Road bike on mountain?

I'm looking to getting a bike in the near future. I'm having a hard time choosing between a mtn bike and a road bike. I know that mtn bikes can go on the road, but I'm wondering will road bikes work on mountain trails? is it normal? What are some good road bikes, I'm looking to spend about $1000.

 

Road bikes don't go on dirt, at a push cyclocross ones will but even they're uncomfortable on it. Mountain bikes go on dirt and road, and the light ones will do a good job on both. A mountain bike with road tyres can keep up with roadies if they're not working too hard...

 

The narrow smooth tyres on a road bike are pretty useless on loose gravel or soft surfaces and the wheels are too easily damaged by rough trails. I have ridden off road some on mine and so long as the track is reasonably firm and not too rough you can get by being very careful. Steep gravelly surfaces, rocky, muddy, sandy, etc then you want a mountain bike.

If you are mostly riding on the road and want to go fast and keep up with others, then a road bike is the better option. Cheap mountain bikes with knobbly tyres are much slower than road bikes on the road.

If you want to ride trails and the road, and don't want to get two bikes, get a quality lighter weight mountain bike with a second set of slick tyres for the road. A second set of wheels for the road would be a more expensive but more convenient option. You still want knobbly tyres for serious offroad work.

Pat

 

The most important thing is a good sfit. As measured by the length of the top tube. You can have a 5k bike and if it does not fit you it will be terrible to cycle.

What are you going to use the bike for. Something like the Specialized Sirrus is a good compromise as it is a hybrid. You can quite successfully spend hours on this if you want, 60+ miles not a problem. An out and out road bike can be an uncomfortable thing for day to day riding. If you are not going to use the bike offroad on mountains then perhaps you do not need a mountain bike. You can put slicks on a mountain bike and use it on the road, however you will find that this is a compromise.

Some people are using the Cannondale Bd Boy with disks using 2 sets of wheels, 1 mountain and one road. Suggest that you go to your local LBS look and try the Sirrus and also perhaps the Cannondale/Trek.

Lastly do not buy a road bike unless you are a committed road bike user with the drops and narrow tyres or a mountain bike unless you are a pretty committed offroader.

 

A cyclocross bike will do both. It won't do either as well as a bike designed specifically for each discipline but it can hold it's own in either. Offroad you have to ride with a different style than if you were riding a full suspension bike with five inches of travel on either end. You be surprised how well you can tackle all but the most extreme offroad trails though.

I use a cross bike for commuting and it's great. It doesn't give-up much to my road bike for speed on pavement but if I want to take an offraod short-cut or hop a curb or two, it's no problem.