Originally Posted by mlh122
ok I thought of another analogy, then I really have to get back to work. It could help to relate mtb/road bikes to cars.
On the road my Civic vs my wife's 4x4 SUV: both handle about the same, my civic is much more efficient, uses much less fuel per mile. but my wife's SUV can take rough road conditions that could jostle my car into the ditch. However, i have 43,000 miles on my car without ever hitting anything.
On rough country dirt roads, my car shakes and shimmys but does ok. my wife's SUV eats it up.
On really rough off roading, my wife's SUV may or may not crash. My civic would need towed or air lifted out of there, probably something seriously broken.
And if you take a really fast turn with the SUV you will be doing the loop de loop, whereas the civic should be just fine. Don't kid yourself into thinking your SUV is more durable than the Civic. It may not be.