loblaw]

I like mountain biking, but I prefer the road. On the MTB I always feel like I'm riding in a park (usually because I am), and only allowed to go certain places at certain speeds. On the road, the only limits are time and fitness.

Plus I hate the maintenance on the MTB. Things are always breaking or jamming or getting clogged or wearing out. The road bike is friendlier to my OCD mindset about equipment.

BL

[salem]

Funny thing, I'm considered a mountain biker by most, yet I spend a lot more time on the road bike. For me, it is an issue of range and variety: I don't like driving to ride, so on a mountain bike, there are 3 or 4 trail areas to which I can easily ride, while on the road bike, I can head 50 miles or so in any direction. Of course, my road bikes have seen a lot of trail miles along that way!

[bobswire]

I do mountain biking for fun but since it requires me driving and wasting fuel I don't do it too often or take very seriously.I do road cycling for commuting, errands,the love of descending at 40 mph and just going fast. Been a roadie for over 40 years and will take it to my grave (in a manner of speaking since I'll be creamated).
Best thing for me about mtn biking is it is one sport my adult son and I do together but I can't get him on a road bike.

[northbend]

Whats to ruin? Both are fun to me, two very different experiences.

[Steve in SLO]

During my 35ish years of serious riding, the pendulum has swung more than a few times. I went from road racer to nearly all MTB riding when they first became available, then back and forth a a few times. I don't think any of these shifts 'ruined' me for the other, merely shifted my interest for a while.
My current preferences are road vs CX on dirt/singletrack. I am also building up a 29er SS. It's all about keeping it fresh and fun.

[Volant]

For me, it all depends on time, time of year, goals, and convenience. Last year I did a lot more road riding. The year before, mtb'ing. This winter has been almost all mtb. They both have their appeal and it's nice to have an alternative. But, the adrenaline rush on an mtb can't be matched on the road (decending faster than 50 mph will get your heart pumping on the road - but go over 40 mph off-road and it's a whole new ball game!).

[lurpy]

My cycling interests seem really seasonal. Lots of fixed gear this time of year, a little road racing in the Spring, longer exploring road rides in the summer, and mountain biking in the fall. The big conflict I run into is cross and mountain. When looking at a 45 minute cross race or a 4-5 hour mountain bike ride, the mountain always wins. The exception is when the weather is miserable, which makes the cross race that much better.

As others have commented, I really like the fact that I can just leave the house for a road ride. My team mets at a coffee shop 2 miles away, and from there we have dozens of options. A mountain ride involves a drive of 1 to 3 hours.

[Jack Brunk]

Along with the road burnout, I've also become gun shy with the road due to the local deaths and badly injured cyclists in my area. This just came to my email for our local cycling club.

I got a firsthand taste of vehicle/cycle incursion yesterday: in left turn lane of Potrero @ 23 intersection, I was sideswiped by an Arrowhead water truck. I was on the left side of the lane, right at the centerline, which I'll never do again in a left turn situation. Anyway, went down hard, but only damage: some road rash and a very sore hip and upper femur--X-rays at malibu Urgent Care showed no fractures. The truck driver was contrite and helped with first aid, and MANY THANKS to CVC member Howard Levy who came upon me just after the accident. I was reluctantly back on the bike, to finish my ride--had ten miles left. He followed along for a spell to make sure all was well and that bike wasn't damaged, also offered to get his car and transport me if I wasn't able to remount. Anyway, I dodged the bullet, I think, just a reminder to all that ANY left turn scenario seems to be one of the perennial recurrent hazards on these roads. Ride safe...JC

I like my chances much better on the XC trails than on the road right now.

[veloduffer]

While I ride both, I prefer road riding as it allows me to relax more. I don't have to concentrate as hard, where as mtb-ing there is a need to figure out the line of travel (a bit like figuring out your fall line in skiing).

But I like to mix up my riding between mtb and road, even my road riding with fixed gears, single speed, cross.

It's all good atmo. :beer:

[konstantkarma]

As I get older :confused: I find that road riding gives me the base aerobic conditioning my body needs. Plus, I like to go fast for sustained periods on my road bike. The intermittent power output required of the MTB is very different from that of the road. I do find that all of the MTB riding I did in the 80s and 90s really helps my road bike handling skills. This also has a lot to do with where I live. When I was heavily into MTB it was in the Colorado mountains and Denver/Boulder foothills. Now that I live in Maryland, the paved country roads win me over.

BTW, I recently scored a cross bike, and have been trying the dirt once again!

[FlashUNC]

Mountain Biking nearly killed the cyclist in me, and me.

Hit a tree going downhill as a teenager on some fairly technical singletrack. Never went back.

I recently got a cross bike to use on the local trails, and I have to admit dismounting to run through the technical stuff is way more fun.

[rugbysecondrow]

Plus I hate the maintenance on the MTB. Things are always breaking or jamming or getting clogged or wearing out. The road bike is friendlier to my OCD mindset about equipment.

BL


Single speed MTB my man. Get a cheap redline 29er and have an effin great time for little cost.

[toaster]

I love any moment on a bike. As long as it is enjoyable in some sense.

[Dekonick]

Single speed MTB my man. Get a cheap redline 29er and have an effin great time for little cost.

Just because you are a beast doesn't mean the rest of us are...

For me I like both. Prefer road on the ease coast, prefer mtn in the Rockies.

[edmoses]

No the MTB did not kill the road rider - in fact it got me back into cycling 20 years ago. These days I mostly ride my road bikes - lots of lovely roads to the west of London, England to play on.

I still ride my mountain bike - usually when the trails are dry(ish) to cut down on the mtce activity.

My main passion these days is for the Paris-Roubaix Audax, held every two years in the Summer - lots of interesting roads and mad cobbles - what's not to like?? I hope to do the ASO version in April, but work does not look good at the moment.

Ed

[buck-50]

Single speed MTB my man. Get a cheap redline 29er and have an effin great time for little cost.
Single speed MTB almost killed my love of MTBing all together...

[MMcG]

Single speed MTB almost killed my love of MTBing all together...


How so? Why?

[rinconryder]

I like the slight thread drift to the SS mountain bike. I built one up about a year ago and love it - Niner SIR9. Simple as can be, low maintenance except tensioning the chain every now and then, just grab the thing and ride. Funny thing is I just got a geared FS29er (Anthem X 29er) and the chain broke on the second ride and bent the rear derailleur - reminded me how much I appreciate the simplicity of a single speed.

[buck-50]

How so? Why?
I guess I'd put it this way- if yer 6'2" and weigh 170, yer probably gonna love the simplicity of singlespeed mountain biking. If yer 6'2" and weigh 230, yer gonna feel every one of those extra 60 pounds every time you climb a hill.

That, and changing flats on a singlespeed with track-style fork ends instead of traditional dropouts was... not fun at all.

In the end, the lightness and simpleness of the bike didn't make up for the fact that I'm at best a casual MTB rider. Many of the local trails are set up to slow you down, kill your momentum- blind turns that hide uphill rock gardens, etc.

Singlespeed just sucked the fun out of it for me.

[dogdriver]

Variety is the spice of life...

They're completely different workouts, IMHO. I'm lucky enough to live in a place where I can do either out of my driveway, so I tend to cycle thru the mtb, road bike, and mtb ss. I think that the road bike provides the best foundation for cycling fitness and allows a more "measured" or controllable workout (why do all competitive mtb riders spend a ton of time on a road bike?). The mtb is probably more purely recreational but not as time-efficient (the descents are fun, but I'm not aggressive or skilled enough to keep the heart rate up on them). The ss mtb is my anaerobic effort and leg strength "I only have 60 minutes to ride" machine. They're all good. Why choose one?

All that said, if I had to drive the car to get to a place to do any of these, it would fall off the radar pretty quickly...

[rugbysecondrow]

Different strokes I suppose. I am 6'2" and weigh 225 and I really enjoy it. I have almost sold my geared mtb quite a few times because I enjoy SS riding. Climbing can be challenging, but it is not too mch harder. Plus, you zoom up the hill faster than your geared buddies.

My 29er ss has paragon style sliding drops so I use a normal skewer and the wheel changing is not an issue for me. I bought a used redline monocot flight for 340 off of CL, ridged 29er with disc brakes and slidig drops. All I need.

So long as you keeping riding though, that is the most important thing.




I guess I'd put it this way- if yer 6'2" and weigh 170, yer probably gonna love the simplicity of singlespeed mountain biking. If yer 6'2" and weigh 230, yer gonna feel every one of those extra 60 pounds every time you climb a hill.

That, and changing flats on a singlespeed with track-style fork ends instead of traditional dropouts was... not fun at all.

In the end, the lightness and simpleness of the bike didn't make up for the fact that I'm at best a casual MTB rider. Many of the local trails are set up to slow you down, kill your momentum- blind turns that hide uphill rock gardens, etc.

Singlespeed just sucked the fun out of it for me.

[xjoex]

I'll take a mountain ride over a road ride any day of the week.

-Joe

[Fixed]

it told me i suck
cheers still try though
imho

[msl819]

i am 35 with a wife, two small kids, etc like many here. My philosophy has evolved into this... when i pull into my driveway after a road or mtb ride i want to be able to say, "that was fun." i love to ride, but at my stage of life it easier than ever to pass on riding to do "other things" when it becomes not fun. Lately riding my mtb has been something that has brought a whole lot of fun to me. I love a good long road ride, the thrill of riding in a pack, and knowing i covered more miles on two wheels in one morning than i do for several days with four. But, flying downhill, over jumps, and around tight tree lined corners does it for me too. Seems for me i prefer the mtb bike in the colder months and the skinny tires when it is warmer. Just so long as i can say, "That was fun!"

[kramnnim]

Mountain biking got me back in to cycling a few years ago, but driving 15-50 miles to get to the trails grew old. Now the MTB is gathering dust, but I ride the road bike almost daily.

[DRietz]

I love and balance both mountain biking and road biking. I love racing both mountain and road. I love the serene feeling I get on the road, and I love the adrenaline-pumping technical feeling I get on the mountain bike.

The mountain bike got me really fit last year when I turned my 29er 1x9 into a singlespeed. It's a real challenge, and racing as the only high schooler in adult SS races is quite fulfilling.

[daylate$short]

I must say I am quite surprised at the number of mountain bikers here. I would not have guessed that judging from the typical thread content.

I quit riding about 30 years ago due to some chronic injuries. Then about 5 years ago started Mtn biking with some guys at work and really enjoyed it. After a couple years I figured out it was easier to train on a road bike due to time constraints, being able to ride from my house, and just being able to pedal constantly. I am now split about half and half by miles, but more time on the Mtn bike. To me there is nothing that compares to riding in the woods on a fall day. Like others here I have dumped the F.S. and now ride mostly Single Speed rigid, but occasionally run 1x9 when I plan on riding some bigger hills than we have around here.

[ti_boi]

I am pretty lucky to live in a metro area and to have woods so close at hand with awesome trails. The road was always my first love -- but the metro area also has lots of people which make it a challenge to ride safely sometimes. I love em both for what they are. And man the bikes you can own. :beer:

[DogpawSlim]

I love the smoothness and speed of a good road ride. Haven't been on one for 6 months or so...something about sharing the road with idiots in 2+ ton vehicles at speed, if they touch you, you're hurt or dead.

I'll go up against a tree any day.