Road Bike vs Mountain Bike



pwcarr

New Member
Jan 6, 2005
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Hi,

Broke out my old 57cm Bianchi road bike with 105s, had all tuned up and put in 52 miles (20 in the morning and 32 in the evening) after being out for several years from sports injuries (reconstructed ankel in the 90's and a shoulder reconstruction in Oct 04'. I once used this bike for TRIs and BIs but realized at 41, I am not planning on racing perse and realize I have out grown the bike.

I am ready to drop about $1500-$3k on a new bike as a present to myself to working my a_s off for years "for the man". I like the Idea of getting into a mountain bike, yet like the idea of comfort to commute 40 miles a day to work on asphalt trails. I do not want to two bikes so to speek yet would like to get opinions on getting a kick butt mountain bike and pay extra for wheels and tires for the road during the week and knobies on the weekends. I am 5'11" 205 lbs (fairley muscular) and will get back down to my operating weight of about 185.

Any recommendations is very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Pete
 
I think you really have to examine what type of bike it is that you love, then go with it. The idea of buying a mountain bike and equipping it with slicks crossed my mind back in 1996. I tried it on my 6 mile commute to work, and I was not satisfied. I learned that in my heart I was addicted to the road bike. The upright stance of the mountain bike was something that I just couldn't get used to on the road. For me, both road bikes and mountain bikes are beautiful. It's just that the mountain bike is not for the road, in my mind.
 
Pete,
Check out the articles and bikes on rivendellbicycles.com, and you may consider an Atlantis or similar touring bicycle from them or another manufacturer, such as Bruce Gordon. I just picked up a used Atlantis to build up for commuting and dirt roads.
 
Cyclocross bikes are another option, although they are generally more expensive and harder to find than the other two.
 
I had the same dilemma a year ago.
Ended up buying an orange "gringo" (uk model) and putting some michelin wildgripper jets on it (slicks). Works great for me on the commute as i can bunnyhop up and over **** in the road and not as many problems with blow outs (roads are pretty full of potholes here). I was going to buy a seperate set of wheels for the "knobblies" to go on for quick swaps a weekends but as i run hydraulic discs the cost of new rotors and hubs etc simply didnt justify it. Dosent take 10 mins to swap the tyres and i do it the night before if im offroading.
However saying all this (im really happy with the set up) i am looking into buying a road bike, but the mtb is excellent on the commute-- good upright position puts you in good view of the motorists so feels safer and they ere more robust if (when) you do come off (which seems much more likely these days) .
But i suppose its all down to personal choice.
 
Thank you... this is kinda cool. Very much dig thier approach and theme.

Pete


Tom Perkins said:
Pete,
Check out the articles and bikes on rivendellbicycles.com, and you may consider an Atlantis or similar touring bicycle from them or another manufacturer, such as Bruce Gordon. I just picked up a used Atlantis to build up for commuting and dirt roads.
 
Heres my take. Don't buy a mountain bike unless you are going to offroad. I have both a MTB and Sirrus Sports (hybrid). Using slicks on MTB is not as good as a nice Hybrid with set of nice wheels (Mavic Open Pro) and this can also take trails, but not complete offroad. It will happily take your 40 mile round trip.

A word of warning on price. Spending a lot does not alwyas mean better, more important to concentrate on fit and comfort along with speed and then write cheque after that. There is a great risk with a decent budget like yours in going to the shop and spending to get what you think is great, but in fact is not that nice after you cycle it down the road.
 
Oh by the way - spend some serious time looking at a flat bar racing hybrid.
The Lapiere, Specialized and Trek are nice. I have by the way a 2001 sirrus which was capable of also being used for touring, with front rack and back etc. Looking at the newer ones with the carbon fibre forks this is not the case

May insult the purists but for day to day workhorse and comfort commuting they are great

I do not think you will be happy with a MTB with slicks on it and a spare wheel set at weekend. It is too much of a compromise for a 40 mile commute.
 
motorhommer said:
Oh by the way - spend some serious time looking at a flat bar racing hybrid.
The Lapiere, Specialized and Trek are nice. I have by the way a 2001 sirrus which was capable of also being used for touring, with front rack and back etc. Looking at the newer ones with the carbon fibre forks this is not the case

May insult the purists but for day to day workhorse and comfort commuting they are great

I do not think you will be happy with a MTB with slicks on it and a spare wheel set at weekend. It is too much of a compromise for a 40 mile commute.
I spent the first few years commuting to work on a series of walmart trash mountain bikes , and bought my first road bike at a secondhand store when the last one fell apart. After upgrading to my first new road bike, I'm never planning to go back , unless I need a mountain bike for snow commuting (even my secondhand roadie was great on the icy patches) . Maybe a better mountain bike would be a different experience, but after flying around on a road bike,riding the same roads on something heavier would be kill a lot of the fun.
 

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