bfromcolo

Hi sorry if this is ground thats been covered a hundred times.

I am a 50 year old male, 6'2", 225, pretty fit. I live in Colorado and its pretty hilly around here.

I have a nice mountain bike already, but am interested in doing some road riding as well. Especially this time of year when the roads clear a lot faster than the trails after storms.

I guess the first question is what people think of getting another set of wheels for the mountain bike with some kind of street tire?

Failing that whats a decent entry level road bike for someone my size? Is there anything worth having for under $500?

Thanks
B

maddmaxx 

I think that if your going to just use the road bike as you say "especially this time of year" with the intent to return to the MTB when practical then the tires and wheels are a way to explore the road at a minimum investment.
If however you think that the road bike might be a year round (in addition to the MTB) device then yes there are entry level (usually Sora 8sp) road bikes around that work well at that price.
If there is any chance that you will eventually ride more road than MTB then a step up from the entry level road bike may be in order.

Sorry, thats all sort of a "non-answer" answer that puts the ball back in your court but that is my input.

stapfam

I am a mountain biker that last year got enticed into riding a road bike. I finished up with a fairly basic road bike- low end spec, basic parts fitted and on a respectable frame so at least I am giving road riding a chance. I do enjoy it but I have not turned into one of the fanatics doing 50 miles on a road at 25mph and going up mountains. I just go out and ride. It has not turned me away from Mountain biking and is just an alternative form of riding. Mind you- On the road rides I do- I can go further- faster and with a lot more ease than I would have done on the MTB.

I rode an MTB for 15 years and no other bike. If I did a road ride- I changed the tyres- reversed the stem to give me a lower profile and put up some pretty good times. If you go the new wheel and tyre route- Then get a wheelset that is light. If only used on the road then you do not need strong rim so you can go lighter. My road wheels are Mavic 217 rims, 32 spokes and a Hope Lightweight hub. I also have a set of Mavic crossride wheels- 24spoke and are good wheels but no lighter than the Hope hub set up. On the tyres- 2 options. something around 1.5 that run at around 80psi and will get a bit of comfort. OR Continental Grand Prix's at 120 psi and these are the width of a road bike tyre. That is the way to go if you want ease of rolling but they can get hard towards the end of a long ride.

So either of your options will work. The New wheels on the MTB will work OK but if you really want to ride the roads- then get a road bike. Oh----And if you live in the mountains- Get a triple Crankset. Hills are too hard on flatlander gearing

madli

$500 for a road bike, look at getting something used. I'd focus on a respectable frame and wheelset as other individual components can be upgraded.

John E

Yup.

rmwun54

Wheels and a 26x1.25 tire for the road.