Mountain bike or road bike? - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

madfish64 · 01-04-2008, 10:43 PM

I am looking to buy myself a new bike soon as my old Novara is getting to small and beat up. I live in the suburbs and spend almost all my biking time on paved roads, although, I have been thinking about trying some off-road trail riding lately. I can't decide whether I want to buy a mountain bike for comfort and off roading abilities or a Road bike for speed and long distance riding. The only long distance riding i do is on the silver comet trail which is a paved road so a Road bike would be suitable but a mountain bike would be more comfterable. I have also considered buying one of each as i realize that there is no other way to get the best of both. Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

jamie s · 01-04-2008, 11:28 PM

Well if you can only get one bike---Mountain Bike- so much more fun (in my opinion) Plus, you can get slicks (tires w/o knobs) for the road. Perhaps you could rent one from a local bike shop first to see if you like trail riding, that is how i got started.

Have FUN!

Rusty · 01-04-2008, 11:35 PM

Dude
If you can't make up your mind, buy a cyclocross bike. MTB is great, but you'll soon get sick of how slow it is on the pavement. Road bike is great, but you'll be wishing you could ride on dirt roads and trails. If you can't quite afford both, buy a cyclocross bike. A cyclocross frame is much like a road frame, only with more tire clearance, and cantilever brake bosses. Most cross bikes have wide, shallow drop bars, cantilever brakes (better stopping power than calipers + better mud clearance), road and/or mountain drivetrain components, and 32-37mm knobby tires. I don't think I need to explain the origins and history of cyclocross racing here, but trust me, cross bikes are way cool, and work well for everything. They really are the best of both worlds.

Dustin J · 01-04-2008, 11:36 PM

Mountian bike, because you can ride it on the road, and off road, it works great on roads also, but i think they are funner off road =], hope this helps

aaron t · 01-05-2008, 12:03 AM

Mountain Bike Nub!

goodlucktoall · 01-05-2008, 12:07 AM

mountain bike, because it can do everything a road bike does plus more(go mountain biking =) ). speed isn't everything and even then you have different gears to change how fast you can go.