[Closed] Anyone else talking a knife to a gun fight? Full bouncer on the roads.

I’ve been commuting across Brighton on a Levo, with a 160mm fork and a Hillbilly 2.6 up front, for the last year or so. And before that I was doing it on a similarly set up Spitfire or my equally gnarly 150mm hardtail. The MTBs are only annoyingly slow when it’s flat and there’s a headwind. They go uphill fine and they go downhill far more safely than any road bike could cope, so I always take the hilly, as the crow flies, routes.

Pretty sure there was a forumite racing TTs on a fat bike and apparently doing rather well.

My Voodoo Wazoo fatbike has been my regular commuter for ~3.5 years now, but for a majority of that time, I had a set of FatNotFat 29er wheels that effectively made it a hybrid. However, the freehub pawls stopped reliably engaging around Xmas, so I reverted to the fat wheel and Jumbo Jim on the rear.

Combined with no gear cable, so I've got 17T sprocket and 24/38T chainrings, the ~4.5 mile ride home up the hill is a major slog and I'm getting silly ideas about buying a more suitable replacement commuter.

Regularly commute 12.5 miles in to work and back on my FS. It is a Ibis Ripley 2 so pretty efficient for a FS, but it gives me the option on a nice day to take the long way in or home and get 20-30 off-road miles in. And I for one don't really get on with the curly handlebar position though I will admit on the road they would be more efficient. But I can ride at 15-20 miles an hour in zone 2 on the flat back roads, but obviously a lot slower on 1:4 climbs and that's without using the rear lockout

Well, it’s actually fun to ride it on the road.

And that is all it should be about. You don't have to have the 'right' bike you need to have the bike you enjoy riding. I used to go out for 10 mile rides on a BMX because I enjoyed pissing about as I rode along (hopping over things, manualling along the road etc,.) and that was in no way a sensible bike to ride for 10 miles. I then got a 24" BMX race bike and used it off road and again loved it (had a very long seat post!) but no way was it the fastest or most efficient bike I could have used.

Yep! Been riding every day on my coil shocked, 16.5kg Stumpy Evo! 3 days a week I ride a 22km hilly road loop that takes an hour - certainly gets me working hard..... Then the other 3 says (I do a rest day) it's trail riding.

I could take my gravel bike, but tbh I don't enjoy riding it as much as the Stumpy, and I like the idea that I'm working harder with a heavier bike too, so seeing more fitness benefits too.

The other thing I have noticed is that drivers seem to be more favourable to a mountain biker than a "cyclist" on drop bars - even though I'm in the same kit on either bike (i.e. MTB gear).

Aren't these guns to knife fights? 😇 I'm a converted knife carrier, having settled for a chubby tyred hardtail. Love how it keeps me on my toes.

Coil shock. Check
Coil fork. Check
62.5 head angle. Check
How do i turn this into a gravel bike?
Fit a bottle cage and semi slick back tyre.😁
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49802111166_759a613ba3_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49802111166_759a613ba3_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2iSQQz5 ]The creak free ride[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/stu-b/ ]multispeedstu[/url], on Flickr

Yup, roads, trails, DH, enduro, all on my G160. Goes well enough.

I ride my Rail 7.5 miles on the road to my closest fun trails, do a couple of miles on the trails (they’re quite short Dowies-style runs but with lots more elevation) and then 7.5 miles on the road home again. The ride to the trails is 800ft of elevation gain, most in the last mile, and I generally manage 1800 to 2000 ft gain over the ride.
The Rail is slower on the return road journey but much faster on the outbound and way more comfortable on both.

Pretty sure there was a forumite racing TTs on a fat bike and apparently doing rather well.

That'll be Andy.... it's not about the bike 💪

Aren’t these guns to knife fights?

Was thinking that although a gun is better than a knife but a full suspension MTB is not better than a road bike on the road. I actually do the knife to a gun fight thing by riding a fixed gear rigid bike off road, but in same way it is the bike I like riding most so ride it everywhere.

Aye, Bronson with 2.6 Mary up front similar fun here!

Much like Singledpeedstu! Coil shock, coil fork, mullet setup, tough casing tyres and HA in the 62s..... Perfect 👍

There seem to be plenty of people riding macho road bikes on trails these days ... so i guess it is just the counterpoint.

When I'm out with the girls I'm using my Liteville 601 with 180mm front, 190mm rear..some big kerbs around here

Doing our family rides means the wife gets the hardtail and i get the full bouncer (Tranny Patrol), it's not the fastest but it's a family ride, distance isn't the key, it's just getting out and putting some time into being outside and riding. When i do the trails stuff i just take the hardtail, not because the full sus is too much, but because it'll make me want to do the dodgy stuff at the trails, hardtail keeps me in check whilst we're in lockdown!

As for doing miles on the roads and easy stuff, the only issue i have is it's killing the bearings due to messing about, i'm not in any hurry these days so it doesn't matter if the journey takes an hour or double that.

Trying again to post a pic!!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/andynelson1977/49815857563/in/dateposted-public/

I used to go out for 10 mile rides on a BMX because I enjoyed pissing about as I rode along (hopping over things, manualling along the road etc,.)

Are you Geex in disguise??

My old Cannondale Trigger, a 29er with 125 travel was pretty civilised for road and Ridgeway commuting of about 12 miles each way.
The Jekyll at 27.5 and 160mm definitely felt wrong. Especially if you were on the road in a full face as you were cycling to the station to head off for a day of mild Gnar.
The best fun was the Fatty as you got to wave to all the other guys on clown bikes (recumbents, unicycles, those weird stand up bicycles with the treadles.).

Yep, I've been using my bird aeris 140mm/ 160mm front for all my rides generally around 18-25miles 3 times a week around the Mendips with around 30% road. It rolls pretty well and has done my fitness wonders 😁

“The other thing I have noticed is that drivers seem to be more favourable to a mountain biker than a “cyclist” on drop bars”

I don’t ride road bikes but I’ve had this feeling too! I take up more space with my big bars but I seem to get given more space. Is it because we’re seen as people cycling to get somewhere, like commuters, rather than a cyclist choosing to get in the way of the traffic whilst in the pursuit of their hobby?

I do recall an old bandmate having a real problem with people choosing to cycle in lycra, like he felt they were making a point rather than wearing practical clothing.

I’ve commuted for twenty odd years on my MTBs; everything from skinny lightweight ti airborne xc whippet to an Orange 224. I used to ride 11 miles door to door & used to extend this during spring & summer. I now commute 3 miles there and extend that coming home (for the leg mileage). I’ve never really felt over/underbiked and my commuting times never drastically changed - I always seemed to find my gear & pushed on it.

I used to go out for 10 mile rides on a BMX because I enjoyed pissing about as I rode along (hopping over things, manualling along the road etc,.)

This made me laugh and brought back a brilliant memory; when I was in my early teens myself and a couple of mates rode from Barnsley to York on our BMXs quite a few times to visit a girl. This included the short section of the A1 from Knottingley past Ferry Bridge power station then off again towards Sherburn-in-Elmet. This was early-mid eighties so traffic wasn’t quite so bad, but still I cringe when I think back.

Get ready to swoon... I was over taking lots of cyclists* this morning on my 24" street trials bike with 22t - 16t.

* families so obviously not real cyclists.

Dusted off my old Turner rfx 160 travel and just riding that on the road,it's a bit bouncy and slow but does the job!Plenty of dick drivers about!

Using my new Whyte S150 for local riding. Which is a mixture of road. Path and some trails. I'm definitely overbiked but loving it anyway.

I can usually find a set of stairs, little drop or steep line to justify me dragging the full bouncer around

Are you Geex in disguise??

I dream of being that awesome

Tbf I think I’ve had less close passes on the mtb on the road vs the road bike. Although it is very quiet at the moment on the roads so drivers have got more time / space to move out round me so that maybe a factor.

Took my fs bike on a bridleways joined up by roads today - I did it last week on my hardtail. Whilst the hardtail is a few lbs lighter and has a quicker rolling back tyre I preferred the fs to be honest.

Not a huge enduro thing - 140f/130r travel, Lyriks, 65 degree head angle / 76 degree seat angle, 180mm dropper, Codes, Xm481’s etc. So quite a burly trail bike but actually it pedals really well.

Thoroughly enjoyed myself - although I’d prefer my Caad12 on the road clearly.

Where is geex.

I took my dh bike out for 5 miles. Worked ok. Reminded me of old days on my Mirra twenty forty bmx 10 mile rides around Jacksonville NC.

All the time. 3000 miles of mixed terrain with a Hightower with 29 x 2.4s last year. Just back from a 30 miler consisting of road, forest track, single track and pushing. Slower than a road bike by far but once you accept it, it’s all fairly pleasant.

I take it all the posters above who choose to ride their mountain bikes long distances on road are Maxxis shareholders? 😉

I do recall an old bandmate having a real problem with people choosing to cycle in lycra, like he felt they were making a point rather than wearing practical clothing.

The point being made is that lycra is practical for road riding.

I’ve been down to one bike for the last sic years or so. That bike has been a Trek Stache, a Stooge Speedball, Flare, NS RAG and now a Soul. All of them have been used for every type of riding. Commuting, road, off road, pissing about etc.

All of them have had one thing in common and that is the fact that they’ve been fun bar the RAG. Would love to have kept the Speedball but didn’t as the one thing I missed was front suspension. Funnily enough the one that was probably quickset and most suited to roads was the RAG. Generally roads are knackered though so this meant it was also the least comfortable. I also managed to destroy a couple of rear mechs when riding it off road.

I know this is heresy, but most bikes are pretty good as all rounders. Hardtails especially so. Somebody will be along soon to say otherwise, but I really don’t care. Yes I’m a bit slower on the road, but that’s the least fun part of riding any way.

I know this is heresy, but most bikes are pretty good as all rounders.

Agree, which is why I always say just ride the type of bike you enjoy the most and get on with it rather than worrying about needing a certain bike for a certain ride. Will be faster in some places and slower than others but if you are not in a race so what.

Also good for my state of mind to just have one bike to maintain and no choice of bike before going out for a ride. I just think about where I am going to ride rather than what bike, have I got the right bike, wishing I brought a different bike etc,.

I just ordered a hardtail because I thought my FS was overkill and inefficient for mixed surface local bimbling, but it's going back...

FS is a first gen Cotic Flare, 130mm Fox 34's, dropper, pretty average build, 650b, 1x10, 2.3" tyres. Hardtail a modern alloy 29er, 120mm x fusions, 1x10, 2.4/2.6" tyres.

Think the hardtail is heavier to be honest, I don't like it as much, and won't be as good as the Cotic at anything without a load of upgrades. The Flare really is all the bike I ever wanted, and will need, feels pretty much like a bit more capable Soul, it's lively, agile, poppy, fairly conservative geo for nowadays . It could even take double rings up front if I wanted.

That's about my only gripe, 1x drivetrains don't give enough top end on the road and easy stuff.

Watched a GCN Gravel v XC video yesterday, and unsurprisingly the Gravel bike was a bit better on road and smooth gravel, but demolished on the two rougher tests. It might have been better with tubeless tyres on the rough stuff (punctured once) but it was properly beaten. The 'XC' bike on the other hand was pretty burly, I reckon an actual XC race bike would have been much much closer on the easy tests.