Originally Posted by
monosierra
Can someone enlighten me on the skill sets involved? Such as descending, cornering, riding in a peloton (if any) in a MTB race as opposed to road races? Does that come into play if you're discussing what's tougher?
Descending on a road bike at it's limits can be tough and dangerous, but I believe mountain bike descending ultimately takes more skill and that you can gain a lot more time. From my experience there are a lot more variables to descending on a mountain bike. Mountain bike races tend to string out more and because of the lower speeds you don't see a group staying together for very long.