In article
,
landotter wrote:

On May 25, 10:30 am, Shark wrote:


With all that in mind I was considering a hardtail MTB but I don't
know if I really need the front suspension (and additional weight).
What kind of configuration do you guys think is best suited for me?

An all purpose road bike with drop bars at saddle height and tires
around 30mm is comfy all day, fast, and can go anywhere from asphalt
to the occasional dirt road. Such bikes come under the stealth names
such as "cyclocross" bikes which sometimes just need some pavement
specific tires, or "touring" bikes. This is the kind of bike that
people rode for years and years until the industry decided otherwise.

The industry didn't decide otherwise. Somewhere in the early 1980s the
modern mountain bike was commercialized, and basically became the
cycling industry for about 15 years. There were several motivations for
buying these bikes, all pretty defensible.

Even today, department-store bikes almost all look like bad copies of
last year's MTBs. The psychic dominance of the road bike has not yet
been re-established.

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."