[Closed] pro's and con's of being a roadie

Pros: Distance, speed, fitness. You learn to pedal better, and that benefits mountain biking. Cake.

Cons: You've already put your finger on it. You have to shout occasionally.

Its just cycling Jim but different.
Go out with a club or a chaingang and block the road at 25 - 30 mph and scream at any car that comes near. sorted.

Pros, its brilliant.
Cons, it will take over your life. Seriously addictive sport.

Pros: road bikes...lovely. Get a carbon fibre one.

Cons: your mountain bike will start gathering dust 😉

Actually... now i think about it. Cons are drivers trying to kill you, often on purpose. though you'll know all sbout that ridining motorbike.
one big pro for me is having a nice bike and not smashing the crap out of it everytime I ride it like the mountain bike being covered in gloop and chips and dings etc. but to be able to set off at dawn with some sarnies in your pocket and ride 100 miles plus and get a silly suntan, my favourite.

pros, you don't spend your life cleaning bikes, you can ride anytime you feel like it, speed, fitness, cake stops

cons, cars. (but if you find the right roads there aren't that many, certainly not as many as some seem to think)

One other thing. Will it help with my bad lateral knee ligaments? I've torn them three times now in 4 years.

no idea if it will help, but i would be careful about pedal choice and setup.

pros, something different

cons, cars

Cons- it is basically crap
Pros- but slightly less crap than not riding bikes

What gear will I need apart from the obvious helmet, gloves and bike. Any good routes in the Lancashire area?

cons - can't ride them off road, or on bumpy roads, braking and handling is dangerous, uncomfortable.

pros - fast, fast, fast, maintenance free

The amount of fitness you achieve is not dependent on the bike you buy, it is dependent on how you use it.

It is possible to ride MTBs on the road, especially hardtails. Doubly so with slicks (Super Motos rock).

Unless you are competing, ask yourself what you want to get out of it. A nice light hardtail can do multi day trips with tents and things. On road and off. May be more fun than a racer?

Any good routes in the Lancashire area?

Are you for real? I mean seriously, have you ever got out of your trail centre and looked at a map of Lancashire?

Lancashire (along with Yorkshire I'll grudgingly admit) is one of the best counties in Britain for cycling. To the west you've got the flatlands of the Fylde and to the east you ride up the Ribble valley then dive off into the Bowland Fells and West Pennines, though being closer to the connurbation the West Pennine roads tend to be busier. In Bowland you've got three big climbs over the tops including the Trough with a scattering of great cafes at all strategic points. Further east and you've got the Gisburn area then heading over towards the Dales with cafe havens like Settle. All of these are within easy reach for a cyclist being on a scale of 10 - 20 miles. The Ribble valley and northerly & easterly roads are empty and the few drivers you do see are so accustomed to cyclists that they treat us with respect.

You can choose between easy rolling routes and steep and nasty - Birdy Brow, Whitewell, Whalley Nab, Jeffrey Hill are the classic climbs as well as a killer on the Clitheroe road coming out of Lancaster. You've got pretty villages and amazing open mooorland with huges vistas from North Wales through Liverpool, Blackpool Tower, Heysham, Morecambe bay and the South Lakes.

There are no less than four bike shops in Clitheroe as well as others on the flatlands. Lancashire is road riding paradise!

The pros of road riding: No dirt and no attrition to chain, transmission and brakes. You can ride hard from your front door to the cafe and onwards choosing any route you fancy with no worry about legality. Get home, stow the bike and head straight for the shower with no need for cleaning kit or bike unless it's been wet. Road riding gets you much much fitter because it is unrelenting and all about maintaining good average speeds through skilful use of gears, momentum and drafting.

The cons? Having worked my way through 20 years of mountain bike obsession I am suddenly into a new wave of bike madness! This time though it's about finesse, equipment, cleanliness, weight and obsessive fettling. Oh and the poor old mountain bike is feeling neglected.

Get yourself to Green Jersey bike shop and cafe in Clitheroe on a quiet day and ask Richard the owner to make you a coffee then take you through the various bikes on offer at different budgets. If you are 6' I don't mind lending you my Tricross disc and taking you out for a taster (you can also ride my carbon roadie) and if you're about 5'10" I've got an "as new" Bianchi Nirone C2C that I'll sell you for £700, negotiable.

I think the idea of getting into road bikes is just that I wanna get out and ride somewhere with nice scenary. And wouldn't mind now and again doing some competetive stuff. Now as I work 5 days a week on silly nhs shifts, I really find it hard to get the motivation to get home kit up with the mountain bike and either drive to Gisburn or go up to Darden more and fight through a bog fest. I love it when it's sunny and dry.

I only have a small 400 pound budget max as we are supposed to be saving up for our wedding. I know I may not get a superbike with that but my mtb didn't cost much more. I just like the idea but I'm unsure also.

have a small 400 pound budget

Same as me - the classified section is your friend here. 🙂

So what are the pro's and cons of being a roadie

just ride you mountain bike on the road, the experience in traffic is surprisingly similar

Pros: great for 60/90min blasts; peaceful (I ride alone); very little cleaning faff; qualitatively different from mtb; builds stamina for mtb.

Cons: cars/lorries (avoid peak times); clips (I don't have these on mtb) and while a boon of sorts, I have come a cropper a couple of times.

have a small 400 pound budget
Same as me - the classified section is your friend here.

Or Decathlon...

My road bike is a GT GTR that I got in a sale for that price and with the suggestions above you can easily get a bike.

It's surprisingly good fun, less gloppy mud than I get on my MTB and if you pick a route down quiet roads you can really get lost (literally) in the scenery.

as others have said, being able to ride straight from your garage is the biggest benefit and for me, getting to quiet roads within ten minutes or so of the house. Cars and traffc arent so bad in the quieter areas and there is something nice about climbing big steep hills on a road bike. Looking at your computer and seeing that you have averaged 30 kph on a ride is nice too given you struggle to get half that on an mtb ride. I ride alone too, pick the right route and you can not see anyone for an hour or two.

Tried it, bought one, rode it... didn't like it.

They handle like crap, brake like crap, ride like crap and are WAY less fun than MTB's.

I still ride on the road, i did yesterday and i probably will today too... However on my Spearfish, not on the road bike.

Pros; Fitness, exploring paces easily without having to travel miles in the car beforehand, Fast and dry summer roads, warm evening rides, crisp winter night rides, hill climbing, club rides. Low maintainence.

Cons; Not many really. As others have said, if you can get on to the minor roads then traffic isn't a problem. Roadie haters that can't accept it's just another form of riding bkes. 😉 It's bloody adictive and very expensive once you get the bug. Mmmm, shiny carbon!

They handle like crap, brake like crap, ride like crap and are WAY less fun than MTB's

Tarmac is unyielding and painful when you eat the inevitable shit-biscuit.

pro's? Not many but it really gets up the noses of the stick in the mud MTB'ers (as opposed to cyclists) on here which is priceless.

You're on the wrong bike then. Mine handle amazingly. Sharp, reponsive and good brakes.

Nopes, i'm on an MTB now 🙂

They handle like crap, brake like crap, ride like crap and are WAY less fun than MTB's.

A bad workman blames his tools. 😉

Bollox, some people just don't like them, simple as that. It was brand new, professionally 'fitted' it was the right size etc etc. They're just rubbish for some people. I was/am them people.

It's bloody addictive and very expensive once you get the bug.

Definitely addictive, but after a large initial outlay (£1000) I don't think I've spent a penny in a year. Mtb on the other hand...!

Pros: Gets you from A to B quick; hardly any maintenance/cleaning; roads dont get muddy; you can listen to music; keeps you fit

Cons: Boring as hell; car drivers; van drivers; lorry drivers; bus drivers; boring.

Pro's - Club runs are if anything more soical than their MTB equivelents as everyone tends to stick in a group rather than strung out down a trail, especialy in the bigger clubs where there's often 15-16 -16-17, 18-19, and FAST (etc), groups so you don't get dropped.

- fitness

- riding to place you'd not otherwise go. i'm always amazed how much stuff can be reached in a day.

- trafic free back roads. Like a local MTB club knows the local trails beyond the bridleways, roadie club runs are good for stitching together long loops of quiet back roads. Even in the Chilterns and London commuter belt it's easy to do a loop with very few busy roads.

Cons - Tendancy to ignore the MTB during an addiction.

- car's, but they're suprisingly easy to minimise as an inconvenience.

- cost, yes you can ride a £300 bike from Decathlon, yes it is all about the rider. But show me a roadie who actualy lives that mantra?

- chubby MTB'ers overtaking you on a mid January base mile/recovery ride then posting about it on the internet.

They're just rubbish for some people.

User error.

After many years of only riding on the road I got the off-road bug last year and hardly touched the road bikes for a year. But I went for a spin on one of them again last week, so here are my observations.

After trying to ride a 30lb full suss bike up proper mountains the hills feel really easy on the road.

The effort is more sustained on the road. I could ride for an hour at a pretty constant intensity whereas off-road it is more varied.

My road bike feels very uncomfortable, stiff and twitchy after the MTB, but you soon get back into it.

It's very fast.

Cars are bloody annoying.

Pro
- great alternative to MTB if you live many miles from the trails. Moving from trails on doorstep to no trails for 40 miles (100+ for anything decent), I either had to give up riding, or embrace the lycra.

Cons
- You look like a nob in lycra. This isn't just me looking like a nob (I do) - its all of us. Wearing baggies and a peak on your helmet won't help - you'll just look like a nob who's wearing innapropriate clothing trying desperately not to look like a nob, and get ostracised by those who have managed to deal with, and have come to embrace, looking like a nob. After a while riding a road bike your brain switches off certain parts that make you feel shame looking like a nob, so the embarrassment subsides, and then you even start yo feel a certain pride in your 'athletic' appearance. But when you stop and think for a moment, or your other half catches a glimpse of you as you are getting ready to go go out (just bibs and arm warmers on, hrm round your scrawny chest), or worst of all you bump in to non roadie mate / colleague whilst out on road bike, it all comes flooding back and you break down in tears of shame and self loathing. Or is that just me?
- Cars

[i] Now I've always been intrigued by it and think I'd like to have a go[/i]

Its just a bike, why over complicate it.

There are no cons, its all great.

Cons
- You look like a nob in lycra

To non cyclist you'll just look a nob on a bike anyway no matter what you wear.

" looks around and over his shoulders "

Nope, can't see any cons.

Is it just me that read's this thread and see's two sides?

a) people who don't go on club runs and find road bikes boring and dull and dangerous.

b) people who do go on club runs and find road bikes great for fitness, social, and lovely trafic free roads with cake at the end.

(and C, people who've not tried them and/or don't look good in lycra)

I've never been on a club run yet love my road bike.

I think I'd look good in lycra. Just ill keep my legs covered as I'm not hacking through that forest. Arms are nothairy thank god.

I think my main reasons are, iI want to try it. I like to just go for a ride and sometimes getting on the motorbike I just can't be added. Whereas on a roadbike I can just go on the same roads just at a slower pace.
Want to get fitter and maybe do some events.

Only thing that puts me off is being bullied by car knobs.

Cons
- You look like a nob in lycra.

And baggies, loose fitting tops and an overloaded camelback full of stuff you don't need is a great look? 😀

Lets face it, it's just clothing convenient for the type of activity, similar to running, horse riding and many many more pastimes.

Pros: faster on road than a MTB.

Cons: not as fast as a car, boredom, erectile dysfunction.
😛

I'd probably still ride road if I didn't live in East Anglia, an area devoid of hills and scenery.

[i]I've never been on a club run yet love my road bike.[/i]

Same here, I love riding my road bike.

As for 'looking like an nob in lycra' do you really think you look cool in wearing what you wear on a bike? Don't know what you waer but I'd hazard a guess that civilians reckon you look like an idiot too. At least with lycra its not form over function.

One pro - it's really good.

One con - Even when you're in the middle of the longest dry spell for months and the local trails are lovely and dry, you can still be half-tempted to head out on the road bike instead of the MTB.

Is it just me that read's this thread and see's two sides?

a) people who don't go on club runs and find road bikes boring and dull and dangerous.

b) people who do go on club runs and find road bikes great for fitness, social, and lovely trafic free roads with cake at the end.

(and C, people who've not tried them and/or don't look good in lycra)

And don't forget people who are a bit too keen to fit everything into a category in their mind.

Con - it hurts and can be expensive if you hit some diesel when leant over going around a corner.

Pros - excuse for another bike, lovely quiet country lanes, speed, extra fitness, fun.

You look like a nob in lycra

But what sort of an argument is that? Many sports have gear that would look odd out of context. I suppose it partly depends on your own self confidence and, indeed, what sort of shape you are in but I'll happily wonder about a village sans bike if we stop at one for a break.

Mountain biking as a passtime is about clattering over roots and rocks, it's an exercise in machine control and bravery. Pedalling is a necessity, not a reason.

Road riding is about pedalling.

There's no reason why enjoying mountain biking would mean you enjoy road cycling.

Pros and cons probably depend partly on where you live. For me some big pros are not having to travel to get to decent riding, much less faff getting ready and sorting yourself out/cleaning up when you get back, and parts last for years rather than months.

There's no reason why enjoying mountain biking would mean you enjoy road cycling.

There's something in this, but if you just like bikes and riding you can't go wrong. I reckon most people have access to plenty of roads where cars are much less of an issue than you might think too.

i disagree with some of the comments on here, for me the only con for a road bike is the inability to veer off onto any trail i see at the roadside.

Mountain biking as a passtime is about clattering over roots and rocks, it's an exercise in machine control and bravery. Pedalling is a necessity, not a reason.

Road riding is about pedalling.

Rubbish! Road biking is about learning to trust your bike and then wringing every last mph out of it. It's about that lovely ripping sound from grippy tyres on dry tarmac as you clip apexes on the limit and exit grinning from ear to ear.

It's about that feeling of total silence you feel at the bottom of a 55mph descent, where your skin tingles and you can feel tears on your temples that have been forced out of your eyes by the speed.

It's about drawing MASSIVE orange loops on Strava maps... It's about crossing several counties on nothing more than a bottle of water, a cappuccino and a slice of coffee-and-walnut cake.

It's about jumping from wheel-to-wheel as you cut through the chaingang like a hot knife through butter. It's about waiting for a car to pass and then attacking in its slipstream and pretending you're Fabian Cancellara leaping off the front on the Col d'Aubisque.

I quite like it...

Road riding is about pedalling.

And handling and bottle.

And the consequences can be a lot higher if you get it wrong.

from my own perspective (i got my first real road bike in november)i really love my road bike.

as i live in wiltshire the trails around me are chalk/clay so they can get very gloopy in wet weather.

getting the road bike means i can start to explore some of the country lanes around me (that wouldn't be as much fun on my duster).also you will go faster on the bike (for same amount of energy put through pedals).

one thing though i have found that i have cleaned my road bike nearly every time i have ridden it (the road bike will pick up the crap from the road).

in all though i love my new bike,and love the options it brings me about exploring where i live.

oh and my brakes are pretty good actually (but i'm not a fast rider 😉

Pros - Its proper cycling, anything else is just a poor imitation. Bikes are lovely.

Cons - There are not enough hrs in the day to do all the rides i want, work gets in the way.

I dunno haven't been doing much cycling for a while but..

Pros - Fast, low/no maintenance

Cons - Just incredibly dull - maybe because I largely ride alone?

As for the Lycra self deprecation, I think some mountainbikers are more hung up on lycra than the general public. Some moutain bikers will look at a roadie and just see the lycra while I think normal spod will see "just a cyclist".

The amount of fitness you achieve is not dependent on the bike you buy, it is dependent on how you use it.

this is true - it bugs me that people assert that road bikes get you fitter - it depends on how you ride the bike.

You can pedal relentlessly on an XC oriented bike round an XC route and it won't be much different than pedaling relentlessly on the road. You thighs will burn in the same manner, etc. It may even be harder.

Saw a roadie at Peaslake a few months ago - had come down from north london - his face and helmet straps had lots of white marks on from the salt of his sweat.

I used to do 70+ mile a weekend XC on the mountain bike and had the same sweat marks on my helmet straps.

The biggest difference between the bikes, it seems to me, is for climbing.

A road bike entices you more to climb out of the saddle, whereas it is less natural even on a fully rigid hard tail.

I find climbing out of the saddle at a reasonable cadence very beneficial for my legs and so session training on some hills on a road bike works a little better than going round an XC loop on the mtb, especially if it is claggy and difficult to keep pace/cadence up.

I borrowed a croix de fer the last few days and that is also better for getting up out of the saddle so I am swapping my hard tail for one, for short interval loops round the local common in preference to running.

So my stable will be the crosser for interval blasts round the local common or the 30 mile loop from my door or maybe taking to the new super-smooth trails at Swinley, the equilibrium for more endurance focused 50-100/ miles rides round the Surrey Hills when the ground is claggy, and the Flux for XC and singletrack rides when the ground is a bit firmer, as I have done enough riding through thick mud.

The Flux is my favorite by far though, and is pretty good for climbing out of the saddle as well. When I take the road bike out I am constantly looking for trails either side of the road and wishing I was on the Flux.

pretending you're Fabian Cancellara leaping off the front on the Col d'Aubisque

The mind can sometimes wander at moments like that Rusty! 😀

I was one of the Schlecks last night.

Planned session was 5 x 6 mins on a flat route in Z5b so 177+ for me. Not matter how hard I tried I couldn't get higher than threshold so after 4 sets of horrible frustration I gave up!

chakaping - Member

Road riding is about pedalling.

And handling and bottle.

If your road riding is about bottle, you shouldn't be doing it on the bloody road.

If you're new to road cycling it's well worth trying to hook up with a local club - you'll discover all the best quiet lanes and ace cafes for mid-ride cake.

Oh, and Lancashire is fantastic for road riding - you barely see a car in the forest of Bowland. Try climbing over the Cross of Greet and on to Slaidburn for a cafe stop.

For me...

Pros: Two hours free time is two hours riding. Getting to build twice as many bikes. Improved fitness. Meeting new folks. I get a lot of thinking done on my road bike, it clears the mind.

Cons: Double the cost. Double the bikes.

Pros:

Easier to get into a rhythm on the road and just pedal, distance and time will pass quickly and you'll be pleased at how far you can ride and some of the speeds you'll hit....on warm days it is a joy.

Cons:

I got a road bike to keep me fit over winter, havent used it.
Riding at 20-40mph in mid january is freezing, stick you head out of your car window at 30mph and keep it there for a couple of hours....not fun.

I've been using a nice warm gym and the rowing machines this winter.

Riding at 20-40mph in mid january is freezing

Never really found that a problem. If anything I'm usually too warm. Decent super roubaix bibs help along with good jacket/ base layers and a buff. Nice and toasty. 🙂

Pros: It's cycling
Cons: You're kidding, right? I've been cycling various bikes for nearly 40 years and haven't found any cycling cons yet.

By the way, what exactly is the definition of "roadie"? I'm never quite sure what it means on STW. Is it guys like this?

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I've just taken out a trial subscription to a new roadie mag called Cyclist, it's like an uber-cool road version of STW with not much advertising and some superb photos. It sort of encompasses why I road ride.

Here: http://cyclistmag.co.uk/view-an-issue/

Riding at 20-40mph in mid january is freezing, stick you head out of your car window at 30mph and keep it there for a couple of hours....not fun

Buy better clothes.

Pros: Everything
Cons: Nothing

Pros - Fast, low/no maintenance

Cons - Just incredibly dull

+1

Pros - Good exercise

Cons - Top to toe lycra and shaving your legs.

Pros - you may get fitter and it adds variety. Good when the clag gets too much, a feeling of speed is great in the winter.

Cons - As much as I like road riding and love a good downhill on road, it can be boring compared to MTB. Enough hours on road outside of the Alps, Wales or somewhere equally stunning can become a chore, but I can happily spend much longer on a mountain bike even on simple trails.
I also don't like group rides on road unless roads are very quiet, too much car-related stress, off-road is much more fun and sociable.

Cons - Top to toe lycra and shaving your legs.

Lycra is the right tool for the job, and leg shaving is optional.

love a good downhill on road

Call me perverted, but I'm actualy dissapointed when I get to the top of a hill on a road bike.

Pro's: Loads

Con's: Everyone loses their imagination and do the same rides week in week out. Suggest doing something different and everyone stands around looking at each other blankly.
I end up riding on my own a lot.

Pros for me are much improved fitness, ability to ride straight from the door (I live 35 miles away from the nearest good trails), relatively low maintenance and it feels awesome after any period of time on the mtb. Also useful if my car is unavailable - can still get around quickly.

The main con is that it can be a bit boring, my longest ride on it has been a 50 miler, I was sick of it by the 35-40 mile mark. Thus I've only done a ride that long once, my usuals are quick 10-25 milers depending on weather and how much time I have. Also you will gain a new found hatred for headwinds, especially if you ride on fairly exposed roads like those I use!

Pro: Some people enjoy it
Con: Some people don't

Pro: being a roadie is awesome!
Con: (Well more of a "this really annoys me") Cars that are still on their outward arc of overtaking you when they have already passed you.

There are some real quiet roads out there though.

Dull?

I remember when I road rode I used to fall into a rythm-like trance. Is that the right descriptive?

A sort of day dream.