Originally Posted by
Rider_1
I keep forgetting that I am in the general forum.
I like to ride for distance, at a good speed. In that regard, I am always surprised at how many people don't ride road bikes. What are people afraid of? If you are interested in anything approaching touring or distance riding (eg. I'll usually ride ~100Km with few stops/rests), you can't beat a road bike. They are just so much more comfortable and efficient. I have had mountain bikes, and currently have a flat bar road bike as well as my regular road bike, and there is no way that they provided the same level of fitness, mostly because they broke me rather than built me up. By that, I mean that after 10-15 KM on a MTB, my knees were killing me because the bike was so damn heavy. You can't reach your fitness goals if the activity is injuring you.
Seems like gearing choices, saddle height, q-factor might be more likely culprits besides just the weight of the bike when it comes to knee pain.
Originally Posted by
Rider_1
Would you run a marathon in work boots and carrying a fridge?
No, but if that's what riding an MTB is like for you then you have the wrong MTB. Must be rolling an AM or DH rig instead of an XC model.