[Closed] Road question

I like riding bikes. Mtb, road, cx, tandem, brompton...
It's all good. No?

Always happens at this time of the year, it's probably due to tour fever, nothing to worry about.

FYI, racing on road is way more fun then racing off road.

Getting out of my box for a moment 😉 and having just woken up, working nights in hot weather, grrrr.

I started out as a mountain biker, then did some fell running, then got into road riding, then mountain biked, then road. I'm not sure if I'm a bit different to other folk, but I always saw each thing I did as a sport rather than as an activity. I tried to do each thing in a competitive way, racing as many mountain bike races as I could, then fell races, then road racing.

I was in at the start of the MTB boom, and loved the idea of the races and national series events, I stopped when we had children which coincided with what I thought was a change in the MTB scene; it started to become a bit more like surfing, a bit more about the scene rather than the racing. After fell running for a bit and as the kids got older, I started road riding with a view to racing. I still rode my MTB, but again felt that it was moving away from the competitive and towards the ...activity.. side of things.

I've always viewed road riding/racing as an older, more established thing to do, with much more in the way of structure should you choose to see how far you could go with it, and really just preferred to ride road for a long time.

I've always thought of myself as a cyclist though, and still ride a mountain bike when I want to, but my heart lies in road riding.

I love riding all types of bikes but road is now my main tipple. Cannock chase is the best part of a hour drive and once the bikes have been loaded into and out of the car you are looking at a hour and a half and a tenner in diesel before a pedal has been turned. That's three hours of driving and faffing or to put it another way 60 miles on a road bike. The local trails are crap and not worth the effort if I am being honest, if I had the peaks as a back garden then things would be a lot different. For me a big part of road is fitness and getting faster. I joined the local club two years ago, the lads are great and now I can't imagine going up the chase on a Saturday morning on my own instead of riding with them on the road.

I think for me MTB is more of a social thing in as much as when your out with your mates there's plenty of stopping , chatting, trying a certain line again,or just laughing at each other's off's, where as when I'm on the road bike there's not as much talking, and its about getting the miles in.

If feel like I've worked harder when back from a road bike, mainly due the the average speed and distance covered.

Summing it up, I love getting out on both bikes, depending on mood, weather and time of day.

Happy riding.

Firstly I've never raced, not really interested in it. Enduro maybe.

I do them for different things, started on MTB and for years brought into the stupid 'stiff back' MBUK tribalism. Mentioned before that this place piqued my interest in road, and after really not enjoying the commute on mountain bike I gave road riding a go. Definitely ridden more on road over the last couple of years.

Sunny weather has got me back on the mountain bike and increased fitness from the road makes such a difference.

Can't say I prefer either though.

Maybe that's it with me - I have great riding on my doorstep??? Derbyshire Dales, White/Dark Peak, it's always fun and interesting.

If I had to drive to the trails, I'm sure it may be a different story.

MTB'ing is such a sociable event for me too - we have a chat, have a laugh, try and out-Strava each other - and always end up at the pub. It's just a boys adventure every time.

Ride both and depends on how the mood takes me, and what the next event is I'm booked in for. This year has been heavy road bias but virtually all racing has been cross, both summer and winter, with a few crits chucked in and one singlespeed mountain bike race just for fun. So training has tended to be on the road.

Chatting with my lbs indicates that road bike sales are better than mtb, and have been for a while, a lot of this being mtbers, like me, adding a road bike to the fleet of mtbs. For me, I had a go on one and liked it. The speed, the ease of just riding out from home or work without all the faff of mtb were the reasons I got one last year, tour fever may have played a part, as a trip to alpe d'huez may also!

I have no real interest in me doing any races on either type of bike, cept maybe an enduro. Done one of them last year.

For me the attractions are:
1: On the doorstep, even though I have got good riding not that far away on the MTB it isn't jsut a case of out the door:there it is.
2: Better for fitness, you can plan & program easier on the road & the effort is more continuous.
3: MTB is more sociable. I work shifts and a lot of my riding is therefore solitary, I prefer to do that on the road.

I'm still riding off road, but I have done a lot more road riding over the past couple of years.

a lot of road bikes are cheaper than MTB,S also there is the marketing and all the stage races on tv won by road racers then there is the fattist isue, if youre a bit overweight youre not going to wear lycra, so baggy shorts and a mtb.

Mtb for fun but local rides can be a little tame
Road for fun and can get to some nice places from my door

Also touring bike just to get about on in winter
Summer retro road bike for getting about

Cx bike rather new to me but livened up some dull local trails

Got a CX bike about 7 or 8 years ago thinking it would be a one bike solution. Immediately hated it and all things drop bar, plus tarmac was dull as ditch. 5 years on got the urge to try road riding again, find I now prefer it.

Reckon it's an age thing, lower testosterone. Went for a 'proper' mtb ride the other day and found myself worrying about how dangerous it was. Am just too soft now? Shorter and intense is preferable for the young, endurance for the older.

Depends where u live though, am lucky enough to have plenty of c roads and moorland nearby.

Started commuting, then realized there was a different kind of 'fun' to be had, you can pedal much harder for much longer on a road bike and really tire yourself out, MTB limits you to only riding until you're tired enough that you start making silly mistakes.

For me it's been having young kids and therefore limited free time. I love riding my mtb, live in a cracking spot to do so, and feel it's a giggle, like being a kid again. A day spent in the fells with a couple of mates, whatever the weather, is always a great crack.

However, if I've got a spare couple of hours between kid drop off/pick up I know I can get a really good, and really enjoyable, workout on the road bike where every minute is spent riding hard, getting stronger or exploring new places. I seem to appreciate the fitness/training aspect far more than I used to, and am probably the fittest I've been as an adult now (at 39) as a result of this new found enjoyment of suffering!

Age? I'm 41 and throw myself at everything. My mates dad is out with us every week and at 57 tackles everything with just as much vigour.

Before you know it you'll be dead - enjoy the buzz!

For me :

MTB : Having a laugh, Getting Muddy, Socialising, Having a Laugh, Bit f Fitness, Having a Laugh, Learning how to "ride a bike", scaring myself a bit.. beer. meh.

Road : All out fitness, Going as fast and as hard as I can, heart rate monitoring, cadence monitoring, V02 Max, nutrition.. tea. meh.

Different things, Chalk & Cheese in my opinion. In car speak, you wouldn't compare WRC with F1.

For me it was the realisation that even if I ride my MTB loads, I might get a few seconds quicker here and there, but I would never be challenging the fittest people in terms of aerobic ability. Initially I just wanted a road bike for fitness - to improve my performance on the mountain bike. I can ride my road bike for 3-4 hours without stopping, and I can see performance gains with obvious crossover to MTB. Now I see road rides as something to look forward to in themselves. The means has become the ends. Go figure.

Never ever seen myself becoming a roadie. It just...happened. Over time my MTB rides covered more roads. Nobblies were replaced with almost slick tyres. The journeys got longer. The adventures greater. And I realised I was having more fun.

So I bought a road bike.

I do have access to a lot of great roads mind. Otherwise I wouldn't bother.

Offroad was always my first love. Then road, then something called mountain biking which was remarkably like something everyone had been doing before it was invented), then road, then some MTBing again and finally a bit more road. I ride mostly CX now. That's like road and offroad at the same time.

I like bikes me. I don't care whether other people like one kind of bike more than another. It's all good. The more people ride bikes the better as far as I'm concerned. Right now, TV shows a lot of road biking, that's great and probably why you see more increases in that area. Some road riders will also try mountain biking and stuff.

OK, why do I ride more road now? Time. I can get in 50 miles in two hours and not have to do maintenance at the end of it. MTBing would be 20 miles in that time and a load of cleaning at the end of it.

What about those that have drifted away from MTB'ing and are now into road riding? What has drawn you to it? And what is more appealing than MTB'ing? Was your MTB'ing boring?

the endless mud and cleaning and maintenance.

that, and my fiance.

there's loads of good riding around sheffield, but the good stuff is mostly chuffing tricky - especially for a noobie.

there are almost zero fun+easy trails - but there are loads of quiet roads through amazing scenery.

there's loads of good riding around sheffield, but the good stuff is mostly chuffing tricky - especially for a noobie.

there are almost zero fun+easy trails - but there are loads of quiet roads through amazing scenery.

Really?

Never mind the easily accessible Peak, with loads of fun stuff that doesn't have to be too challenging, but get yersen up Wharncliffe - yeah there's tricky stuff, but you could easily spend a day up there pootling about on stuff that isn't challenging, with the option to push your boundaries a little if you feel like it.

Ride out from Fox House on an Autumn evening and stand astride Houndkirk overlooking the city lit up - it's quite breathtaking at times!

I ride to enjoy myself not to be fit or healthy. I enjoy being silly and trying daft lines. When I have tried road riding I get none of that. Road is OK if your with a mate and it is much better for fitness than my style of MTB. However being fitter means you can pedal harder and hit things faster and for that reason alone I do a bit of road riding.

Have been riding mostly road for the last few months in training for the London 100 this coming weekend. I have to say that the bits I enjoy are the visible increase in fitness, the speed you can travel at always makes me smile, and the feeling when you get one of those inclines that isn't too steep and you can power up it, feels great.

Saying all that. Am selling the damn bike the moment I finish the race due to the potholes and cars which will at some point cause me serious injury. I have missed my Rocket and can't wait to get back on it.

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR - Member
Really?

Really. i love the trails in Rivelin, but my fiance is years away from being able to ride the good stuff.

Never mind the easily accessible Peak, with loads of fun stuff that doesn't have to be too challenging,

example?

(and anyway - i find that the good stuff in the Peak needs a lot of road work to link up, riding a road bike just seems logical 🙂 )

but get yersen up Wharncliffe - yeah there's tricky stuff, but you could easily spend a day up there pootling about on stuff that isn't challenging, with the option to push your boundaries a little if you feel like it.

we tried wharncliffe/grenoside - much too hard.

Ride out from Fox House on an Autumn evening and stand astride Houndkirk overlooking the city lit up - it's quite breathtaking at times!

yes it is, but you can do more or less the same thing around the roads at Strines, and cover 3x as much ground, and even go around a few corners.

People have finally realised that mountain biking in the UK is shit

To me there are only 2 good things about road riding- it makes me fitter for mountain biking, and it's better than a turbo or the gym. But other than that it is completely shit. It's just like mountain biking, with all of the good bits removed, and a bunch of extra bad bits.

Sometimes I wish I could get some enjoyment from it, it's a part of the sport I'd like to be into, but I don't see it happening.

Wait until they go road riding on the Continent or the Canaries/Balearics

Road biking covers such a range though - as does mountain biking. Some think the latter is all about uplift and 180mm forks. Others want to run rigid 29ers over long, winding trails. And there's a whole load of stuff in the middle.

The bits of road riding I enjoy are mainly to do with touring around other parts of the country. I do find it hard to get up any motivation to ride the local roads at the moment - but that's mainly because I've done them so many times.

djglover - Member

People have finally realised that mountain biking in the UK is shit

You always seem to come across as quite bitter about something - and this post does nothing to dispel that.

My riding group has done the Alps and Sierra Nevada (I haven't been abroad biking yet), yet they all seem to love riding in the UK still. What's up with you djg?

living in the city is a pain, take wheels off bike, pack it in car, get petrol, drive 45 mins to nearest countryside-like place, re-assemble bike, spend 2 hours cycling 20km, take apart bike, drive home via jetwash to clean bike
or take bike out of front door, get on and ride 20km in 50 mins and be back at my door

What about those that have drifted away from MTB'ing and are now into road riding? What has drawn you to it? And what is more appealing than MTB'ing? Was your MTB'ing boring?

I still mtb but don't live near any good trails so I always have to put my bike in the car and drive at least 35 miles if I want a good ride. The draw of road is that I can go straight from my door and get a load of miles in. Good workout, more fun than running and more fun than riding an mtb on the road or boring bridleways we have round here.

I got turned by doing a tour about 5 years ago. I got hooked on (a) riding from A to B instead of going round in a circle and (b) distance.

Commuted first, with social and sportive riding. Then changed jobs and spent 10 years driving to work (60mi each way), with occasional commute by bus/bike and only rode at weekends. With two small boys, this involved a kiddyback tandem and babyseat! That keeps you fit.

Then moved closer to work, kids joined a club and we started mtb at Swinley, then joined a road club.

Now I commute, club ride twice a week, race (badly) and mtb a few times a month. Even have the broken collarbone badge of honour. It's all bikes and bikes are fun.

I can't think of anywhere I'd want to explore on a bike locally on road - I've driven literally every inch of road within a 50 mile radius

Hmm.. main roads, maybe, and possibly B roads.. but there are a hell of a lot of lanes in this country. I've ridden every lane within maybe a 5 mile radius of my house, if you count the countryside half. On the other side it's city so I have only ridden maybe 30% of the roads, if that.

Why do I like road? Well, I like being able to keep moving at a good pace for hours on end, and being able to cover lots of ground. You can see a lot of road and a lot of different places as you zip through on your road bike. A lot of MTBing is going around and around in a bit of forest, or based around a particular mountain, valley or some other feature.

I'd still choose MTB though if I had to, but I'd be sad about it. Fortunately I don't have to.

I got a road bike to try and commute a bit and do something different. I tend to road ride solo for fitness mainly. The trails round here are not standing up to well to the weather so sometimes the road bike is the best option. If I wasn't in the right place for the bargain I probably wouldn't have got it.

I'd still rather do a proper mountain bike ride but I can use the road bike to improve my mountain biking more and mix things up a bit more. Normally it involves a cup of tea and some food in cafe somewhere.

Roads start right by my house. So if I'm pushed for time I go on the road bike. Low maintenance, nice countryside around here, it's all good.

Nearest trails are a drive from here. Plus most every ride needs a clean up afterwards. That needs a bit more time to fit in. if there were decent trails in the doorstep I'd be out on the mtb more.

Anyway I like both kind of riding.

For the first 20 years after I moved to the North West I was the world's most fanatical mountain biker. I did the lot, even tried rail centres but found them boring and repetitive and was horrified at the litter. Slowly mountain biking lost its appeal, especially the winter night rides, coming home filthy and freezing and having to clean everything then do it all again a few days later. Then one day four years ago I FOUND a carbon road bike dumped in the river near my house, took it to the Polce who gave it back a month later... it happened to be my size so I fitted some good wheels to replace the wrecked rear and that's whan it all started. In a year I haven't ridden the hardtail and I'm even thinking of sellling it.

My first love is riding off road but I bought a road bike earlier this year to start using to part ride to work and have fallen in love with it somewhat which had surprised me. For a long time I had no interest in road riding and had a pretty immature attitude towards it - I just dismissed it as ghey. I really just couldn't see the point which I think partly was because I was living in Sheffield with some amazing riding on my doorstep.

Having since moved to the midlands, decent MTBing involves a drive which can be a pain when time is limited or the weather is nasty. However, I have access to some nice quiet roads from my doorstep so when I have limited time or the trails are in a bad way I can still get a good ride in. I tend to ride solo on my road bike and enjoy the peace and quiet! It's made be fitter on the MTB and means I'm usually out in a bike a lot more...what's not to like? Only downside is the rubbish tan lines!

Ive been dabbling with Road for several years now. Interest has gone for me and has been for some time. Reasons? Young Kids, family commitments, my age (41) and the ridiculous expense. Like others have said, straight out the door and on the bike. Road bike for me is way way better fitness with a different buzz. Winter riding is always Road so no real cleaning. Its just faffing and cleaning afterwards on the trail bike and I just cant be arsed anymore.

Whatever floats your boat. Its all 2 wheels.

I bought my first road bike a few weeks ago. I'd been wanting to try one for a couple of years but just didn't really have the need or time to, but now I do. It's mostly used for a 30 mile round trip commute but I've done a few longer rides too

Now, I like it, sure. It's riding a bike and riding bikes is always good, but it's not MTBing. There's no technical challenge in riding fast in a straight line when you've been riding motorbikes for many years, and there's no corners or bumps like on some twisty singletrack.
And the bike doesn't feel like my MTBs. It's a nice bike, and it rides very well, but it hasn't got the 'alive' feeling of an 853 steel hardtail.
So I enjoy being out on the road bike, and I enjoy getting fitter, but I'll never be a roadie.

Mindmap which bit of the midlands are you in?

All these people with "crap" local trails. Is part of the problem that modern mtb's are too good. If you had a muddy fox courier would your local trails seem better?

No. Slogging through mud was shit in the 90s, it's shit today. Actually it's better today because my bike has more mud clearance and tyres are better.

The wet summers of the last few years won't have helped mountain bike sales.

They're very different activities that reward in different ways, but here are some reasons why recent years have seen me ride road more than MTB

- Time/opportunity. I'm a Dad, so don't have the same opportunities to spend a whole day driving to good trails and having a good length ride. I have great roads on my doorstep

- Location. There are good trails not far from me, but the quality and choice of good road riding from my doorstep is higher than the quality and choice of mountain biking.

- foreign trips. A couple of MTB trips to Spain left me very disappointed with UK MTBing when I returned

- Ability to ride v ability to heal. Unfortunately a couple of A&E worthy crashes have left me feeling more vulnerable than in previous years. I no longer dare ride the speed I'd like to give me the buzz and my bike can go way faster than I can. Rolling out the rigid single speed helps sometimes in this respect.

- Speed/efficiency. MTBing is a much more physical ride all over workout than road, but doesn't have that very appealing level of efficient progress that road riding has.

[EDIT] - This recent good weather has seen me shun the local road club in favour of getting out on my mountain bike 😀

Another way I look at it: Road riding is like MacDonalds. Some people love it, some people hate it, but you always know what you're getting. Mountain biking is like eating out in new restaurants. Sometimes it can be fantastic but other times it doesn't live up to expectations. I do think I have high expectations, so mechanicals, crashes, poor trail conditions etc spoil rides for me to a much greater extent than they used to.

anagallis_arvensis - Member - Quote
All these people with "crap" local trails. Is part of the problem that modern mtb's are too good. If you had a muddy fox courier would your local trails seem better?

If you had a muddy fox courier would your local trails seem better?

No, I'd just be riding a shitter bike on the same boring bridleways! I only really ride dh/jumps etc so flat bridleways don't offer much in the way of fun.

Is part of the problem that modern mtb's are too good?

For me I think this is part of the problem. My full susser allows me to ride myself into situations where a fall is going to bloomin' well hurt. If I ease off, the ride can become a bit dull. My confidence to ride fast often runs out before my fitness does. One of the reasons I loved the snowy winter is that the conditions naturally slowed things down AND provided a bit of padding for crashing 🙂

I think I'm reaching the skills plateau in mountain biking that can only be sorted with a combination of much more riding and skills training. I've seen it happen before with so many other activities I've taken part in

I'm of the Roadie class, 2012. I don't think I do less mtbing, but I definitely do more riding overall. The convenience of an hour or two a few times mid-week definitely pays mtb dividends. Perversely too what I thought I would find most boring about riding on the road I actually quite like - endless tarmac rather than interesting trail. I guess it's a meditative zoning-out thing.

Cyclist here- my favourite is usually whatever I rode last, given just one it would probably be road, bicycles just work better on a smooth surface.

I am very lucky to have mile after mile of deserted b roads on my doorstep though.

edit- just read the points above about technical challenge, there are plenty of tech challenges to mastering a road bike handling.

For me it's not about training or Strava or anything competitive. Just days out on quiet country roads (Angus/Perthshire mostly), nice scenery, bit of exercise, cafe stops 😀

I prefer MTB overall but I can do a quick 30 mile road ride from my doorstep in 1.5 hours (I'm not that fast yet), but a decent MTB ride take a lot longer if you count riding to the woods etc. Plus in the winter I get fed up with washing the MTB so i often choose the road bike

Got a road bike to commute, meh, it's alright I suppose but I'm not a roadie, I am a commuter. I do find myself deliberately taking longer routes home in the sunshine recently so I can see how it could creep up on you.
I went mountain biking yesterday and on the way home (in the car) following the roadies up White Down ( a long steep horrible hill) I can't say what they were doing looked fun, more like torture in fact. I just can't see myself getting on the road bike during MTB time, it seems too, serious.

following the roadies up White Down ( a long steep horrible hill) I can't say what they were doing looked fun, more like torture in fact.

Sometimes these road threads depress me. All this talk of 20/25mph riding from people claiming "I'm not that fast yet". Do you all just live in the flatlands of Norfolk or something? If I polish off 30 Peak District road miles in 2 hours it's a good day.

My regular group mtb ride this week was a road ride, and my regular Sunday solo road ride was on the mtb. I just like riding, the more I ride the fitter I get and the more I enjoy it...

anagallis_arvensis - Member

All these people with "crap" local trails. Is part of the problem that modern mtb's are too good. If you had a muddy fox courier would your local trails seem better?

if your local trails are like this:

[img] [/img]

(and plenty are, even in summer), they'll be crap whatever bike you're riding.

but if your local trails look like this:

[img] [/img]

you'll have a stupid grin all over your face whatever bike you're riding.

I think my road miles to mtb miles ratio is pretty high . On strava I've done 3712 miles and 3000 of these are on the road. This is due to as others have said being able to do great quiet rides from the door instead of fairly crap rides on my mtb.
I can get to Inners/ glentress in under and hour so have lost two hours straight away. Having a family I dont like to bugger off every available moment down the borders on my bike so the chances I do get I usually just head out for 4 hours round the local hills and leave the car at home.
I do still love taking my hardtail out locally with mates and blasting round the local stuff for a couple of hours.
The other plus side is you get fitter on a road bike and your skills in cornering stand you in good stead for when you do get out on the mountain bike.
I love road riding as much as mountain biking and at the end of the doing they both beat sitting in the house watching crap TV.

Sometimes these road threads depress me. All this talk of 20/25mph riding from people claiming "I'm not that fast yet". Do you all just live in the flatlands of Norfolk or something? If I polish off 30 Peak District road miles in 2 hours it's a good day.

Yep, same. But if that 30 miles includes > 1000m of climbing and some twisties (as most of my peaks rides seem to), then 15mph is fairly respectable in my book. I can average 19-20mph on a flat 20-30 mile ride, but add in a few hills and my average slips to 15-16. I'm sure people will be along shortly to deride my fitness, but basically don't read too much into it. Oh, and go on a supremely flat 20 mile ride - you'll be surprised how fast you can average.

TLDR: I agree.

Never thought it would happen to me, but I bought a road bike 2 months ago and haven't done a MTB ride since. It's just so convenient to be able to do a good ride from my door, as opposed to slogging up roads on nobblies or (more usually) driving to get to the start of my route.

I've had a Road bike for about 5 years now, originally I got it to commute on but I've been using it more for "leisure" and exploration as well as a couple of group rides on the weekends. I'm still more of an and MTBer than a Roadie, but I'm not really keen on the Tribalism within cycling so I'd rather say I'm a cyclist than anything else...

Road bikes let you cover more miles faster and more efficiently, and are arguably a bit more convenient, MTBs are more for enjoying the challenges of off-road terrain and trails, both are enjoyable and help with fitness so if you can afford to do both, then go for it...

Im in the same boat young kids job that takes all my time so traveling to ride regularly is a pain. The road bike is much easier and faster to get out on. I do ride my CX bike a lot in winter on some local loops, really enjoy it but its the same level of washing as a MTB ride but with no driving! The trails a fast but not techie so perfect for a CX bike IMHO.

Some people love it, some people hate it, but you always know what you're getting

I see what you mean, but that's not always the case. If you ride in a new area, you can find some real gems of places that you've never seen or heard of before. When I was working down South I found endless miles of quiet B roads in bucolic bliss - thatched cottages, village greens, quaint pubs, shady woodland, the whole works. That was really lovely. Then again up North I found some great valleys up in the hills with solid climbs and fantastic mountain views. Those are the road rides I'll remember. Plus I have some amazing classic local road routes in South Wales that should be in anyone's top 10.

Rocket Dog - I live just the other side of Tamworth so have easy access to North Leicestershire for my road rides. Nothing too steep but the roads are pretty quite once past Market Bosworth.

My usual route tends to involve Pinwall, Sheepy Magna, Wellsborough, Market Bosworth then various villages like Barton in the Beans, Newton Burgoland before cutting back to the likes of Congerston, Clifton Campville, Whittington, Hopwas etc. I can pretty much get up to a loop of 57 miles (my longest road ride to date). Not epic by any means but I quite enjoy it.

I keep meaning to explore more around Warwickshire and at some point want to ride to my Aunt's house in Chipping Norton.

molgrips, the "you know what you're getting" comment I made was more the point that riding a road bike on tarmac is the same whatever. Sure, you can have good weather and bad weather, bad potholes and smooth tarmac, but the variables are much less pronounced that even the exact same MTB route from one day to the next. I always come back from a road ride feeling better than I left, but I've come back from bad MTB rides feeling more grumpy than when I started.

Well that's true about the grumpy MTB rides. I guess the highs and lows are more extreme with MTBing than road! There are some trails that are great in the try and impassable in the wet, as any Mountain Mayhem regular knows 🙂

The benefits of road riding vs. off-road have all been listed above but for me the greatest incentive to ride my road bike is the thrill, the speed and climbing efficency of a modern carbon frame with stiff lightweight wheels (Roubaix SL3 with Ksyrium SLs and Michelin Pro4s) compared with the mountain bike, which although it's a Ti hardtail with rigid carbon forks is still depressingly slow, flexy and inefficient compared with the roadie.

Guess I'm spoiled compared to some then - even in winter, this is almost out of my back door and perfectly rideable
[img] [/img]

And my house is somewhere behind the tree line, albeit a summer pic

[img] [/img]

Don't really have any pics to do the area justice to be fair, but a bit of mud isn't enough to put us off.

equally enjoying road and mountain biking

came from BMX background in early 80's:- racing then freestyle

got seriously into mountain biking in late 80's:- racing XC, racing DH during 90's and FR during 2000's including stint as sponsored rider for 2 Canadian brands and many trips to Canada i.e. Vancouver and Whistler.

never really got much into road during this period?

in past year since working as mechanic at a road orientated bike shop, found myself really getting into road. thoroughly enjoying learning a whole new aspect of riding.

very accessible, great for fitness and power. certain "purity" to a road bike, very simple and stripped down. nowhere to hide when trying to go fast on the flat or up a big hill. much more 'hardcore' than I was led to believe

still enjoying both mountain biking and road. own a high end carbon fibre road bike, and a high end carbon fibre mountain bike. tend to alternate between road and mountain biking every other day.

big bonus of road is my missus can ride with me (she has a nice carbon fibre women's road bike). mountain biking scared the sh*t out of her (she did try many times)

I'm a "born again" roadie: stopped road riding as a student when I got into mtbing, stashed the road bike at parents house, brought it out of hibernation 20 years later last year when they had a clear-out so I now have a retro winter/commuter bike.

A few things brought me back.

1) I can ride nice quiet roads right from my door, worthwhile off-road is a half-hour drive away. I can fit a road ride in around work (24hr shift pattern) more easily than mtbing.
2) 18 months of constant rain/mud got pretty tedious, especially in the chilterns
3) road riding is the only activity I do with the better half which we actually do "together", as in able to have a conversation. Mountain biking, motorcycling, snowboarding, scuba diving, we do them all together but only get to talk when we've stopped (even if its only at the end of a section of trail). In that respect its a more sociable activity than mountain biking.

Guess I'm spoiled compared to some then

glad you can (and do) appreciate that. I spent 2 years living in the US with 20 miles of fabulous steep rocky technical singletrack from my doorstep, a ski resort 45 minutes drive away (with floodlit slopes til 10pm), and excellent rock climbing in stunning surrounds a similar distance away. Oxford isn't quite the same 🙄 😥

We had a bad winter about 5 years ago and I had a mate was into road. I bought a secondhand road bike and that was it. Upgrade after upgrade. And 4 road bikes & a turbo trainer later...

I still ride MTB and have hardtail and full-suspension bikes ~ I was looking to upgrade the frames last week and was surprised to see secondhand prices have gone up a heck of a lot. I suspect the Wiggo effect has hit MTB as well.

I also noted how my accomplished MTB buddy had far superior bike handling skills to me, a super smooooth pedal stroke and rode at an intensity equal to any of my road training sessions.
So - its all down to what you put into it.