Hermes

On second thought...HTFU and ride your road bike. I would put the wider tires on my Cervelo R3 and be done with it.

WeeHooker

Geez, now I feel extra special

Campag4life

John that is a cool bike...gotta love English Racer style bikes...fun to ride.
Decisions...decisions. 11cm drop is pretty substantial for a half centurian. I run about half that on my Look 555. By the look of your neighborhood, you can do just fine with a narrow tire bike. That used to be the case with me as well but I guess now I need a dirt bike for those times when I don't feel like putting my bike in my car.

FloridaBoy

I had a Rossin Record for 20 years that I loved...but now have a Rivendell Bleriot w/650B wheels. It is a nice all rounder but not a racer. At 57 it suits me just fine. I picked up a 1988 Panasonic MC7500 from Craigs list. It's a hard tail city/mtb that I use on trials etc. I am going to put dropped bars on it for comfort. If I lived where there were lots of hills and few cars I would still have the Rossin....which was a nice comfortable stage racer. In the end it is personal preference.

Shifty

I have a nice road bike AND a 29er mountain bike, both are seeing lots of use these days.

On the road my road bike is very comfortable for the riding I do (40 to 100 miles rides), very efficient and I am able to maintain speeds that are fun. I can't see any advantage to riding my mountain bike for a use that it was not designed for, riding long distances on the road.

On mountain trails and dirt roads the 29er mountain bike is fast, fun and handles rough surfaces and hills with ease. The 29 inch wheels do seem to ride over rocky trails a bit easier, and I'm getting use to the slightly higher position. It's a mountain bike, this is where it belongs, and what it was designed for.

MSchott

I have no desire to replace my road racing tired road bike but I would get a nice commuter bike to ride to work, restaurants, etc.

Thanks, Mike.

Condorita

Beanz and Gina gave me a road bike and I promptly hybridized it.

BCAC

I ride a 29er and I'm getting a road bike (Madone).

Still, if I had to have just one bike, it would be the 29er. Great for single track, root strewn trails, grevel roads and off road. It's nice for riding leisurely with the family.

I've also been riding the 29er on the road at least 125 miles a week. Lock out the rear suspension, it still very comfy and goes pretty good too. An excellent work-out.

Why am I adding a road bike? I want to go faster. I'd like to try group rides.

CCrew

Why trade? I own both and ride what I want when I feel like it. That said, the 29'er has a great ride, but it's a slug from the speed standpoint.

martianone

In the 60s I had a single speed, then 3 spd bike.
In 70s, a five speed Schwinn,
in 80s, a mountain bike,
in 90s, a mountain bike and a recumbent,
2000s roll along, a recumbent, touring bike, road bike, cyclocross bike, and most recently a custom commuter that is sort of a cross between road and cyclocross bike. Selecting a tool appropriate for each task is important; however if I had only one- it would be a steel framed cyclocross bike.

billydonn

Similar here. I am currently finishing a cyclocross bike for urban and rail-trail situations but they will have to pry my beloved road bikes from my cold, dead hands.

EDIT: Sorry Hermes... I actually hadn't read your post when I said this. Great minds...

alicestrong

What is that?

Lightingguy

OOoooooo....... That's something. This bike is a Grant Peterson wet dream !.

That's about as well equipped for it's purpose as anything I've seen, or could do myself. About $1800 and worth every penny

SB

doctordan

I suppose if I could only keep one bike it would be my Karate Monkey. I've tried 4 handlebars, 3 forks, 6 pr tires, 2 cranksets, singlespeed and multispeed. It's always a fun dependable ride. But as a jack of all trades it's a master of none, which is why I have road bikes and FS 29ers (Lenz Leviathan and Behemoth).

oldpedalpusher

Hi Alice,

It's just the cheapest Taiwan built frame model of 1988 Fisher MTB with road tires... a simple rugged reliable transportation bike that's a pure joy to ride. I make up errands to run just for an excuse to ride it. Since the first pic, I've installed some old fashioned 1970's Shimano friction downtube shifters...



...and updated the bars and brake levers...



...and ultra close gear ratios.




Greg

ModeratedUser150120149

Ain't it great we aren't all alike?

Other than a Schwinn when I was a kid and a rock around the neighborhood Huffy I didn't own a bike until a couple years ago. Oh, I almost forgot I had a cheapie I only rode a couple times before my offspring appropriated it.

My first bike, at the bike shop's recommendation, was a hybrid. Still have it but seldom ride it.

The second season I decided I wanted something more comfortable (most important), faster (more miles with less effort)and better climbing (more miles, less stress) since there are lots of hills in the area. Tried several bikes and ended up with a full carbon road bike. Liked it so much I now have two. Can't imagine giving up the road bikes.

stapfam

If on the road- I use a road bike- one of several I know but even these have different uses. OCR for if I may have to leave it somewhere- like shopping or doctors. Always will be locked and only for short distances. Then the TCR-C if steep hills involved- or lots of slopes over long miles- then this is the bike for me. Then Boreas- only a couple of steep slopes or a flattish ride and this is the one.

Same on mountain bikes. The Bianchi Hardtail for general going out and playing- especially in the mud as it does not block up. Then the Kona- Flat ride with hardpack as the front suspension is very short and very stiff. Find an idiot that would like to see what offroad is like- then the Tandem gets out. That bike gets me fit as people do find out how hard offroad is and wear out very quickly. Or jump off it at the bottom of the first downhill and phone their wife to come and get them as they ain't going on that thing again. It's a long ride back riding it solo.

I believe in the right bike for the job. From what I have seen of the 29er's- they won't do the offroad aswell as a mountain bike- and I know the existing road bikes work well on the road- in fact superbly well. If I were to do mainly rough trails- that the 29ers seem to be built for- then I would get the bike that is ideal for them- a Cyclocross. Not a hybrid with treaded tyres.

ukmtk

I actually own an old MTB + a newish road bike. I generally ride the MTB everywhere. The road bike sees very little action. I normally cycle on quiet roads with not much off road action. I do this because the surface is good and less mentally demanding to ride. I have a 48T front cassette but always feel that I would prefer a 50-53T one.

irwin7638

I bought a Jamis Commuter 3 for day to day utility riding and kept my old TREK which I ride once or twice a week and overnight tours. I never have worried about speed, but the quicker more nimble handling is more fun.

BluesDawg

I suspect your opinion of 29ers would change if based on more exposure to them.

I'll bet that one that BCAC posted above would be fantastic on a gnarly rock and root strewn MTB trail, especially one with good flowing lines. You'd be carrying a cyclocross bike over some of the stuff that bike would glide through. About the only negative thing I have heard from people who ride them is they don't accelerate as quickly as 26" wheeled bikes but once rolling they tend to keep going better.

John E

I have a great-looking old school mountain bike (see signature), which I have enjoyed riding extensively both on the road and off, but my first love is still a road bike with a somewhat relaxed old school or touring geometry and with 28mm or perhaps even 1-1/4" (32mm) tires. With wind and a 30% chance of rain, I did today's 30-mile/50km group ride on my lowly old Peugeot UO-8 and had a great time. (The Bianchi is quicker and nimbler, but also somewhat twitchier in a crosswind.)

I really like the variety of hand positions a good set of drop bars affords the rider. Putting extensions on the ends of my mountain bike's bars helped immensely, but it's still not the same. I typically set my bars about 5cm below the top of my saddle, as I have for many years.

semsd

NUTS!

stapfam

But this is the point- Gnarly Rocks and roots and I have a bike that does it superbly- It is the mountain bike. I know it will do the most difficult of ascents or descents- the rider may not but the bike will. If the trails got tamer and were just rough trails or really bad surface- Then the MTB will still do it But if it was going to be my main trail riding then I "Might" be intersted in getting a cyclocross bike to do it on. What it would not be is a 29er that I still regard as not the best bike for the road and neither would it be the best bike for my offroad.

BluesDawg

No MTB will be "the best bike" for the road. I'd like to try a 29er on the big open hills you have shown us in your photos. I think it would be right in its element. But it would probably work better for a big guy. They have to make compromises to make them fit shorter riders.

FloridaBoy

These look pretty cool.

https://www.kogswell.com/