ThinLine

I have been road riding for a while now but am asked if I have a mountain bike. I do have an old 1990 Schwinn KOM S9 XT no suspension (well..Girven flex stem) MTB which I, just have.

How many of you road riders also own a nice mountain bike and ride it sometimes, in off season (if there is one), now and then, in nasty weather, etc????
Is Shimano XTR still top of the line?

AlexTaylor

Oh yes.

I have and still ride a 1986 Muddy Fox Courier, but I also have a full sus pimped out rig, I ride it once a week with mates, there are some fantastic trails near me in the peak district and North Wales.










I find that the road cycling gives me a lot of fitness which means whem I'm cruising up a hill my mates are blowing out of their backsides.
I also find that MTBing gives me a very smooth pedalling action particularly on the climbs.
There is a great, steep, gnarly, slippy cobbled climb near me that a lot of my roadie mates struggle up on their road bikes whereas I just sit back, pedal in a smooth controlled manner and float past those walkers

CrimsonKarter21

It's not super nice, it's a 2005 Giant Trance. I love the frame, but it's got too much travel and too long of a wheelbase to be a really good race-rig, which I want it to be. The only difference is the Concor Light saddle that is on it (because I broke the last two WTB's)
But, it's not bad for $400 new.


::EDIT:: it's a 20" frame size, btw. It goes well with my '09 TCR

botto 

almost as old as the cobbles to roubaix.

Spanky

I race both... xtr is still the best, well along with SRAM xo... pic here if needed, but things have changed a bit since then (Brand New). Ride it often, not just in off season, so I must be a pot head...

caelric

Cannondale F300 hardtail, upgraded with hydralic disc brakes, as well as newer Shimano Deore LX drivetrain and shifters. XTR is still the best in the Shimano line, but top of the line SRAM is just as good.

Weekend MTB'ing gives me some variety in my training, rather than just doing all road riding.

saba

Yeti 575 her name is Hela and when you see us ripping up single track say hello.......

RParker

Trek ex 8 about once a week. I like it to change things up, but I like the road a lot more.

grolby

I have a mountain bike. I don't know if I would call it a "nice" bike - the frame is nice, the drivetrain is nice, the rest is basically garbage, but threw it together for <$300 and it is FUN. Having road fitness means I blow most of my MTB buddies away on the climbs, but they are all more accomplished at riding the singletrack, so it evens out. The trails out here are a couple feet under the snow by now, so there's no mountain biking for a while, sadly.

slide13

I have a 2008 Trek Fuel EX 8 which I love. Right now I only have one mountain bike and two road bikes but if I had to choose the mtn. bike would be the one to stay for me. I like road riding, I love mountain riding though.

Tapeworm21

Barely ride it but I got a scorching deal on it so I couldn't pass it up. Hope to get an Epic next year... this is just a little too much bike for me.

Porter20

Most of the professional mountain bike riders spend at least 70% of their time on a road bike simply because mountain biking puts so much abuse on their body. I don't have tricked out mountain bike; just my old 2000 bike that I ride with all my friends that have their tricked out full suspension bikes. Since I can get out 5 days a week & they go once a week; I typically am waiting on them most of the time. They don't make fun of my spandex after that.

kudude

I've got a matching TCR, as well. Also, good god, Karter, you know that's not a track bike, right?

mtnbiker310

My mtn bike is a Santa Cruz Blur; road is Orbea Onix. I prefer mtn by far - great single track nearby, no crazy drivers up there - but still enjoy the road. My wife loves the road and gets on her mtn bike about once or twice a year.

Nickshu

I ditched the MTN bike awhile back and replaced with a Cyclocross bike, which I enjoy much more. I live in VA, so there are few mountains worthy of a full-scale MTN bike, so I find the Cx bike does the job very well. If I still lived near mountains (grew up in CO) I would keep a MTN bike. I guess I equate it to owning a Hummer for driving to the mall, out here in VA a MTN bike is just not necessary.

stapfam

Ex mountain biker and I have two that still work. For some reason- the cannondale is faster--downhill.

rcaviator

I have a Specialized Stumpjumper hard tail 29er, doesn't spend much time in the woods though. Mostly an urban ride, sidewalks, roads, paths, goes anywhere I want to go. I also ride it when I ride with my wife, gives me more of a workout as ashe rides a lot slower than I do. I enjoy both the road and mountain bike about 50/50, would hate to lose either one.

gfrance

I like to mountain bike, but I'll never really be that good at it. Just not quite brave enough to tackle the tough terrain.



Titus Racer X (Decals removed)

BarracksSi

Same here, really. I look at things like that spiral-shaped collection of 2x4's hovering twenty feet off the ground and go, "Uh, ...no."

Still, when it was the last of its model in the shop, and I realized it fit me, I sprung for a Cannondale Rush. It still hasn't gotten dirty , but for tromping around the Mall on inauguration weekend, it was excellent. I've found that I'm too cranky these days to put up with a hardtail on clumpy, rumpy dirt & grass; let me sit back and cruise instead.

saba

out here in VA a MTN bike is just not necessary????


Huh?
Tons of local trails:Schaffer, Greenbrier, Fountainhead, Patapsco
Douthat
Pisgah is 4 hours away
Slatyfork is 2-3 hrs away
Cannan Valley resort for the downhill

Maybe you just have that West coast bias that the east has nothing to offer, you should get over that bias

roccobike

Yeah, I've been known to show up at a few technical, single track mountain bike trails around here



I also have a 01 Trek 4500, and a 88 Nishiki Ariel for riding gravel MUPS.
EDIT: ATF trail, Harris Lake (Holly Springs, NC) When I feel like self abuse, a little further south in Sanford, NC is SanLee or Governor's Creek.

Nickshu

I guess I do have that bias. And I like road riding better, so I haven't explored MTN biking since I've lived out here. My neighbor has a Ti MTN bike he never rides and has offered me to use...maybe I'll borrow and check some out. I have heard there's lots of good stuff near Quantico.

Since I started skiing out here the bias against the east coast has gotten worse, but maybe MTN biking is different.

big john

I have a KHS that I bought last year after my 10 year old K2 frame broke.
I have found it easier to get mtb rider to try the road than to get some roadies to try off-road. Some people have this picture of flying off cliffs or falling down mountains and won't even consider the dirt.

Lebowski

just running platforms because its winter

sfcrossrider

I just grab a cross bike, and make good line choices. I've got an SSCX bike with 44's that is more a 29er with drops, than a cx bike. Good fun.