dty

This is my main concern when buying a road bike

jasonyates

have you ever ridden one?

John Wilke

I dunno, I've never had any problem falling off either.



jw

Gurgus

I'm forever falling off of my mnt bike. Not the road bike. Mind you, on the mtn bike I'm jumping stuff and riding single track and stuff like that. Road bike is just go go go as fast as you can.

unkchunk

I guess it all depends on how bad you want to fall off.

wfin2004

If you are concerned with falling then maybe you ought to stay on the front porch and crawl from point A to point B.

If you are concerned with getting in an auto accident, do not drive.

If you are concerned with choking to death, do not eat.

If you are concerned with getting liver disease, do not drink.

dty is riding along on his road bike minding his own business and "oh crap, I am falling!"

dpr

The tires in a mountain bike invariably offer wider support, thus making a stationary or near stationary fall less likely when say, coming to a stop at a red. Its quite marginal though and at speed the difference is totally negilable.

Short answer is, no; it depends on your own balance.

DevLaVaca

I can think of one thing: far more road bikers than mtbers use clipless pedals. If you do this, it's much harder to put a foot down to catch yourself on a too-tight turn (but you shouldn't be making those turns on a road bike anyway). Also, unclipping at a stop takes a bit of getting used to, and can lead to some embarassing standing-still tumbles at first.

Of course, if you're already used to clipless pedals, or don't plan on running them, there's no issue. The only thing inherently less stable about the road bike is what dpr already pointed out.

sggoodri

I have never fallen down due to the clipless pedals on my road bikes.

I have fallen down a couple of times due to clipless pedals on my mountain bikes, but only because I was climbing a steep hill and got stuck on a log or rock, and I couldn't detach fast enough.

I have fallen many more times mountain biking than road biking, even though I ride more than 10 times as many road miles.

My only falls on the road bike have involved gravel or potholes on the roadway, encountered during braking or turning. Roads are generally a lot less likely to throw you down than MTB trails.

I think the biggest difference in handling is due to hand position. Try a lot of different road bikes and try all the hand positions to see what feels comfortable. I generally prefer to keep my hands on the brake hoods.

ghettocruiser

Sometimes.

We could better answer the question if we knew what is most likely to knock you over. Potholes? Dogs? Trucks? Staircase gaps?

AlmostTrick

Yours is a legitimate question for someone new (or returning) to cycling. Many people feel that the flat or riser handlebars that come on mountain bikes give them better control over the bike than the drop bars that are common on road bikes. People who do bicycle stunts would never consider using drop bars so there has to be something to this. There are nice road bikes available without drop bars. Ride both and see how you feel.

And yes the skinnier tires on road bikes will make it more likely you'll fall, usually while turning on poor surfaces.

sbhikes

You won't fall on a recumbent trike. If you have balance issues, you should come over to the dark side.

slowandsteady

I have only fallen once on a road bike and that was over 18 years ago when I accidentally ran over my dog. I have fallen many times on the MTB, but mostly because I am on technical trails. The road bike might look like it will fall over with those skinny tires, but it really isn't as unstable as it looks. It isn't unstable at all.

AlmostTrick

Was he or she ok?

fat_bike_nut

I've never fallen off a mountain bike before (unless you include the time that I *almost* hit a car that pulled out suddenly in front of me...that incident taught me not to ride on sidewalks anymore). Of course, that's because I've never actually ridden a mountain bike off-road before. That'll probably change my falling rates in a big way. On the other hand, I hate to admit this, but most of my falls have indeed been off of my road bike. Mainly because I have either leaned too far while cornering, running into potholes or grates, etc.

thebankman

No.

slowandsteady

Yeah, he was fine. He lived another 14 years after that. I however, tacoed my wheel and got some nasty road rash.

JustBrowsing

Depends on the amount of alcohol involved...

joejack951

I fell more times in one mountain bike ride (5 times, d@mn wet leaves and rocks plus my stubborness to keep trying to ride through it) than I have fallen while riding my road bikes in the 4 years I've been riding them (which would be 3 times total, one clipless fall, one black ice slide, and one gravel slide).

In general though, over rough pavement or in heavy winds (especially when riding one handed), I feel more stable with the wide flat bars on my MTB and commuter than with narrow drop bars.

Niles H.

On good (road) surfaces, mountain bikes are probably slightly better than road bikes in this regard.

Off-road, mountain bikes are much better than road bikes in this regard.

On rough (road) surfaces, mountain bikes are better.

Front suspension gives an added level of safety on rough (on-road or off-road) surfaces.

Dual suspension is even better (though front suspension covers most of the ground here).

Autosuggestions play a major role in falling. So do experience, natural and learned balancing skills, risk-taking behaviors, speed, width of safety margins, and good judgment.

It is much more a matter of the person than the bike (though the bike does also play a role).

Some (few) people rarely or never fall; others fall much more often, and injure themselves much more often, sometimes seriously. A few people know how to fall, and are less likely to injure themselves (seriously or at all) if they do fall.

***
Trikes are much more stable. If you do fall off (easy to do on two-wheeled bikes, not so easy on three), they are quite low to the ground.

They are very fun to ride -- for many people they are more fun by far than a road bike.

When the enjoyment factor is high, one is more likely to be naturally motivated to ride -- people find that they ride more often and get more exercise, and enjoy it more.

Highly r e c o m m e n d at least giving them some test rides and seeing how you like them. (One way to do this is to attend a group ride; trike owners tend to be a friendly and helpful bunch, and will probably let you take some test rides. They can also help answer questions and provide information. Most dealers will also let you go out on test rides.)

Helmet Head

Buy the road bike, then practice and master slow riding skills before you venture into traffic.

Find a hill and ride up it as slowly as you can. Do it until you're really good at it.
Find an empty parking lot and practice doing circles within parking spots. Do it until you're really good at staying completely within one parking space without hitting any lines.

Doing the above two things should give you all the skills and confidence you need.
If you can learn to trackstand too, so much the better.

zeytoun

Oh man, that is a slow painful death....

To the OP, get a road bike with touring geometry. Even klutz's like me can all but trackstand on a touring frame.

slim_77

it is way easier to fall off a wagon than either...don't ride wagons

dty

This is on roads mainly sometimes I road off the 4 inch curb or ride into a 2 inch curb like thing. prolly about 30km a week commuting. i found changing gears on a road bike to be weird in the middle. would i be faster on a moutain bike having used one all my life (about 10 years riding moutain bikes and sometimes bmx) the dangerous thing is just riding down hills sometimes swerving bumps and swerving to the other lane on a 2 way to avoid cars

sgtsmile

A surly long haul trucker will fit the bill if you are looking for a utility road bike that is going to be comfortable going long distances on and want lots of flexibility for bags/tires/fenders without spending a fortune on it. This machine has touring geometry which tends to be less twitchy. It also is obtainable as a complete bike now (vs frame only). One of my good friends is buying one (might have it monday!) and is very excited about it - it is his first new bike in 30 years....

Regarding the falling issue: my experience is that mtn bikes are less stable on roads vs road bikes, and that road/cyclocross bikes are less stable off road if the trail gets really technical or bumpy than a mtn bike. I fall way more on my mtn bike. This is because I ride it almost exclusively off road where I am more likely to fall. However, falling off road very rarely involves serious injury for me compared to a fall on road (which usually involves a donation of skin and some serious bruising and more speed). As has been said, at very low speeds, the mtn bike with its fatter tires offers more stability than a road bike with narrower ones. However, if distance riding is going to be done, the wider mtn bike tires and frame geometry of the bike will tire you faster, even if you switch to slicks. If you do not intend to go off road and want a mtn bike, DO NOT waste your money on full suspension since it will rob you of a lot of energy and give no real help on road (or MUP - be it paved or gravel). Surly (again) makes a nice inexpensive non suspended mtn bike that might do the trick for you if this is something you want.