Road Cycling - Road bikes on bad roads... help convert a MTBer!

Hi everyone,

I've been riding MTBs my whole life, and throwing on slicks for commuting. I recently won a $750 (CDN) gift cert at a LBS and am really thinking about transitioning to a road bike (which I've never ridden in my life). Had a few questions/concerns:

1. I live in Winnipeg, Canada where the harsh winters and underfunded infrastructure has left the roads in pretty bad shape. Potholes are dodgable, but there are fairly lengthy patches of incredibly bumpy road, some patches where you take some 1-2" drops, etc. Even in my hardtail it is quite a bumpy ride where I have to get up out of my saddle. Perhaps would you recommend against getting a road bike?

2. Are road bike rims generally weaker than MTB ones? (assume entry level MTB versus entry level road bike). Wondering if taking quite a bit of bumps twice everyday (to and from work) will really damage a road bike.

3. I don't want to spend much more than my gift cert's amount. Right now I'm considering Giant OCR 2 or 3, Trek 1000, hmm any recommendations for a road bike around 700-900 CDN? ($1USD = 1.33CDN approx)

Appreciate any info or feedback!
-xan-

I went throught this last summer. I wanted a road bike to supplement my mtb but I live on dirt roads and it is a ways to get to paved trails. The lbs suggested a cyclocross bike, their built stronger than regular road bikes. I had them switch out the knobby tires for regular 30mm road tires with some tread - don't go too narrow or you'll lose the absorbion properties of the wider tire. And you don't lose much speed.

Check some out, and I'd go with a steel / cromolly frame over the alum to sooth out the bumps as well.

Mark

I live in Winnipeg, Canada where the harsh winters and underfunded infrastructure has left the roads in pretty bad shape. Potholes are dodgable, but there are fairly lengthy patches of incredibly bumpy road, some patches where you take some 1-2" drops, etc. Even in my hardtail it is quite a bumpy ride where I have to get up out of my saddle. Perhaps would you recommend against getting a road bike?
Are the roads worse than these?

http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39091000/jpg/_39091759_cobblesap.jpg


Get a road bike.
Both my commuter and my "good" bike are road bikes. Potholes, road debris, etc. don't bother me. :)

It depends on what you want to use the bike for.

I'd suggest you get a touring bike. The Trek 520 or Cannondale T series cost $1000-1500 CDN (although there sometimes are sales at the end of the season), but other bikes such as the Fuji, some Marinonis (Super Tourist, I think), Bianchi, Jamis Aurora, de Vinci and Mikado are available for about half that amount. Many of these are callled "Light Touring", which means they would be at their best for anything from fast rides to commuting to weekend tours... anything but the self-contained tour around the world.

Basically, with a touring you will get something is the line of a road bike, with the following differences (which I see mostly as advantages):

- a few extra kilos, but not that many;
- a slightly longer, less twitchy frame, with seatstays long enough to use panniers.
- more relaxed position.
- eyelets front and rear for racks and fenders (a great thing to have in rain or snow)
- sturdier wheels (usually);
- cantilever brakes or v-brakes, as opposed to caliper brakes, so space for wider tires;
- a frame and brakes that allow wider tires. The typical road bike comes with 700x23 to 25 tires, whereas the typical touring bike comes with 700x32 to 700x37 tires. If you want to do some riding off road or in the snow, make sure you can use 700x37 tires. Knobbies are hard to find in smaller sizes, and the Nokian Hakkapellita only comes in 700x37.


The last point is the important one. We have nasty streets in Montréal and Québec roads are not exactly great (though highway 44 in Eastern Manitoba is hard to beat -- or it was in 1999). I wouldn't ride on 700x23 or 25 tires, but I ride on 700x32 tires and have used a 700x37 rear tire while touring (loaded touring) with my daughter on a trailercycle.