WestPablo

I live in Cleveland Ohio. The streets are beaten up and littered with all sizes of potholes. I purchased a brand new road bike, back in 2011. I have since suffered eleven flats, five falls, and three cases of severe road rash resulting from the falls. I am now of the opinion that if I had purchased a new mtb, instead of my Raleigh Record Ace, I would have spared myself a few flats and falls.

So what do you guys think? Should mtbikes replace hybrids and road bikes for cities with decaying and faulty infrastructure?

hariharan85

I have been feeling the same about commuting and riding in tulsa's streets. They have all this construction on roads and broken / flooded pavements , sidewalks and I have realized how versatile my old schwinn MTB with no suspension and 26" X1.75 @ 65 psi is on these roads. As long as I am not timing myself or pedaling at 100% effort, this seems to make so much sense than my road bike. I can see it being difficult on long 20+ mile journeys though.

RPK79

I'd go with a CX over a MTB for commuting myself.

Cyclosaurus

I think it depends upon the rider. Riding a road bike is going to take more skills than a MTB bike, especially on bad roads. Sounds like a MTB would fit your skill level better.

bikemig 

I like both CX and mtbs for commuting. I actually have three vintage bikes I use for commuting. That's overkill but I never have to worry about color coordinating my bike with my outfit, . I use my Bridgestone XO-2 when going longer distances and in the summer months; it is not a cross bike but it is closer to a cross than a mtb bike. When the weather gets colder and I wear more clothes I like to sit more upright and reach for either the Bridgestone BB-1 (which has nice fat tires like a mtb) or the Specialized Stumpjumper Comp. It's all good.

WestPablo

Gee thanks! You're too kind!

WestPablo

Yup!...All excellent choices!

alan s 

What skills would those be? I ride both, BTW.

hariharan85

rofl

westrid_dad

What year is your Stumpjumper Comp? I commuted / toured on my '87 for a number of years, and donated it away a few years ago. I do miss that bike!

bikemig 

It's a 1989; one of my better CL finds. Vintage MTBs are tough to beat for commuters.

Cyclosaurus

Sorry to be so blunt, but that's a lot of mishaps. I'm not trying to put you down. I know my own skill level and what I would and would not attempt. Not sure how bad your roads are, but if I was riding them, I might decide myself to go with a MTB for safety also.

TransitBiker

Thankfully I've never had a flat from a road hole, but I've also ridden a cruiser with non-cruiser tires for the last 10 years.

Perhaps fatter/more substantial tires with tire liners could go a long way to alleviate this issue for most. I think anything with full suspension would sap too much energy for longer distances & under heavy load with groceries etc. On my full suspension bike, every time my pedal reached near the bottom of its circle the suspension would eat part of the momentum meant for the rear wheel rotating. Having suspension that you can disable would be one solution?

- Andy

Cyclosaurus

You can bomb over a lot of stuff on a MTB where you have to pick your line carefully with a road bike. It requires being much more aware of the road surface at the same time as you are trying to watch traffic and other things around you. The sense of balance and general handling ability needed to keep a road bike steady is greater. You have to be much more "in tune" with the bike and the tactile feedback it's giving you and have faster reaction. That's my opinion on the subject anyway.

bikemig 

Good to know that you are such a skilled writer, . Really.

andyprough

I agree - I go with the fat semi-mountain bike tires that are sold for some comfort and hybrid bikes, but I make sure to get the Kevlar version with a lot of tread. Skinny tires just won't do it in South Austin where I've got a lot of road construction I have to off-road around. I figure I'm losing a lot of speed on the nicer streets, but I gain a greatly expanded area of the city I can bike through. Also, I always pack a spare innertube just in case.

PaulRivers

I think the general rule is that if your route looks more like a mountain bike trail than a road, than a mountain bike might be more suited for it.

I would personally never, ever recommend a full suspension mountain bike though, unless it's fairly expensive. Most rear suspension will eat a ton of the power from your pedalling. I've ridden my $1500 full suspension bike while paved-trail riding with my dad (wanted to slow myself down), and whether he was constantly in front and I was working my ass off to keep up, or whether it was the opposite where I was out in front and he was working his ass off struggling to keep up, was a matter of whether I had the rear suspension locked out or not. (Rear suspension eats a low of power that would otherwise go into pedalling).

alan s 

AFAIK, the same skill set applies to both types of bikes. Being more careful on a road bike is not a skill, but an approach to riding that style of bike.

Leisesturm

This thinking is largely why most motorists commute in SUV's. How's that working for them? I don't know about y'all, but the last gas crisis precipitated several murders and numerous drive-off's because 1. SUV's take much longer to fill than standard cars and 2. SUV's as a class, get around 1/2 the gas mileage of standard cars. I am able to navigate road construction with moderate suffering on my commuterized CX* machine. It's backup is a commuterized touring machine. I see others commuting on commuterized mountain bikes and they don't appear to be having much fun. Keeping those knobbies spinning can really take it out of you as the miles add up. Full supension, even hardtail can take it out of you as the miles add up. But, hey, this is America. Whatever floats your canoe. As for me and my house, we will use road bikes on road and call it very good.

H

*I don't really know for sure. It was de-decaled by a previous owner. It has canti's so I call it a CX bike. It has fender and rack eyelets up the wazoo though. Do real CX machines have those? It is not an mtb though. Pretty sure of that.

Ky_Rider

I ride a hybrid. Started with size 32 tires. Switched to 25 for a season. Didn't care for the ride even though they were marginally faster. I'm now riding 35's which I love. The 25's were squirly on anything less than smooth pavement. I'm considering size 40 tires on my new bike. I'm not worried about speed.

LesterOfPuppets

I'd rather ride the road bike with 28s most days but since I don't have a roadie with fenders at the moment, I go for the Grey Goose when it's raining. It has some important things I look for in commuter MTBs - rigid, light, cheap.

DiegoFrogs

I like older sport-touring and touring geometry road bikes with some extra clearance for tires.

Now that I'm riding on rough, ancient cobblestones every day, I'm using some 35 mm nominal tires on my city-style bike. It rides pretty nice.

WestPablo

+1

Good point!

I guess it's really more about tire width than anything else. If things get too bad, I would imagine that a suspended fork might be more helpful with stabilization.

moonlessnight

I've done both and while some of the streets I ride would be better off with a MTB I still prefer my road bike more.

WestPablo

Hey!....I like that one!