if you dont have one...get one
- Thread starter Dusty the Whale
- Start date
elzoller
El Guac-Oh
remind all the newer folks here exactly how much you paid for your roadie
198 pesos!!!
or
20 USD
Thank you CLASICA DIAZ & Cyclecraft !!
A road bike can certainly get you in better shape and be a nice change of pace. Depending on where you live, it can also be easier to get out to ride at times. If you live next the park and quality riding is more imprtant than fitness, it may not be as zen as it sounds. After 20,000 miles it can seem boring. I have a lot of respect for those that stay with road riding for years. Up north here, I ride mine all winter and it feels like training, but the trails conditions are less dependable in winter. Now that summer is here, I stay in the woods with the mountain bike, and I am usually smiling the whole time.
J-Dro
Well-Known Member
This is true. But I ride my road bike because its a good workout. I ride my MTB because its fun!
THATmanMANNY
Well-Known Member
RUNNING > road biking
As much as I love biking. And no disrespect to roadies but road biking just wasn't cutting it for me. I used to have a road last year but I found it to be boring and unentertaining and not challenging. Now, I just have a different wheelset with slicks and a slap that on my very light HT and lockout my fork and viola!... A nice road conversion that can roll with any road bike. So only after $140 on the wheel setup I got myself a "road bike" without spending $1000+ and forgo creating more clutter in the garage (although no one can ever have enough bikes).
I am a intense mountain biker but I'm a runner at heart and that's where my endurance base comes from. I run anywhere from a couple miles to a marathon (next is hopefully an ultra-marathon :drooling, which I believe helps me to be able to hammer on the bike as long as I can. I like to be multi-talented in life. So when I don't want to ride I run on the road or on the trails. And sometimes running is just easier. No gear to bring along. Just you & wherever your mind want to wander, your shoes, and some water.
As much as I love biking. And no disrespect to roadies but road biking just wasn't cutting it for me. I used to have a road last year but I found it to be boring and unentertaining and not challenging. Now, I just have a different wheelset with slicks and a slap that on my very light HT and lockout my fork and viola!... A nice road conversion that can roll with any road bike. So only after $140 on the wheel setup I got myself a "road bike" without spending $1000+ and forgo creating more clutter in the garage (although no one can ever have enough bikes).
I am a intense mountain biker but I'm a runner at heart and that's where my endurance base comes from. I run anywhere from a couple miles to a marathon (next is hopefully an ultra-marathon :drooling
, which I believe helps me to be able to hammer on the bike as long as I can. I like to be multi-talented in life. So when I don't want to ride I run on the road or on the trails. And sometimes running is just easier. No gear to bring along. Just you & wherever your mind want to wander, your shoes, and some water.
Dusty the Whale
Mr.Chainsaw
ha yes exactly...im not one of these 150lb race types im a 235lb dude who loves beer and loves to ride...the road bike will help me keep my healthy relationship with the suds and still allow me to be a decent rider in the dirt...i didnt think this would get this far...seems i wasnt alone with the changes in my riding...
BiknBen
Well-Known Member
Common misconception.
Last edited:
Engignar
New Member
Another recent roadie convert
Well maybe not a roadie convert but....
This May I picked up a used road bike from a member of this site and decided to find out what all the fuss was about. I was always skeptical of road riding, I expected it to be dull and boring, and I never liked the non friendly vibe I got from other roadies. Well, since then my perception has changed. I have gotten all of the benefits that everyone has mentioned, but moreover road riding is Fun! Maybe not quite ripping singletrack fun, but going mile after mile at 20+ mph drafting and dodging debris and maniacal NJ drivers has an intensity to it I never expected. I can get my adrenaline pumping so hard going down some mountain roads that when I slow at the bottom I get the shakes in my legs!
OK ten lines of non paragraphed rambling...but the bottom line is all bikes are fun, so buy more of them and use them more and you will lead a happier life.
Well maybe not a roadie convert but....
This May I picked up a used road bike from a member of this site and decided to find out what all the fuss was about. I was always skeptical of road riding, I expected it to be dull and boring, and I never liked the non friendly vibe I got from other roadies. Well, since then my perception has changed. I have gotten all of the benefits that everyone has mentioned, but moreover road riding is Fun! Maybe not quite ripping singletrack fun, but going mile after mile at 20+ mph drafting and dodging debris and maniacal NJ drivers has an intensity to it I never expected. I can get my adrenaline pumping so hard going down some mountain roads that when I slow at the bottom I get the shakes in my legs!
OK ten lines of non paragraphed rambling...but the bottom line is all bikes are fun, so buy more of them and use them more and you will lead a happier life.
I've gotten hurt twice while attempting to pass cars in NYC. One was a cab door (not my fault), and another was a rear-view mirror which my arm ripped off of a SUV (my fault). However, my mountain biking injuries have been much more numerous.
When I was a teenager, a friend of our family (an avid road cyclist) was killed in a hit and run collision with a car while out for a morning ride.
Accidents with cars on the road tend to be more serious than mountain bike accidents, although much less frequent than my many mtb crashes...
I hurt my back real bad on my bmx bike in high school. I herniated L4 and L5 and messed up my SI joint. Most of the way through college I started to wonder if I should look into another form of riding, in case matters with my back got worse. I couldn't decide between a mtb or a road bike, so I hit the local shops and finally decided on a road bike.
Going from only bmxing my whole life, to road riding was an adjustment to say the least, but it was a good move. It feels great to get up early on a nice day and hit the back roads without any traffic to worry about.
Needless to say, a little more than a year later I bought a mtb, and I am hooked on it. It's like all the cool parts of bmx and road riding combined, plus, bmxing and road riding contribute a lot to my fitness and technique. Where I live kinda sucks because of the traffic involved in getting to a good riding area, so I usually drive myself there with the bike and park somewhere. This is what usually leads me to chose mtb over road if I am going for a ride.
Going from only bmxing my whole life, to road riding was an adjustment to say the least, but it was a good move. It feels great to get up early on a nice day and hit the back roads without any traffic to worry about.
Needless to say, a little more than a year later I bought a mtb, and I am hooked on it. It's like all the cool parts of bmx and road riding combined, plus, bmxing and road riding contribute a lot to my fitness and technique. Where I live kinda sucks because of the traffic involved in getting to a good riding area, so I usually drive myself there with the bike and park somewhere. This is what usually leads me to chose mtb over road if I am going for a ride.
BiknBen
Well-Known Member
Curious. Where are you in Mercer County that is that bad?
axcxnj
Hipster Keys
both cases, youre still hitting it...
i know what youre saying though, im just busting balls
mwlikesbikes
Well-Known Member
Bottom line IMO is that road riding helps your endurance so you can enjoy longer MTB rides.
We ride road bikes but that doesn't make us roadies. (not that there's anything wrong with that)
Now I'm off to crank out some miles! :getsome:
We ride road bikes but that doesn't make us roadies. (not that there's anything wrong with that)
Now I'm off to crank out some miles! :getsome:
it's not bad, that's why I wrote "kinda", I just don't like it. I'm in Hamilton though, near hamilton west.
sixseven
New Member
I did a 35 mile ride today, about 11 miles on route 27 from Highland Park to the 6 mile trail...thru that to the DnR Canal tow path and took that back home. Granted the canal path is boring as hell (like being on a gravel mobius strip) but the 27 jaunt is the worst.
Riding on the road does get you in the habit of looking far out ahead of yourself to avoid broken glass and other hazards. But having to second guess every driver pulling out of a parking lot while they dip into a bag of fast food looking to make sure the french fries were included gets old fast.
you have to be on guard about everything around you and none of those things are interesting to me.
I can imagine it would be pretty good out on the middle of nowhere roads, super rural. But anywhere else forget it, esp in NJ.
Besides, dirt and trees are far more forgiving than pavement or a car.
"if you dont have one...get one..." should be a helmet thread.
btw, 6 mile was awesome today! dry dry dry and quiet, only ran into one other biker out there. Super fun ride...ok back to the road talk..
Riding on the road does get you in the habit of looking far out ahead of yourself to avoid broken glass and other hazards. But having to second guess every driver pulling out of a parking lot while they dip into a bag of fast food looking to make sure the french fries were included gets old fast.
you have to be on guard about everything around you and none of those things are interesting to me.
I can imagine it would be pretty good out on the middle of nowhere roads, super rural. But anywhere else forget it, esp in NJ.
Besides, dirt and trees are far more forgiving than pavement or a car.
"if you dont have one...get one..." should be a helmet thread.
btw, 6 mile was awesome today! dry dry dry and quiet, only ran into one other biker out there. Super fun ride...ok back to the road talk..
Wobbegong
Well-Known Member
Manny,
If you didnt find road riding challenging, then you weren't pushing hard enough. I have never suffered on the MTB like I've suffered on the road bike during Club rides above my usual pace. The motivation of chasing a group I think is key. I'm not saying you cant suffer on a MTB, but the road has its way of really giving it to you.
Take a look at the fitness levels guys like Ben, ChrisG and Jim V. have. These guys are no strangers to the road bike. In the end, its all pedaling and its all good...
You obviously have not visited the majority of NJ. Not too far from where you are, you can hit lower traffic roads. Pretty much all the counties west of Middlesex (and including parts of) have some fine rural roads.