Mountain Biking - riding MTB's on the road

I was riding my Brodie (Bruzza) around the city yesterday (I bought the bike for both street riding/commuting and for off-road stuff).

This guy at the lights said "you know, people like you shouldn't be riding bikes like that, don't you understand - they are meant for real mountain biking...not for street stuff " He was on a road bike.

I replied "my bike, my business " and kept going.

I see dozens of mountain bikes on the road. The quality of this bike over my old one is incredible. It handles every jolt and bump in the road exceptionally well - I barely feel them. The components are great and it just feels great to ride - so why the hell shouldn't I ride it wherever I want ?

Does anybody else get comments like this? Should I have handled it any differently ?

Justen

That's lame. You can ride whatever you want wherever you want as far as I'm concerned. I've been received kindly on the roads with my mountain bike.. perhaps because I can keep a pretty damn good pace with the roadies when I want to. Nobody has ever said I shouldn't ride my bike on the road.. that's just stupid. I use it for transportation AND trail riding.. I don't really see why anybody would care.

Ride where you want. And when you become really good (aka shore) do a wall ride to manual...:D...

OR

"You must shuttle yourself up Fromme...I am riding there"

Originally posted by Jim311
That's lame. You can ride whatever you want wherever you want as far as I'm concerned. I've been received kindly on the roads with my mountain bike.. perhaps because I can keep a pretty damn good pace with the roadies when I want to. Nobody has ever said I shouldn't ride my bike on the road.. that's just stupid. I use it for transportation AND trail riding.. I don't really see why anybody would care.

Hi Jim,

I don't know know why they would care either, although this guys' bike was not exactly top of the line.

I must admit that the comments towards this bike have generally been more on the positive side than the negative.

Just a few days ago, two bike cops came up beside me and one of them looked at my bike and said "hey, no fair - how come you have a way better bike than ours...(he checks it out and then wanted to try it out !) then says, have you tried the shore yet ?" I was beginning to think they might seize it for their own use :-)

That was pretty cool though...so are the comments from people who just come up and say "hey, great bike !"

So, I guess the good comments outweigh the bad afterall !

Justen

Yeah, ignore stuff like that. There are plenty of jackasses in the world, and you just happened to run into one.

Some roadies are pretty stuck up for some reason. I said SOME so please don't everyone get offended. :p Just ignore those bums.

Anyway, those cops ride pretty nice bikes ... the local ones around here ride some Treks or Specialized bikes that look hella nice. I should stop by the station and take some pics. :D What were the cops there riding?

Ride what works for you in your environment. I have a steel Trek mountain bike that I snapped a pair of fat, slick tires on for my communting. I really don't care what others think - it works for me!!!! :)

A Bike Zen Koan*

A Zen Teacher saw five of his students return from the market, riding their bicycles. When they had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, "Why are you riding your bicycles?"

The first student replied, "The bicycle is carrying this sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!" The teacher praised the student, saying, "You are a smart boy. When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over, as I do."

The second student replied, "I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path." The teacher commended the student, "Your eyes are open and you see the world."

The third student replied, "When I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant, nam myoho renge kyo." The teacher gave praise to the third student, "Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel."

The fourth student answered, "Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with all beings." The teacher was pleased and said, "You are riding on the golden path of non-harming."

The fifth student replied, "I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle." The teacher went and sat at the feet of the fifth student, and said, "I am your disciple."

*Piaw Na had posted this to the BOB list many years ago but I am not sure as to the origin.

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The moral of this Koan, just ride your bike and enjoy it and don't concern yourself with what others might think, say or expect. I ride what I like and I like what I ride; what else is there to know?

Anecdotal info:

While out for our early evening ride last night someone in a small pick-up truck going the other way on a quiet rural road apparently yelled something out as he passed. Debbie asked me what he said and I replied honestly, "I don't have a clue because I wasn't listening." She wanted to know how that was possible and I said. "While I hear most everything I only listen for things that are important and filter out those that aren't." Later in our ride we encountered a cyclist who we always seem to pass going the opposite way and as usual I waved. Despite all of our passings the other cyclist has never once acknowledged our friendly greeting. Debbie and I joked that perhaps the next time we pass him we should both show him a "we're #1 sign" to see if we could elicit a reaction: we laughed about it and continued on our way. This evening we will wave again because we always wave to other cyclists.

Originally posted by livngood
A Bike Zen Koan

A Zen Teacher saw five of his students return from the market, riding their bicycles. When they had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, "Why are you riding your bicycles?"

The first student replied, "The bicycle is carrying this sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!" The teacher praised the student, saying, "You are a smart boy. When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over, as I do."

The second student replied, "I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path." The teacher commended the student, "Your eyes are open and you see the world."

The third student replied, "When I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant, nam myoho renge kyo." The teacher gave praise to the third student, "Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel."

The fourth student answered, "Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with all beings." The teacher was pleased and said, "You are riding on the golden path of non-harming."

The fifth student replied, "I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle." The teacher went and sat at the feet of the fifth student, and said, "I am your disciple."

------------------------------------------

The moral of this Koan, just ride your bike and enjoy it and don't concern yourself with what others might think, say or expect. I ride what I like and I like what I ride; what else is there to know?

Anecdotal info:

While out for our early evening ride last night someone in a small pick-up truck going the other way on a quiet rural road apparently yelled something out as he passed. Debbie asked me what he said and I replied honestly, "I don't have a clue because I wasn't listening." She wanted to know how that was possible and I said while I hear most everything I only listen for things that are important and filter out those that aren't. Later in our ride we encountered a cyclist who we always seem to pass going the opposite way and as usual I waved. Despite all of our passings the other cyclist has never once acknowledged our friendly greeting. Debbie and I joked that perhaps the next time we pass him we should both show him a "we're #1 sign" to see if we could elicit a reaction: we laughed about it and continued on our way. This evening we will wave again because we always wave to other cyclists.

Post of the month nomination!!! :D

Got my vote!

Originally posted by Chi
Some roadies are pretty stuck up for some reason. I said SOME so please don't everyone get offended. :p Just ignore those bums.

Anyway, those cops ride pretty nice bikes ... the local ones around here ride some Treks or Specialized bikes that look hella nice. I should stop by the station and take some pics. :D What were the cops there riding?

Hehe...yeah. I was actually surprised by his comment because I had always thought they rode high end bikes bought for them by the city. They were riding Rocky Mountain bikes but I could make out the model as the word Police was emblazoned across the top bar :-)

He seemed especially interested in the disk brakes as they did not have those either.

Anyway, it was a nice compliment from them.

Justen

Originally posted by bac
Ride what works for you in your environment. I have a steel Trek mountain bike that I snapped a pair of fat, slick tires on for my communting. I really don't care what others think - it works for me!!!! :)

Yep..works for me so I will keep on riding it. I did not change my tires to semi-slicks for this bike. It just feels more rugged with the thicker MTB tires and I can go over pretty much any road debris without getting flats.

I gotta say though - I do look for the roughest patches on the road to cycle over. I look at big hills thinking, god that would be fun to go down. I can't stop thinking that now !!! Being on this bike gives me tons more confidence than I have ever had before when cycling :-)

Justen

Post a pic of your bike! :D

1996 I did BRAG on my tandem with my daughter. After four days I dropped her off at home and continued on the only bike I had that was functional, my custom made Fat Chance mtb. My road bike was trashed, it needed new wheels. I didn't think twice about riding my Fat. I put on 1.25 slicks, raised the seat a little and rode the last three days from Waleska to Covington.

Those three days I heard hundreds of comments from folks on road bikes. Mostly positive, comments about keeping up with the road bikes or "your doing good for someone on a mtb"

I was just amazed that so many cyclist were surprised to see someone riding in the pack on a mtb.

I'll just kinda wander here in my responses...
All of the cops I've ever seen on bikes are on mid-level Klein HT's
Maybe the guy who prompted the start of the thread was just making sure Justen didn't buy a really nice mtb exclusively for leisure riding?
I do the same with my bike: go out and hit the trails, but use it on the roads for any necessary moderate distance travel (or to get to some trails).
Finally, I'll add my vote to the nomination for post of the month :D

Originally posted by iamlucky13
I'll just kinda wander here in my responses...
All of the cops I've ever seen on bikes are on mid-level Klein HT's
Maybe the guy who prompted the start of the thread was just making sure Justen didn't buy a really nice mtb exclusively for leisure riding?
I do the same with my bike: go out and hit the trails, but use it on the roads for any necessary moderate distance travel (or to get to some trails).
Finally, I'll add my vote to the nomination for post of the month :D

I guess I just wonder why it matters. What's wrong with having a really nice mountain bike for leisure riding ? What's the point of buying a cheap one when you cycle 30-50 km/day. I find that my distances are increasing by the day just because I LOVE the way this bike feels to ride. The components are great, it is comfortable, it feels rugged, it is versatile, and it looks so cool that I am getting many positive comments about it on pretty well every ride. Okay, the latter is not the main reason I bought the bike but it is certainly a nice side benefit !

Anyway, I don't think there is anything wrong about people spending alot of money on a bike that even though it might be designed for mountain biking, never sees a trail. It would be a waste in some people's eye I guess.

I fully intend on riding some trails and downhill on the shore but will be spending 80 % of my time riding this bike locally, on the roads. I still don't regret spending the money I did on it. It's been worth every penny so far.

Justen

I gotta say who cares what you ride as long as you ride...not as eloquent as the Post of the Month above, but same message.

We should all be happy and polite to other riders, regardless of bike type. Heaven knows those other vehicles on the road would just as soon mow us down as look at us...so wave, nod and be nice. We have a great community of folks, too bad some jerks still get in...

...and I will add my vote to the post of the month committee, too!

Mountain bike=Also known as All Terrain bike

This is one of quotes on the web site that I found "Mountain bikes are more than just a great way to get to work, across town or to enjoy a trail. They can be for the enthusiast who wants an accelerating ride down the mountain side or for the casual recreational rider who might enjoy a ride in the park".

If you can only can get one bike like in my case, All Terrain Bike (MTB) is the most beneficial bike to get. You can ride anywhere you want with no limitation. Unlike road bikes which are limited to roads. He was just jelous that he is limited only to the roads. Take it as a compliment :)

I use my bike mostly on regular bike trails and some light single track for now. I am a bit scared to go out alone on technical dirt trails.

Hi Inf,

Yeah...perhaps he was a bit jealous :-)
As I said, I LOVE this bike. I have never enjoyed cycling as much as I have since I bought my Brodie. I like the versatility and knowing that the limitations are only with my skill level and not with the bike.

I won't be going out on technical trails for some time yet though. Just going to learn all the tricks bit by bit and start from the beginning. I'm in no hurry - although I would love to see what this bike can really handle.

Justen

he was on a road bike? just push him over.:D

Originally posted by mountaindew
he was on a road bike? just push him over.:D

Hehe..not that this didn't cross my mind but I thought - why waste my time and energy. He can ride his bike, I'll ride mine.

Justen

I won't be going out on technical trails for some time yet though. Just going to learn all the tricks bit by bit and start from the beginning. I'm in no hurry - although I would love to see what this bike can really handle.

I wouldn't be too concerned about you ability (or lack thereof) keeping you off the trails. Just go out there and ride. Doesn't matter if you have to walk alot. Getting out there is the best way to learn.

I liked the comment about 'all terrain bike' :D

I feel as if road bikers have a mentality similar to motorcyclist. Even though I have never owned either, I can just sense it. They're not exactly at the top of the food chain on the roads (if that makes sense) .... cars are and they feel as if they have to be treated with a certain cautious respect because they're vulnerable on the road. When they don't get that respect, they go ape **** and proceed to give you the bird.

Ok, I'm totally bull****ting.

You should see the looks I get when I take my road bike on technical trails. I can go down slopes that cause many riders to bottle out. Of course when Im picking my way down a trail, carefully chosing my line, a couple of kids on full sus rigs will blast past me.
Ride your bike wherever you like.

Originally posted by MichaelW
You should see the looks I get when I take my road bike on technical trails. I can go down slopes that cause many riders to bottle out. Of course when Im picking my way down a trail, carefully chosing my line, a couple of kids on full sus rigs will blast past me.
Ride your bike wherever you like.

I intend to !! :-)
BTW..I am assuming you change your tires for trails ?

Justen