ravenmore

Hey all, finally got around to getting a mountain bike. A buddy of mine made me a good deal on his Giant NRS. Here's a pic:





Actually I picked up 2, but am going to sell the Marin East Peak I picked up:



I'm a roadie and have been for a few years, so I have some strength and edurance, but man o man do I have respect now for the bike handling skills mountain bikers posses. I hit walnut creek here in Austin yesterday, and it hit back. Messed up a shoulder pretty good and left a bit o skin and blood out there. I expect a bit more of that while I adjust to the learning curve. I'll be spending a lot more time here on this sid of the forum trying to figure this stuff out.

LowCel 

Congratulations, looks like you have a really nice bike.

As for the respect it really needs to go both ways. Roadies generally don't give mountain bikers enough respect however mountain bikers don't give roadies enough respect either. It takes a lot of skill, endurance and trust to be able to be a roadie.

vw addict

Welcome sucka! Mountain biking will improve your road riding too, just wait. Short burst strength as they call it. And your bike handling skills will go thru the roof.

BoSoxYacht

I've been a cyclist for nearly 28 years and have been riding mountainbikes since the late 80's . One thing that I have noticed in that time is , crashes become less frequent but more severe as you become a better rider . I just wanted you to have something to look forward to .

pinkrobe

Welcome aboard! As a fellow roadie, I can definitely attest to the power of mtn biking for improving critical power and sprinting. Also, the ability to dodge/jump errant debris while on the road will come in handy.

ravenmore

thanks - yeah, I can really understand now how your skills improve doing this stuff. The bikes are amazing machines too, to be able to handle terrain like that at speed. I'm on a road team, and we have a mountain bike team division, so I may hit some of those guys up for some "crash" course tips and tricks. Hopefully they don't take me literally. Looks like a lot of fun though and a way to keep my training from getting stale. Gotta get some mountain shoes though. Right now I'm just using some road shoes with my eggbeater clips on them. Any recommendations? I was looking at Shimano. My road sponsor might be able to make me a deal on 'em. They seem pretty nice - Shimano road shoes fit me well because of the wider forefoot area.

Eatadonut

I didn't truly appreciate what MTBing does for your roading until the day I was drafting a dump truck at 32mph, and almost didn't notice that it had straddled a small log. Without even thinking I hopped that sucker. Clipped the back wheel a tad, but only slowed me down long enough for me to take the first right turn and never, ever, draft a dump truck again.

sngltrackdufus

Welcome brother

Wherebob

Nice bike man!

khuon

I tend to think of myself as more a MTBer than a roadie but I do swing both ways and split my time between the two fairly evenly. I like what LowCel said. Both disciplines require a high degree of skill and endurance and participating in both will only serve to compliment one-another and make you a better overall cyclist.

Taerom

Wow, that NRS is a sexy sexy bike. Congrats, and welcome!