Portis

I am someone who rides mountain bikes and keeps getting this urge to try the road bike world. Has anyone here ever made the move to road biking and found they didn't like it? IOW, did you every try Roadbiking, not like it and come back to Mountain Biking?

Maelstrom 

I think about it often.

A few guys over in the roadie forum used to come in here quite a bit. I don't think many have made the full switch and just stopped riding (ro visa versa)

phantomcow2

I doubt i ever will. I tried it sort of, i never invested much into it. BUt i dont know it just seems....boring. GO for hours and hours sitting there on the road going reasonably fast. I dont like road bikes because i dont like they have the versatility of my XC rig. THey can go on tar fast, but thats all. Well with my xc rig I cant go as fast, but at 21 pounds with slicks I can still go pretty fast on the road. And I can go on trails, across grass patches etc. guilt free

Snuffleupagus

Both are fun.

Don't limit yourself

Roadbikes are much more like running than MTB is, more of a zen/groove thing than an adrenal thing. They can give you a rush though, like when you hit a good 50mph in a downhill sprint, and realize you've got a contact total contact patch the size of a small pencil They can also be really relaxing if you find some nice backroads, and just spend all day cruising.

phantomcow2

I like how on my MTB it never seems to be the same. When i go on the road which i have been doing this week and lately, waiting for trails to dry up. Well it just seems like its the same thing, on the trails theres always some new event, keeping you on your toes.

bassplayinbiker

I started raod, but i wanted a chance of pace. Something a little diffrent, and gives me a diffrent kind of rush.

I get more excitement out of moutainbiking.

I ride road durning the day and I ride moutain evenings, or weekends (when im not racing)

gregseto

I went to a private junior high school, where mountain biking was a large part of the curriculum, we would take 3 or 4 week to two-week trips a year. After that, I rode mountain until I got my drivers license...you know how it is when you're 16. Anyway, I built a track bike when I was 18, and built and rode road bikes exclusively until january of this year. At that time, I built a SS mtb, and haven't looked back- until I sold that and built my dream bike. Now I'm doing about 100 dirt miles a week.

Anyway, road biking is nice in that it is fast, and you don't need a trail to use the bike to its full capacity. However, as phantomcow said, it does get boring...if you're not racing. Plus, you cant really have the same kind of man-fun you can on a MTB on a road bike. Man-fun being defined as getting muddy, getting cuts and scrapes, drinking beer, and not wearing spandex.

free_pizza

i would consider road biking if i lived anywhere else but Regina.. Far too windy here, and bloody boring! no way i could ride all day on these highways where the most exciting thing i would see is a tumbleweed (although tumble weeds are pretty cool!) if i was up in northern saskatchewan or BC, i wouldnt mind buying a road bike..

Raiyn

This is as close to a road bike as I'm getting at this point in time.
Clickme
The few instant changes will be: changing the big ring to a 52 the cassette to a 11-23 and the tires to 700 x 28. That's roadie enough for me

alcahueteria

I think about it, but the few times I've ridden a road bike I definitely felt uncomforable on it. I didn't have the control of my mountain bike. That's not really much riding though. I bet a nice bike on a dead country road would be pretty sweet on a nice day. Like from augusta to statesboro, for any of you GA folk. I bet that would be nice.

MadMan2k

I must admit, racing cars going down hills in town is fun. But, I don't think a real road bike would make much sense at this point. I don't worry if my mtb falls over, lands hard from a crash, etc, since it probably won't break the whole thing at least...

A road bike, I'd worry about scratches, worry about it falling over in the wind, worry about setting it down on the ground, etc. They're just so pretty in the first place

Especially if it cost like $700, then I'd be bummed if I broke the handlebars, shifters, brake levers, bent the rims, seat post, scratched/bent the fork, and frame... all from losing traction on a sandy road corner that I leaned into a little too much.

harov3

My first real bike was a fixed wheel single speed road racer. It was slow to get up to speed but once there it felt like I could go forever. I could never go back to road bikes now. Iv'e commuted on them, raced them and used them as courier hacks but their just too damm uncomfortable and uncompromising. Just too single purpose, which I sort of admire but I cant bend myself into that pretzel shape for hours anymore.

edit (How old? well that ss was a 28")

forum*rider

I ride both.

Roadies: Bianchi Piaggio, Specialized S-works E5
Mountain bike: C'dale Super V 500, hopefully will have a DJ/Urban bike built up someday.

Both are fun. Mountain biking is(for me) definately more technical than endurance. The road bike is for days I feel like going out and riding 60+ miles and just seeing how fast and far I can go.

As for babying my road bikes. It doesn't happen My E5 is scratched all to hell from crashes and the bianchi is just plain old, the paint has started to flake off in some areas. I'm trying to save it but I'm losing the battle...

MadMan2k

I guess a good thing for me to have would be a nondescript, black fixie with a nice clearcoat so it wouldn't chip, that'd suck. I bet riding on dirt roads filled with potholes would be quite an experience... heh

forum*rider

I'm going to make a fixie someday.

I have a nice Nishiki International frame that would work great. It's already got the moustache handlebars and aero brake levers.

Just need to get rid of cassette, derailleurs and 2 ring crank and it's good to go.

Someone has a fixie mountainbike, I just don't remember who it was. Maybe it was a2?

MadMan2k

I'd rather flat bars and no brakes myself. Mainly for riding along the highway and county roads, and admittedly gears are a pretty nice thing for that...

jim-bob

I've got one of those. They're fun.

MadMan2k

Wouldn't be too fun going over roots. It'd take some real good timing to have the cranks level to clear them, anyway.

khuon

I'm going to repost what I said in your other thread titled, How many of you are former Mountain Bikers? because it seems relevant to this thread too.

badsac

Guess I could call myself a mtber gone over to the dark side. My first serious (non kiddie) bikes were a Trek 2000 (stolen) and a Trek 920 (still have it) back around 1990. Had some great rides on them, but because of the area I live in with not many good spots to ride mountain bikes, I found myself spending all my time on the road. Eventually, I spent way more than I should of on a good roadbike (Specialized Roubaix Comp) and I'm in love. There are few things that are giving me more enjoyment in my life at the minute than a perfect day out on a 70-100 km ride when you push yourself hard the whole way and everything gels.

Like Snuffleupagus says it's more like a zen/groove thing, combined with the love of going fast that's just so appealing at the minute. However, since my roadie has gotten me fitter than I have ever been in my life, I'm starting to think more about getting back into mtbing on a modern mountainbike and doing a bit of racing and just testing my bike control more.

So basically for me at the minute I think I have the need for both. But I definitley could never live without my roadie.

mtnbiker66

Oh yeah, I had a Specialized Allez 04 that some friends talked me into.I rode it a little,did some 50 to 75 milers. To me it just was'nt fun like the mtnbike.Not to start a war but a lot of roadies are real......Well there different from my mtnbiker friends.

juniorcaveman

i'm actually looking to get a road bike to do some long distance rides. i really want to do the MS150 in NJ this September and I am not going to do that on a mountain bike with or without slicks.

i've decided however to not get a road bike that is anything more than entry level. i am not going to race and i am not going to join a ride club. i've got a couple of friends that mountain bike and road ride, so for now i'll just ride with them.

snuffleupagus is absoutely right. road riding is a zen/groove thing. without explaining it too well, it lets me think about things without actually thinking about them. it puts stress on the back burner and lets the subconscious work out problems.

mountain biking is all about the rush and challenge. my brain is concentrating too hard to think about other things. it just wants to keep me on the bike. and i don't mind letting it.

Crack'n'fail

I come from a MTB background. I raced for 5 years and lived and breathed MTB. I lived in a house we're all 5 of us (college buddies) road and it wasn't a matter of ARE we riding today it was a matter of WHERE/WHEN.

I used to shun road biking. Thought it was boring. Laughed at those shaven legged fools. Then I started to notice that my friends who were road riders had startling better endurance. They just lacked the bike handling skills that my MTB buddies had. Then this freak of nature named Joe came to stay with us for a while. He was from West Virginia and road both constantly and I have never, still to this day, seen anyone with better bike handling skills and endurance. So, he talked me into trying this road thing and I've never looked back.

If you think road riding is boring, you may not be riding in the right places or repeating the same route too often. I'm lucky to have friends all over the country and family that lives in the mountains of North Carolina. So I get to go out on rides that have hour long climbs and bomber descents. Not to mention fantastic views of gorgeous contryside from the top.

I will never give up the MTB side of riding though. It's such a completely different experience. The crowd is different. More comraderie. The workout is different. Being back in the woods, pushing yourself, taking that obstacle that little bit faster than the last time you rode. It's great therapy.

Both are beautiful in their own way. Embrace them both and live a well rounded cycling life.

cyccommute 

That, sir, is a duck.

cyccommute 

I've never understood this idea that you have to be a roadie or a mountain biker. Nearly 30 years ago I started riding road bikes. There were no mountain bikes. Then they started making mountain bikes so I started riding them too. I didn't get rid of my road bikes, I just rode whichever struck my fancy. Mountain bikes are fun and kinetic. Road bikes are fun and serene. If I want to take 3 weeks and go for a ride, I use a road bike. If I want to go off into the woods and camp and fish for a week, I take a mountain bike.

Ride them both. A mountain bike builds strength while a road bike builds endurance. They do complement each other.