Interesting...switching between road bike/MTB is quite a revelation....?

[Widge]

Grotty weather here today so took out my trusty old MTB (has crud-guards front and back but made s0d-all difference! )

Now ...I have been riding my lovely spanky new Triban 3 road bike for the last few weeks while the MTB I built up myself with lovingly selected choice components over many years (all RaceFace and Mavic and Shimano XT etc) languished sulkily at the back of the shed.

While I have absolutely LOVED my foray into road-bikeness...when I swung my leg over and rode off into the setting sun (Mud, Leaves, minor Flood and road-kill) this evening to my local hostelry for a swift pint or 3 on my old faithful it was like a different machine.

My road biking had hardened me to jolts and pot-holes, my legs felt stronger but...my word....was my full-sus mtb ever COMFORTABLE!?...................but slower! (Slightly)

Horses for courses I reckon.

My mtb will be my winter bike no doubt...but there's life in the old girl yet.
My road bike is a diva!

I'm lucky to have the choice I suppose.

Any of you feel the same about your steeds?

Best

Widge

 

[Carolineb]

All my life I have had bikes but just to potter around on, nip to the shops, go into town, etc. when MTBs became all the rage that's all I ever rode but used them for the same thing. To be honest I always found cycling a bit if a chore. Then 5 years ago I decided to start commuting to work and bought a road bike after my then fella persuaded me into it (i wouldve just gone for a hybrid type bike as whenever I had a go on a 'racing bike' I had difficulty controlling a them with the drop handle bars and they had never really appealed to me). I had never properly ridden one before and this bike was small thin and very light with clip in pedals and a saddle designed a specially for ladies!

After i got the hang of clip in pedals (I fell off a couple a couple of times as I couldn't release my feet quick enough) it was a definately a WOW! moment for me - it felt like I was one with the bike and that I was flying along on the wind - I was anazed at the difference! Cycling was so much easier and so much more fun! I lived all the lycra gear and the nods from other 'proper' cyclist accross the road but I especially loved that smug feeling as I whizzed past some one on a hybrid!

I had one summer of cycling 20 miles each way to work and then my bike got put away for the next four years! My excuse was the traffic was too dangerous - which it was but in truth it was a lot of hassle getting up at 5am to try and avoid traffic and get to work on time and then another 20 miles home after work. I once went out on it on a Sunday over the hills around Longridge and that was lovely but for some reason I never got into cycling for pleasure.

Anyhow I am a bit more knowledgable now about bikes and realise the bikes I rode in the past were crap! The bike I have now is good but definately not top class! Mountain bikes are designed for going off road in mud and stuff and therefore hard work to cycle on a road! Road bikes are for the roads!

I would like to try a decent mountain bike and go off road and be a bit more risky in my activities and get covered in mud - I bet it is great fun but for now I'm just still trying to get back into cycling on a regular basis on my road bike. But I know what you mean about the comfort - I think straight handle bars are more comfy, I feel safer on a more chunky bike and the suspension is lovely! You're right - road bikes are a bit 'diva' but I do love the speed and the sense of being one with the bike....

Btw I'm impressed that you built your own bike - I can just about fix a puncture!

 

[raindog]

...when I swung my leg over and rode off into the setting sun (Mud, Leaves, minor Flood and road-kill) this evening to my local hostelry for a swift pint or 3 on my old faithful it was like a different machine.

Well, surely it is a different machine?

 

[Pottsy]

You are the type of people that will get into fixed.

 

[Carolineb]

You are the type of people that will get into fixed.

Why's that then? I only found out what fixed was on here the other day! According to Penine Paul on here fixed are the bikes they use in velodromes and you can't free wheel! And free wheeling is the reward for going up a hill in my book! Plus they sound very expensive!

 

[vickster]

I think any single speed bike can be switched to fixed - cheaper than a normal roadbike and much less maintenance needed. I don't think Pottsy was referring to a Veldrome race bike

 

[Carolineb]

I've noticed a thread on here about fixed so I may read it as I've really no idea what people are talking about when they refer to fixed and single gear!

 

[lulubel]

I would like to try a decent mountain bike and go off road and be a bit more risky in my activities and get covered in mud - I bet it is great fun but for now I'm just still trying to get back into cycling on a regular basis on my road bike. But I know what you mean about the comfort - I think straight handle bars are more comfy, I feel safer on a more chunky bike and the suspension is lovely! You're right - road bikes are a bit 'diva' but I do love the speed and the sense of being one with the bike....

Btw I'm impressed that you built your own bike - I can just about fix a puncture!

Having got into it in the last few months, I can tell you MTBing is fantastic fun. I've been riding a really cheap MTB up til now, but I've just ordered a good quality one, and I can't wait for it to arrive. I've never ridden a good MTB either, so I'm very excited to find out what it's like.

There's something very special about bikes you've built yourself. I built my current road bike (including the wheels) and, as a result, I know it more intimately than I've ever known any of the bikes I've ridden. I also feel far safer on it, probably because I don't ride around worrying about that random rattle/creak and thinking I've got to get it fixed before it breaks while I'm going downhill and I crash. I just repair it myself, quite often by just stopping mid-ride, adjusting something, and carrying on again.

(I didn't have any bike building experience before I did it, by the way. I just bought a couple of good books and read a lot of stuff online.)

 

[jim55]

Single speed/ gear is one gear ratio that "coasts"down hills or when u stop pedalling
Fixed is one gear ratio and it does not coast , I.e if the back wheel turns the pedals rotate all the time ,you can't coast at all , your legs are constantly moving

 

[lulubel]

I've noticed a thread on here about fixed so I may read it as I've really no idea what people are talking about when they refer to fixed and single gear!

Single speed is just one gear, but you can still freewheel.

Fixed is one gear, and the pedals have to keep turning all the time.

 

[Carolineb]

I've got 10 gears and I probably use about 5 of them most of the time. However I wouldn't like not having my top and bottom gears - or the ones in between for that matter! I dont think fixed or single gear is for me...!

 

[vickster]

Only 10 on a road bike? Don't you mean 20? 10 on back and 2 cogs at front. Although there's probably overlap as I understand it. You need to find some hills to make use of the gears

 

[Carolineb]

Erm I've counted them - there are 18! I still only use about 5 of them though!

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Fixed gear bike -

Fixie -

 

[Peteaud]

i have both road and mtb

both are great.