Originally Posted by
FrenchFit
Though I have a dozen bikes I ride to the gym on a mountain bike, heavyweight w/rack & bags, platform pedals so I don't need to change shoes -- though it does have expensive slick tires. Afterall, if you want a cardio workout why would you ride a lightweight racer?
A decent old MTB that fits is a bike you can keep and use forever, even for a tourer. I waited a while before I started acquiring roadie bikes.
I find that a LOT of people really like an old MB converted to drop bars and bar-end or Brifter/Ergo levers as the ONE bike they can keep. Narrow slick tires make it quite fast and easier to pedal and also means you don't need to have as low gears as you do with the big knobby tires. MAny people I know get me to convert their MTB to such a configuration. Very rugged for loaded touring or grocery shopping to yet very comfortable to ride over longer distances.
If I could only have one bicycle it'd be an MTB converted to drop bars and Ergo levers.
I have a few MTBs here converted to dropbars and or bar-end or Ergo shifters and everyone wgo use one really likes it.
Cheers