Rent a road bike and find out. In my biased opinion, you can't really be a flying monkey unless you're on a road bike.

Once again, various members appear to be overstating the advantages of both road and mountain bikes.

Everyone seems to have their personal preference as to what style of bicycle to use. I have done many kilometers with a flat-bar MTB and always found that my wrists hurt after a while and the fat tires / bulkier frame felt sluggish. I never realized it could be any different until I hopped onto a 1968 Raleigh Grand Prix with drop bars and 27" x 1-1/4 wheels. Since then I've been a big fan of bike-boom road bikes.

I was looking at a modern one at the LBS the other day... I was impressed as to how light it was... I can bunny hop just fine on my steel road bike, I have no doubts it would be incredibly easy on a modern machine.

As to the maneuverability of a road bike, I think it's partly a matter of practice - I'm more comfortable taking tight turns and attempting to track stand on my road bike than I am on my gf's MTB since it's been years since I've ridden one on a regular basis.

That makes total sense to me. It's a matter of what you're used to -- I'd been riding my roadie almost exclusively until I started commuting; now my commuter gets more use, and I'm noticeably better at maneuvering on it than I was when I started. I have to believe the same would be true of my roadie, and I'd use it in a heartbeat if I wasn't concerned about beating it up on these crappy city roads. But man, every time I get smoked by someone on a roadie I sure am tempted!

I want at least one of every kind of bike. Except maybe BMX, but I'm biased there.


I do know that I'm faster now on my road bike than I ever was on hybrids, but on the other hand, this could be a training thing, as once I got my road bike I started cycling more on the weekends, for pleasure, etcetera, so my biking muscles are simply stronger than when I was just commuting.

I think I will go back to using my Bridgestone (old hybrid) once I get new cables installed. That said, the only advantage it has over the road bike is that it's worth a lot less so I don't mind beating it up.