Noob Question..MTB on road

[shutterman]

Still early days for me had my bike 6 days and having not been on a bike for nearly a decade. I wanted to get some miles under my belt/fitness levels up.

On my travels all i see is road bikes, do people with mtb keep them strictly for trails? Don't half get some odd looks, have a point on my route where i stop,stretch and drink. Twice now roadies have said to me i shouldnt be on the road with this bike, as it's not built for the road

Is this normal? Are they correct?

Anyone suggest what is a decent level at this early stage for me, in terms of average mph, total miles etc,etc?

Riding a Saracen Team fs Kili comp which can be seen in the saracen lovers thread (page 44)

 

[IDB1]

Still early days for me had my bike 6 days and having not been on a bike for nearly a decade. I wanted to get some miles under my belt/fitness levels up.

Sounds familiar

Twice now roadies have said to me i shouldnt be on the road with this bike, as it's not built for the road

I think I would find it hard to resist informing them that they shouldn't be on the road seeing as there's no way they can see where they are going with their heads jammed that far up their own arses.
Unless they were huge, ugly and scary looking.

 

[JeRkY]

Roadies have spent many years earning a reputation of being elitist cnuts. ofcourse a mountain bike can go on the road, although other types of bike are better suited.

Just like to point out I own a road bike, and dont think that all roadies are as I described, but the roadie tribe does seem to have picked up this rep.

 

[shutterman]

Don't get me wrong they were nice enough, save a couple of them who were complete nobs. I guess there is a big divide between roadies and trail riders? Seems silly really as we all have a common goal if it's just to be in the great outdoors?

Also having issues with cardiotrainer via g2 phone, was chatting to the roadies about it and noticed they had garmins mounted, so being nosy i asked to see the numbers and was told oh no you can't we have not finished yet.

Will drop my numbers in later, i will say the 1st time out with no legs all i could manage was 4mph average!!

 

[FairfaxPat]

I use my 1991 Funk as my road bike these days, fitted with 1.5 slicks. It works fine on the road, and is fun when I overtake roadies on their fancy machines.

 

[VTFoco2001]

No worries about riding a MTB on the tarmac. Once in a while I put slicks on my bike and it becomes very fast then (climbed the Alpe d'Huez within 1 hour...). Riding on the road for a long time is also no issue. The geometry is ok.

 

[mattbrown]

i mainly ride on the roads, allows me to head offroad if i see a bridleway that looks good, but most of my riding is on the road, but do prefer mtbs on the road around here, due to the quality of them

 

[velomaniac]

The mtb is the most versatile bike being happy on or off road from racing through touring to commuting. Only thing that may need altered is the tyres for what is your intended use.

Today I've ridden my Raleigh MTB Team on tarmac, farmtrack and across fields carrying panniers on a road style balloon tyres.

Roadies that dismiss you are as narrowly defined eejits as their tyres

 

[Steve Kish]

Roadies have spent many years earning a reputation of being elitist cnuts.

Having been a road rider since the sixties and a relative newcomer to off-road, I'd amend this statement to start with the word 'Some'.

It was never like this a few years ago but now with the new breed of road rider, some seem to just roll along dogging it with no style, shades on when it's raining and trying to look cool and determined but only succeeding to look like a kn0b.

I always say hello and on the odd occasion, when passed by a few who ignore me, I latch on the back, pull up to the leader and ask direction to somewhere about 60 miles away. When I'm told I come back with 'Cheers, better press on as I don't have lights and at this pace, I'll get there after dark!'.

BTW, although I have dedicated road and off-road bikes, my most-used one is a Marin Pine Mountain converted to road with just some Conti 26 x 1.2 tyres and a 12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21 cassette. As mentioned, very versatile.

 

[IDB1]

It was never like this a few years ago

Me and my Brother caught flak from roadies in the early 90's so it has been around for quite some time..

You are quite correct though, it is only some.
And they used to get real pissed when we handed them their arses on a plate on the road..

With the state of many roads (especially since The Big Freeze), an MTB is far more suited to the road than a road bike