Road bike envy !!

[Davos87]

Similar situation to you wobbly. I bought a Scott Hybrid which I love and have done a fair few miles on however on weekend rides my mate comes out on his Giant Defy. We sometimes swap bikes and the difference is amazing. The Scott's a bit of a lump but when I get on his Defy I can leave him for dead. It feels so light and fast. Stamp on the pedals and whoosh. Been out on the hybrid this morning on a beautiful day and thoroughly enjoyed it but will definitely be getting a road bike, fancy a Giant , Cannondale or Spesh. Just have to work on the wife. That's the hard bit.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Can I go against conventional wisdom?

I started on my son's Tesco mountain bike and had exactly the same experience. I was hammering along getting overtaken by OAPs on road bikes who just hissed by, laughing and blethering to each other as they went. I thought I was fit through regular gym sessions but I just couldn't match their speeds so I bought a road bike, a Specialized Secteur.

My - what a difference! it felt light as a feather and seemed to just fly along. Great!! I even entered a 50 mile event and thoroughly enjoyed it!

But, nobody warns you about how the knife edge saddle nearly cuts you in two when you go over a pothole. The pain is excruciating so over time, you learn to stand on the pedals at the slightest bump. But that's the other thing - these bikes are so lightweight and flimsy that they can only really be used on tarmac like a good woman - silky smooth and freshly laid preferably. Forget about darting along the odd cycle trail. Many NCN routes involve muddy sections which effectively debar road bikes. Far from gaining the freedom of the road on your sleek new flyer, suddenly you start planning your routes more carefully, on roads that you inevitably have to share with trucks and boy racers. You'll start getting more punctures, because those whisker-thin tyres are actually manufactured from regurgitated rice paper painted black and they pop at a passing glance. Every rough section of road has you anxiously looking betwixt your legs to spot unexpected deflations (of the tyre too).

After a year of this I switched to a Tricross, a cyclo-cross type bike. It looks exactly like a road bike except it's a bit more sturdily made and you can choose to fit slick tyres or chunky go-anywhere tyres as you please. Every route is now open to you, you can even (shock horror) ride it over a kerb without cutting yourself in half and bending the bike into a pretzel.

If you can only have one bike, don't have one that limits your horizons is my advice.

 

[Nearly there]

Still buy a road bike and get some road tyre's for your mtb you'll still get plenty of use from a road bike over winter the weathers not sh*t all the time and when the weathers a bit dodgy use your mtb

 

[Lee_M]

Can I go against conventional wisdom?

I started on my son's Tesco mountain bike and had exactly the same experience. I was hammering along getting overtaken by OAPs on road bikes who just hissed by, laughing and blethering to each other as they went. I thought I was fit through regular gym sessions but I just couldn't match their speeds so I bought a road bike, a Specialized Secteur.

My - what a difference! it felt light as a feather and seemed to just fly along. Great!! I even entered a 50 mile event and thoroughly enjoyed it!

But, nobody warns you about how the knife edge saddle nearly cuts you in two when you go over a pothole. The pain is excruciating so over time, you learn to stand on the pedals at the slightest bump.

Really, after the first couple of days I never had a problem, maybe a new seat would have been a solution?

But that's the other thing - these bikes are so lightweight and flimsy that they can only really be used on tarmac like a good woman - silky smooth and freshly laid preferably. Forget about darting along the odd cycle trail.

again, I think you must have bought a lemon, I ride everywhere that has anysort of tarmac without problem - I even did an old closed road by mistake last week that hadnt been surfaced for 40 odd years - no problem at all

You'll start getting more punctures, because those whisker-thin tyres are actually manufactured from regurgitated rice paper painted black and they pop at a passing glance. Every rough section of road has you anxiously looking betwixt your legs to spot unexpected deflations (of the tyre too).

I think you need to try out some puncture resistant tyres

If you can only have one bike, don't have one that limits your horizons is my advice.

I dont disagree, but I think your picture is somewhat tainted

 

[Peteaud]

You wont get fitter by buying a road bike. you will go faster and further.

I ride both MTB and road and the route around the forest (15 miles) is as bad as a 50 mile road route

 

[Rob3rt]

But that's the other thing - these bikes are so lightweight and flimsy that they can only really be used on tarmac like a good woman - silky smooth and freshly laid preferably.

Bollocks!

You'll start getting more punctures, because those whisker-thin tyres are actually manufactured from regurgitated rice paper painted black and they pop at a passing glance. Every rough section of road has you anxiously looking betwixt your legs to spot unexpected deflations (of the tyre too).

Bollocks!

Every route is now open to you, you can even (shock horror) ride it over a kerb without cutting yourself in half and bending the bike into a pretzel.

Assuming you think this would happen to a road bike, then again bollocks!

...

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Ooh - touched a nerve there Do people hang their sense of humour on a peg when they log in?

 

[Globalti]

But, nobody warns you about how the knife edge saddle nearly cuts you in two when you go over a pothole. The pain is excruciating so over time, you learn to stand on the pedals at the slightest bump. But that's the other thing - these bikes are so lightweight and flimsy that they can only really be used on tarmac like a good woman - silky smooth and freshly laid preferably. Forget about darting along the odd cycle trail. Many NCN routes involve muddy sections which effectively debar road bikes. Far from gaining the freedom of the road on your sleek new flyer, suddenly you start planning your routes more carefully, on roads that you inevitably have to share with trucks and boy racers. You'll start getting more punctures, because those whisker-thin tyres are actually manufactured from regurgitated rice paper painted black and they pop at a passing glance. Every rough section of road has you anxiously looking betwixt your legs to spot unexpected deflations (of the tyre too).

With respect this reads like one of those slightly smug articles you see in the newspaper or the in-flight magazine written by a journalist who has been told by the editor to go out and try cycling then report back; the froth of journalistic hyperbole suddenly becomes clear to a reader who knows the truth.

And the truth is that modern saddles do not need to cut you in half if you have the right saddle set up correctly. Modern bikes do not need a silky smooth surface. Smooth roads are not infested with trucks and boy-racers. Tyres do not pop, nor do they puncture often. You have probably done more pointless damage to the OP's confidence than any other scare-monger, ever.

To the OP: get a road bike NOW, you will love the speed, the easy climbing, the comfort (once you've set it up with with the help of a good bike shop), the sensation of swooping silently down your favourite hill, the freedom of being out in the countryside, entirely self-sufficient and able to go anywhere your legs can take you. You will love the purity, the style, the panache and the cleanliness. Road riding is about momentum and keeping up a good average speed; you will learn to attack hills and draft fellow riders and your horizon of places you consider reachable will grow beyond what you believe possible. You will come home exhausted but glowing with health... really! I went over to the road four years ago after 20 years of messing around on mountain bikes and I deeply regret that I didn't do it sooner.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

You wont get fitter by buying a road bike. you will go faster and further.

I ride both MTB and road and the route around the forest (15 miles) is as bad as a 50 mile road route

Agreed; I can cycle 50 or 60 miles on the road bike without much bother, but 7 miles around the local reservoir on my bso mtb has me gagging as my lungs try and escape through my nostrils.

 

[kedab]

you will love the speed, the easy climbing, the comfort (once you've set it up with with the help of a good bike shop), the sensation of swooping silently down your favourite hill, the freedom of being out in the countryside, entirely self-sufficient and able to go anywhere your legs can take you. You will love the purity, the style, the panache and the cleanliness. Road riding is about momentum and keeping up a good average speed; you will learn to attack hills and draft fellow riders and your horizon of places you consider reachable will grow beyond what you believe possible. You will come home exhausted but glowing with health... really!

my eyes are moist

 

[Globalti]

Are you inspired?

 

[Get In The Van]

Like the OP, i long for a road bike, until then (hopefully Spring next year or sooner if my employer ups the C2W amount to 1000 notes) i'll keep going on my MTB with the forks locked out, i have stuck a set of road tyres on and spd-sl pedals, with the hope that when i finally get that road bike, my winter training on this iron horse will keep me in good shape for the spring summer season and hopefully my first season as a cat4

If you do get a roadie, let us know the difference you experienced the most, speed, lightness, handling etc

 

[Peteaud]

If you really want a road bike, wait about 3 months or so, fleabay will be full of bargains.

I will never regret buying a MTB and enjoy a winter blast round the forest. But i do prefere road bikes in general. My hybrid has road(ish) tyres and it does make a difference.

Ive yet to discover strava so have no clue about what that does.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Ive yet to discover strava so have no clue about what that does.

Destroys worlds in the most wonderful way.

 

[ColinJ]

I love riding my road bikes on the roads and my mountain bike on the local bridleways. I always do some road riding on the MTB between bridleways and have occasionally done some minor offroad on my racing bikes, but it is better riding the right kind of bike for the particular conditions.

I did a 34 mile round road trip on my MTB to order my road bike from a bike shop. That felt as hard as doing 60+ miles on a road bike. Most of that difference came from the tyres, but as Globalti says - riding a light, responsive road bike on a scenic country road is a joy! But so is flying down a rocky bridleway on a sturdy MTB ...

It isn't an 'either, or' choice really, it's a 'both, and'!