Mountain Bike on the Road?

[Tuckervill]

I have a new Trek mountain bike. I love it, and I plan to get it out in the woods regularly as soon as I'm not so busy with the youth baseball season starting up. In the meantime, my only choice for riding is the paved town trail and around town on the streets.

Last year when I just had the Buick*, I rode it shamelessly everywhere I wanted to go, even though the bike is rusty and loud and hard to ride. Now that I have a Trek, it kinda sorta looks like I know what I'm doing (I don't!).

How stupid does it look to ride a brand new Trek mountain bike out on the highway where the roadies ride (99% men in this small Arkansasa town)? Am I going to be laughed into the ditch?

I don't really intend to get on any highways, but as I said in other posts, I can see I'm going to need more miles to meet my goals, and some of those are going to have to be distance rides, or I'm going to get bored.

Help me get my sense of shamelessness back, in spite of my Trek pride!

Karen
*It says Roadmaster on the downtube...I've never bothered to look to see what else it says.

[li10up]

I don't know what it's like there but around here you probably couldn't keep up on a group road ride with a mtn bike. We have a breakfast ride every month and we usually have one or two people with mtn. bikes on those rides. And that's fine 'cause it's an easy pace. I rode my mtn. bike on the road a few times but then decided to get a road bike. You will enjoy your rides on the road a whole lot more with a road bike... but if that isn't in the cards for you then just ride whatever bike you have - to heck with what anyone else has to say. Just have fun!

[DirtDiva]

I ride my mountain bike on the road all the time. It's the only bike I've got. How the heck else am I gonna get where I wanna go? And I'd never get my bike to the dirt without riding on the road to get to the dirt, or to get to the train to get me to the dirt. Given the state of some of the roads and bike lanes in London, I'm often quite glad of that bit of suspension up front too.
I do secretly think a road bike would be way kewl for the mere speed factor, but I keep all such traitorous and expensive thoughts deeply repressed. Shhhh. Don't tell anyone.

[Tuckervill]

Some uppity-ness. Who cares what they think. Don't lose focus.

The nearest actual mountain bike trail to me is 16 miles down a 2 lane highway with not enough shoulder (I see roadies on this road all the time, though). I could hit the dirt roads around town, but I'd have to find them. We're also in the middle of a drought so I just can't imagine the dust that would engulf me every time a redneck in a pickup truck came screaming by. (I own a pickup truck, so no offense to rednecks intended, 'k?)

I did a 25k charity ride on my mountain bike a few weeks ago. I knew I wouldn't keep up with the pack, and I wasn't interested in it anyway. Group rides would be fun, but I don't know any hardcore cyclists. Some of you might find this strange, but it wouldn't be proper for me to be hunting up bike clubs full of men to ride with. What I would really like is a couple of non-uptight women to ride with no matter where I ride--but I'm not holding my breath. Adventurous women over 40 are in short supply in Siloam Springs, AR. (Not that I care how old a riding partner might be--it'd be nice to have a friend with a similar background, though.)

Sheesh...what a pity party I'm having today.

Karen

[Beth-Ro]

How stupid does it look to ride a brand new Trek mountain bike out on the highway where the roadies ride (99% men in this small Arkansasa town)? Am I going to be laughed into the ditch?

I started riding 2 1/2 years ago on a mtb. A really pretty orange Trek 4300. It allowed me to ride road or trails, whichever met my fancy. My dh and kids also got mtbs...family rides rock!

As long as you are enjoying yourself and your ride, who cares what the roadies think? Ride for yourself!

[fatbottomedgurl]

I ride my mtb on the road, and generally average 13mph. The roadies (men) always smile and nod. I wear tights and a jersey...there's something about fat bottomed girls... we make the rockin' world go round .

You might consider putting some slicks on if you aren't going to hit any dirt for a while. Or get some semi-slicks which go both ways as long as you don't need too much traction.

Have fun, and think of all the extra calories you are burning lugging the extra mtb weight...

[Popoki_Nui]

[QUOTE=Tuckervill]
How stupid does it look to ride a brand new Trek mountain bike out on the highway where the roadies ride (99% men in this small Arkansasa town)? Am I going to be laughed into the ditch?
QUOTE]
Not stupid at all!! As you know, Trek is a well-regarded brand...I'll bet you will get more compliments than laughs. And if some doofus does laugh, who cares? You'll get the last laugh as he's pulled over fixing a flat from a pothole or whatever, while you cruise by on your comfortable knobbies. Just forget about it and enjoy your new bike!
~Sherry.

[uk elephant]

Are you meant to be embarrassed to ride a mtb on the road? Nobody told me! I've been riding a mtb for the past 15/20 years and very rarely did any actual mountain biking on dirt trails. Even did some long rides to Hell on a very heavy old mtb. Didn't occur to me that that could be a problem......Why should you care what anyone else thinks? The main point is to have a bike that is comfortable and fun to ride. And I for one can not afford to have three or four different bikes depending on the ride. That wouldn't work anyway as I may change my mind half way through the ride and head up a trail instead of staying on the road. So I say, go out on you mtb and have fun!

[Tuckervill]

It's funny that you all mention the weight of the bike. I'd never even consider it a problem since the bike weighs a fraction of what I do.

I did notice a difference when going from the Buick's hybrid tires to the nobby tires on the Trek. When I lean in to turns, you can hear me coming.

13 mph....is that fast? I go about 12 most of the time. I recently had the experience of being able to move up to the big ring and it seeming *easier* rather than harder, like it had been before. Does that mean my legs are getting stronger? I confess to using the gears but not understanding them as well as I would like.

Karen

[caligurl]

don't worry about the snobby roadies! just get out there and ride! that's what's it's all about!

when i first got my mtb.... i rode it on the road.. now granted... i was miserable because it was slower (being used to the roadie).... i made it fun for me by going on the side of the roads... in the dirt! once i did that... i was having a blast! on that particular ride... hubby even called to tell me to check out the sky and head home or i was gonna get wet... well... i was having so much fun bombing around the sides of the road.... i told him i didn't care if i got wet (it was the middle of summer and hot anyways!)

if you want to ride your mtb bike on the road... you GO FOR IT! you're out... you're peddling... you're getting exercise... and you are having fun.... THAT's what counts!

[Geonz]

I have been riding a hybrid for y'ars and y'ars. In some ways, hybrids are looked down on more than mountain bikes. People will assume you're out getting some hard miles in to build endurance.
THe knobby tires add a lot of friction, so you might consider putting the Buick tires on it.
I prefer riding a slower bike 'cause I like POWER more than speed. It also means that I'm going the speed of the non-uptight people and still getting a workout. (Or, it's an excuse. Of course I'm not as fast as they are - it's my bike :-))
I've always gotten some comments that made me roll my eyes ("is your road bike in the shop?" "Pretty good for sneakers!" "You're doing well for a..." ) but most of those folks say that as they blow by at 27 mph and I wave & smile.
Riding like you know that yes, you're not going to go as fast because of your tires (not so much the weight) makes you a 'real rider' not somebody who got a mountain bike because they didn't know better (it's all in the attitude!) Anybody who laughs ... well, ya know, some people just have to feel bigger than *somebody.* If it makes their day, fine. You're OUT THERE RIDING. Therefore you are ONE OF US.

[tattiefritter]

I used to ride my mtb on the road all the time as it used to be the only bike I had. I still ride an mtb on the road in the winter to commute as it is better at withstanding the potholes of doom in the dark than the roadbike (it also has disk brakes which are much more confidence inspiring than the roadie brakes).

In order to make it a more pleasureable road experience I have done the following:

1) Slick tyres, pumped to max pressure - I now have a dedicated old commuter but originally I swapped between two sets of tyres, one knobbly 2.1s one slick 1.5s, that used the same size innertube (skinny slicks need skinny tubes) it could be a pain but I turned into a demon tyre changer - which after Tuesday nights performance I'm definitely not anymore . It made the MTB fly along and I generally only ride a bit slower than the roadie but for more noticeably more effort.

2) Rigid forks, light but sturdy enough to handle potholes but no bob. Some sus forks can be locked out or air forks can be pumped hard (just remember to reset them before going off road). The bob is only really noticeable for standing pedalling anyway.

3) Bar ends - Give a choice of hand positions, still not as good as a drop bar as you can't reach the brakes etc but still better than a single hand position all the time.

The roadie is still the best tool for the road but on winter commutes the MTB feels indestructible (and I've tried) which is what matters to me then.

[SalsaMTB]

There's no harm in riding your mountain bike on the road. I do it frequently and I own a road bike! It's a harder ride, that's for sure. Dh and I actually have an organized ride from our store on Sunday mornings that is a mountain bikes on the road ride. That's the benefit of having a mountain bike as your only bike instead of a road bike, it can go everywhere!

If you plan on doing it a lot I would recommend slicks to make it a little easier. Changing tires can get annoying though, so if you plan on doing a good mix of on and off road, I would just your tires.

[Tuckervill]

Yeah, I'm not going to change my tires. As soon as I get some time, I'm hitting the woods again, so the nobbies will just have to do on the road until then.

However, the idea of changing tires, etc...wouldn't it be easier (if not cheap) to have entire wheels to change out instead of just the tires? Or is that what y'all mean when you say change the tires?

Thanks for all the encouragement. I must be having a PMS moment, cuz normally I say "screw it" to whatever other people think.

Karen

[Barb]

Once when I first got my road bike, I got passed up by an old man on a Schwinn Typhone. For you youngsters out there, a Typhone is a WORK HORSE of a bike. the thing has to weigh 65 lbs! Yep that old man passed me up waving and smiling like he was on his way to the county picnic! It's all in the attitute.