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#11
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On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 23:58:26 GMT, "Chris" wrote:
I'd like to hear from those of you who had to make the choice of whether to get a road or mountain bike. I'm going to purchase one or the other. I would guess it would be a while before I could afford the other. I live in Florida and there are a good number of mountain biking trails within an hours drive. But it's still at least 45 mins to get to any trailhead. For road bikes I can be on the road in 1 minute but I don't know if riding bikes on florida's roadways is a good idea. Where are ya and what do the roads one minute away really look like? I'm within 10 miles of GREAT cycling roads, but getting to any of them means 5 - 10 miles of the worst road to ride on you can imagine in the USA. Have you done any off-road riding. You can't do that on a road bike. You can ride a mountain bike on the roads. Mark's suggestion of a cross bike's worth considering, especially since we don't have much in the way of rocky, gnarly trails. It's a bit of a bitch over some of the root and sand single track, but you can fly on the double track. Ron |
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#12
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I am a road biker always have been and always will be.
I have thought a bit about this My son races cyclocross....10th at Nationals. For me, road is all I know. I have nothing against MTB I just don't know. the idea of a mountain bike with slicks, well that sucks that is not a way to get on with things -Bart 10 @14.3 "RonSonic" wrote in message news On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 23:58:26 GMT, "Chris" wrote: I'd like to hear from those of you who had to make the choice of whether to get a road or mountain bike. I'm going to purchase one or the other. I would guess it would be a while before I could afford the other. I live in Florida and there are a good number of mountain biking trails within an hours drive. But it's still at least 45 mins to get to any trailhead. For road bikes I can be on the road in 1 minute but I don't know if riding bikes on florida's roadways is a good idea. Where are ya and what do the roads one minute away really look like? I'm within 10 miles of GREAT cycling roads, but getting to any of them means 5 - 10 miles of the worst road to ride on you can imagine in the USA. Have you done any off-road riding. You can't do that on a road bike. You can ride a mountain bike on the roads. Mark's suggestion of a cross bike's worth considering, especially since we don't have much in the way of rocky, gnarly trails. It's a bit of a bitch over some of the root and sand single track, but you can fly on the double track. Ron |
#13
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Thu, 10 Mar 2005 23:38:35 -0800, ,
"Bartow W. Riggs" wrote: For me, road is all I know. I have nothing against MTB I just don't know. the idea of a mountain bike with slicks, well that sucks that is not a way to get on with things Me too. Fat tires were for kids bikes. Even skinny clinchers were marginally acceptable. I got out of cycling in1986 while MTB were making advances. In 2000, I bought a fat tire bike and ride it with slicks. It's proved itself a useful, comfortable and reliable mount on chuck-holed city streets and not much slower than my resurrected road bikes. Over 70 km in a day, the road bikes rule. Otherwise, excepting the 15 pounds, there's not that much difference besides comfort. Of course, I still ride the heavy bike, light, because that's the way I learned. -- zk |
#14
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On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 00:21:33 +0000, Ken wrote:
"Chris" wrote in om: I live in Florida and there are a good number of mountain biking trails within an hours drive. But it's still at least 45 mins to get to any trailhead. I have a mountain bike and a road bike. I have pretty much abandoned the mountain bike since the nearest nice trails are a 30 minute drive away. I can ride my road bike out the front door and find nice roads immediately. Eliminating the 1 hour (round trip) commute gives me 1 hour of more fun. If you have both enjoy both. If your looking to get a new bike try looking into a cyclecross bike. Looks like a road bike (drops) but built like a MTB. This is not a hybrid. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/ (Text only) http://hcs.sourceforge.net/ (HCS II) http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog |
#15
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On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 21:33:15 -0600, di wrote:
You can always ride a mountain bike on any road, unless you want to ride with a group that likes to ride fast, This tends to be true but you can build up slicks and if you're strong you can deal with it. The issue of lack of hand positions will come up on long rides. however you cannot ride a road bike on any mountain bike trail regardless of the riding conditions. Huh? You've never ridden with me. When I was growing up we didn't have MTB (oh poor me ;-). We rode what we had, while road bikes don't handle sand well I can ride them on most other terrain. I lead rides where we don't get off the bike just because the road ends. :-) Though falling down may be acceptable for getting off the bike. ;-) -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/ (Text only) http://hcs.sourceforge.net/ (HCS II) http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog |
#16
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Chris wrote:
I'd like to hear from those of you who had to make the choice of whether to get a road or mountain bike. I'm going to purchase one or the other. I would guess it would be a while before I could afford the other. I live in Florida and there are a good number of mountain biking trails within an hours drive. But it's still at least 45 mins to get to any trailhead. For road bikes I can be on the road in 1 minute but I don't know if riding bikes on florida's roadways is a good idea. Thanks in Advance George George, Chris, whatever your name is... In the days when I was relegated to just one bike, my choice was to get the best bike I could for off-roading which would still accomodate my street riding. I bought a used full-suspension bike and a spare set of wheels upon which I mounted slicks. I could switch between road mode and off-road mode in less than ten minutes, although looking back, I didn't make the switch very often. I still have that bike today, but it spends more time in the shed than on the dirt. Once I had space for a second bike, I rescued a late 70's / early 80's baby-blue Schwinn road bike. Even after a full tear-down, repaint, replace parts and rebuild, I spent less than $100 on this bike. It was still a friction-shifting monster, but it handled commuting and weekend road rides with aplomb. For me, If I could only pick one again, I would get a touring bike (I'm still aching to get a nice tourer) or, as Mark suggests, a cyclocross bike. But the mountain bike with slicks was perfectly functional for commuting duty for several years. Even now I ride a no-suspension MTB with slicks and fenders on my commute when the weather is bad. But the choice really depends on whether your primary goal is bombing down the local trails or tearing up the roads. Many people find it much easier to ride the roads since they lie just outside your door. Many bikes will do both jobs with varying degrees of success. You will just have to take an honest look at what you are willing to do to go for a ride. -Buck |
#17
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"Neil Cherry" wrote in message ... This tends to be true but you can build up slicks and if you're strong you can deal with it. The issue of lack of hand positions will come up on long rides. Huh? You've never ridden with me. When I was growing up we didn't have MTB (oh poor me ;-). We rode what we had, while road bikes don't handle sand well I can ride them on most other terrain. I lead rides where we don't get off the bike just because the road ends. :-) Though falling down may be acceptable for getting off the bike. ;-) There are mountain bike tires that work almost as well as slicks on payment and will also work quite well off road in most conditions, tires like Hutchinson Pythons, Continental Traffic, and others with a tight thread pattern or a center rib. My preference is the Hutchinson Pythons, although they wear out quickly when used on pavement, Conti Traffic tires are very heavy. My reference to road bikes being used off-road was not intended to be dirt roads, it was trails with sand, mud, roots, rocks, deep tracks, logs, and all the other stuff you would expect to encounter on most mountain bike trails. You may be able to get your road bike around the trail but it doubtful if you would be considered riding it. |
#18
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On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 09:09:38 -0600, di wrote:
"Neil Cherry" wrote in message ... Huh? You've never ridden with me. When I was growing up we didn't have MTB (oh poor me ;-). My reference to road bikes being used off-road was not intended to be dirt roads, it was trails with sand, mud, roots, rocks, deep tracks, logs, and all the other stuff you would expect to encounter on most mountain bike trails. You may be able to get your road bike around the trail but it doubtful if you would be considered riding it. Actually as a kid we rode on some really nasty stuff and yes we rode whatever we had. One of our favorites was the Schwinn Cruisers. You get one of those and you had a tank and the tires were great for sand and mud. Wasn't much good for climbing but they were fun. I only had my 10 speed. Sand would almost bring me to a halt. The tall tires were great in mud and some of the puddles we ran through. And we knew how to cross logs on what we had. After a while the logs would be nothing more than wood chips. Today I'd opt for a cyclecross bike. I still have my Schwinn Paramount hard tail but a bike that can do both would be very useful where I live. BTW, if you don't need to be hosed down after riding a MTB (or cyclecross) it was a boring ride. :-) -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/ (Text only) http://hcs.sourceforge.net/ (HCS II) http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog |
#19
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Chris wrote: I'd like to hear from those of you who had to make the choice of whether to get a road or mountain bike. I'm going to purchase one or the other. I would guess it would be a while before I could afford the other. I live in Florida and there are a good number of mountain biking trails within an hours drive. But it's still at least 45 mins to get to any trailhead. For road bikes I can be on the road in 1 minute but I don't know if riding bikes on florida's roadways is a good idea. Thanks in Advance George George (or Chris) -- if you need to drive 45 mins to a trailhead, consider how often you will have the opportunity to do that. I'd love to mountain bike every day -- but I too live about 1 hour from the closest real trail. Accordingly, my MTB hangs in the garage. Now, if that was my only bike, I would happily ride it everywhere, but I happen to be fortunate enough to also have a nice road bike -- which I ride every day (pretty much). But, I'm also fortunate enough to live on a rail-trail -- so I don't have to contend with the abject idiots that clog Florida's roads. So... if you live in an overly-elderly area, an overly-redneck area, or an overly-developed area, I would say to be very careful on the road. So... I guess the big question is -- where in Florida?? |
#20
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Neil Cherry wrote:
... BTW, if you don't need to be hosed down after riding a MTB (or cyclecross) it was a boring ride. :-) I am going to tell Mikey V that you are causing soil erosion! He will sic one of his trained mountain lions on you, and you will end up as cat food! In all seriousness, many MTB trails should not be ridden when wet, as excessive damage to the trail often occurs. However, you are supposed to donate some blood when you ride off-road, otherwise you are not trying hard enough. -- Tom Sherman - Earth |
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