Originally Posted by
mike
I laugh when I see people riding mountain bikes on pavements. It is like the soccer mom who buys an SUV in the south where it never snows and they never drive off-road; burning up gas for nothing.
Mountain bikes by design are clunky cumbersome machines. Their fat tires and weighty suspension is a lot to drag around. Worse yet is the riding position. The rider is forced down so the upper body weight is forced down onto single position straight handle bars which almost surely cause hand numbness.
However, like SUVs mountain bikes
can be used in combination with on- and off-road rides. I don't ride a mountain bike on pavement just to ride a mountain bike on pavement. But if the route involves pavement and, more importantly, off-pavement, a mountain bike is a far better choice than a road bike. Just like an SUV is a far better choice for those kinds of situations than a sports car is.
If you see someone on pavement on a mountain bike, how can you tell that they aren't just using the pavement to link off-road rides? I do that all the time.
Finally, if you could only own one bike...and there are individuals out there who can't own multiple bikes for multiple purposes...a mountain bike makes more sense than many road bikes, just as an SUV used off-road occasionally makes more sense than some cars.