Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 9,625
Likes: 40
From: South of Raleigh, North of New Hill, East of Harris Lake, NC
Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Specialized Roubaix, Giant OCR-C, Specialized Stumpjumper FSR, Stumpjumper Comp, 88 & 92Nishiki Ariel, 87 Centurion Ironman, 92 Paramount, 84 Nishiki Medalist
I've never read any definition, but I regard any cycling on dirt as off road. Is riding a dirt or gravel MUP mountain biking? Not in my book. On all my posts I've listed road bikes, mountain bikes and MUP riders. I define mountain biking as riding on rough terrain, too rough to seriously ride a road bike (although I've seen some nut cases try it.). Also, there are the obsticles such as logs, jumps, rock gardens etc where a road bike is just not suitable.
I think of MUPs such as Rails to Trails, including MUPs that are not paved with plenty of bumps and uneven surfaces as roads, smooth enough for road bikes with a wider tire to ride on. So just because it's off road, doesn't make it rough enough to call it mountain biking in my book.
Just my opinion.
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