Forums >Cross Training>Help Me Decide - Mountain Bike or Road Bike?
rectumdamnnearkilledem
Any thoughts on that one?
That's a sweet ride. Someone that does CX races around here has that bike and it never fails to catch my eye. The yellow is that screaming chartreuse color.
Definitely give it a test ride. Worse that can happen is you find it uncomfortable, but it will give you a starting point.
Saddle upgrade…not sure if that really means anything. Saddles are more personal than running shoes, even. I don't exaggerate when I say I went through at least a dozen before finding what didn't make me miserable. Now I have Selle SMP saddles on my road, CX, and tandem. They are goofy looking, but perfect for my needs.
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
~ Sarah Kay
I've NEVER once thought about my saddle or replacing it.
It was stock with the bike, and I've never felt pain.
I think everybody is a little different, but it's possible that you (Mab411) will be fine with whatever saddle happens to be on the the bike you get. (My wife had the same challenges as Zoomy, and it took her a 'couple' of saddles to find one that she didn't omplain about.).
With that being said, don't ride without good padded riding shorts and expect it to be comfortable. Don't wear cut off jeans and expect a comfortable ride.
FWIW, this guy did a full Ironman wearing a cotton t-shirt and cut off jeans on an old school bike.
Life Goals:
#1: Do what I can do
#2: Enjoy life
Running in jeans? That only brings trouble with the law.
I think he was from Tennessee, not Chicago (MTA: nor St. Louis).
I've NEVER once thought about my saddle or replacing it. It was stock with the bike, and I've never felt pain. I think everybody is a little different, but it's possible that you (Mab411) will be fine with whatever saddle happens to be on the the bike you get. (My wife had the same challenges as Zoomy, and it took her a 'couple' of saddles to find one that she didn't omplain about.). With that being said, don't ride without good padded riding shorts and expect it to be comfortable. Don't wear cut off jeans and expect a comfortable ride.
Yeah, we surely don't wear the shorts because they look good…they don't (well, there are a few guys who look good in spandex, but they're the exception). Seams and friction are bad.
Yeah, the saddle thing…my DH generally can ride any saddle without too much issue, though his favorites were a Prologo that came on my road bike and a Fizike…Alliante, I think. I went through so many combinations of saddles, shorts, and chamois butters and still frequently would draw blood in spots. Sensitive spots. Misery (especially once sweat finds its way into an open wound). I held off on trying the SMPs for a long time due to price…they're ~$250/ea. Finally I sucked it up and bought a used one from a friend and it was a total game-changer. Suddenly dropping $250 for a saddle that is comfortable was a no-brainer. I have a pile of $80-150 saddles that didn't work -- that ended up costing a lot more in the end (fortunately there's a huge market for used saddles, because of the amount of experimentation that a lot of riders end up encountering).
Proboscis Colossus
...whereas swimming in cutoffs here in East Texas would make you blend right in!
I'm definitely already a believer in the padded shorts/tights, based on my wife's experiences thus far. In fact, when I calculate the cost of this, I'm pretty much factoring in (in order of importance): the helmet/mirror, padded shorts, some kind of light, clips/shoes, jersey.
Had a thought about that bike I posted about earlier: would that eye-catching color scheme make it more prone to theft? We live in a fairly low-crime neighborhood (and on a cul-de-sac, to boot) and would keep our bikes in the garage, which is usually closed. When we travel, DW's bike is on a rack with a pretty hefty cable/lock on it, but since we know that won't slow down a thief with the right tools, we usually try to leave one person in the car at pit stops, or park it where we can see it from the restaurant. DW has never, like, taken it into town for shopping, leaving it in front of the store, and I don't anticipate that being a thing for us in the future. All the same, if brightly-colored bikes traditionally get stolen more often than more subtle ones, that might be a factor.
That said, DW's bike is pretty eye-catching, itself:
"God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people
That is gorgeous…a Ruby? DH loves his Roubaix, though I think it's kinda fugly. Not a fan of Spec's arched top tube, personally, and on his big frame it just looks so awkward. It looks a lot better on a smaller frame.
Not sure on the color thing. We're also really paranoid about letting our bikes out of our sight. This must be my flashiest bike. I still get compliments on "him" frequently:
My CX bike is white and metallic royal blue with lime green tape (the bike in my avatar and profile photo). Doesn't garner much attention. Mountain bike is sort of a tomato/persimmon color. Also doesn't elicit many comments/compliments. Fat bike (which the rugrat begs to ride at every opportunity -- and it weighs half as much as he does) still gets noticed, but less so than it did even a year ago. They're becoming sorta commonplace around here with all of the snow and sand. Lots of fat bike-specific races, now.
I can't offer much help since I bought my last bike in 1997 (Specialized M2 stumpjumper comp) but I just wanted to extol the virtues of the Fat Bike as trail groomer. I ran some trails last weekend with about 6 inches of snow on them and someone had ridden a fat bike along most of the trail. I was just in normal running shoes (no yak trax or anything) since it was a 75% road, 25% trail run and their tire tracks made for the most perfect running surface ever. So thank you, fat biker. Er ... that came out wrong. Thank you, rider of a fat bike.
Runners run
Have you checked out the Trek FX series of bikes?
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/town/fitness/fx/
I have one of these, and I think it might fit the bill for you. I've gotten it up fast enough that I'm able to go on shorter group rides with "road bikers". I'm not the fastest but not the slowest either. And I wasn't falling behind everyone at a couple of local sprint triathlons on it (in fact, took second in my age group in one of them, and out of like 30 people).
But it's also not as fussy as a road bike, and it's VERY easy to handle. It's great for running quick errands. It's not a mountain bike, though - it's not going to handle well on trails beyond a crushed cinder rail trail.
Hybrids are generally VERY relaxed geometry, lower-end components, heavy, and flat-bar'd…so there is only one hand position. I frankly don't understand why anyone planning to ride mostly on the road or non-technical trails wouldn't want drop bars.
Okay, I can actually answer this one for myself. I'm 5'1", and when I use anything other than the top of a drop bar, I can't see traffic as well. When I picked up my current bike (a Trek FX) I was actually very open-minded about what type of bike to get, and price wasn't really an issue. I took some road bikes out for test drives, and couldn't see ANYTHING. Since one of the uses I wanted out of a bike was as a commuter, and my commute went right by the bike shop.... I went with the bike that had me in a position with the best visibility.
Whatever you end up purchasing, be sure to be ready to trash talk any and all different cyclists.
Road bikers think MTBrs are baggy clothes wearing downhill idiots. CXr's think roadies are wusses with no skills. MTBr's think roadies are spandex freaks and CXr's are all drunks. And EVERYONE hates trigeeks!
I own all four types of bike. BMC Road Racer. Stevens TeamCyclocross. Trek Superfly 29er. Cervelo P2. Oh, and a beach cruiser.
Seriously - I enjoy them all, but zoomie is right - CX is the most fun and most versatile. And the race scene is more about heckling, beer, and waffles than winning. Good stuff.
Hitler isn't big on CX either.
http://youtu.be/qPNCgda4xD0
Ha, I did bacon hand-ups when I busted my right wrist late in the '12 season. All of the dogs at the race figured out that if they hung out 20 feet or so beyond me that there'd be lots of bacon from racer fumbles.
Whatever you end up purchasing, be sure to be ready to trash talk any and all different cyclists. Road bikers think MTBrs are baggy clothes wearing downhill idiots. CXr's think roadies are wusses with no skills. MTBr's think roadies are spandex freaks and CXr's are all drunks. And EVERYONE hates trigeeks! I own all four types of bike. BMC Road Racer. Stevens TeamCyclocross. Trek Superfly 29er. Cervelo P2. Oh, and a beach cruiser. Seriously - I enjoy them all, but zoomie is right - CX is the most fun and most versatile. And the race scene is more about heckling, beer, and waffles than winning. Good stuff. Hitler isn't big on CX either. http://youtu.be/qPNCgda4xD0
Well see, now I'm even more confused than I was...if I get a CX bike, what am I supposed to think of the MTB'rs? This is important, since my brother-in-law is one.
Got the shop owner to send me a pic of that bike...slightly different colors than the one I posted. A lot more pink. But just as 80's, if not more so:
It's a custom build - he bought the frame, which I think he said is some sort of limited-edition number.
105 shifters (can someone relate the difference between those and SRAM?)
DT Swiss 1.0 wheels
Front crank is an FSA Gossamer
BB30 bottom bracket
The saddle is some kind of limited edition.
...if that makes any sense. Since I'm not familiar with the different kinds of components, I just wrote down what I heard him say.
He also threw out there that he's selling one of his personal road bikes, too...a Felt F6. $1000. Has 300 miles on it. He didn't list any special components, which makes me think it's all stock. That a crazy deal?
Well see, now I'm even more confused than I was...if I get a CX bike, what am I supposed to think of the MTB'rs? This is important, since my brother-in-law is one. Got the shop owner to send me a pic of that bike...slightly different colors than the one I posted. A lot more pink. But just as 80's, if not more so: It's a custom build - he bought the frame, which I think he said is some sort of limited-edition number. 105 shifters (can someone relate the difference between those and SRAM?) DT Swiss 1.0 wheels Front crank is an FSA Gossamer BB30 bottom bracket The saddle is some kind of limited edition. ...if that makes any sense. Since I'm not familiar with the different kinds of components, I just wrote down what I heard him say. He also threw out there that he's selling one of his personal road bikes, too...a Felt F6. $1000. Has 300 miles on it. He didn't list any special components, which makes me think it's all stock. That a crazy deal?
What's he asking for the CX bike? What year is the F6?
Pretty nice mid-level specs on that CX bike. Love that insane color scheme!!
Difference between Shimano and SRAM is more in how the shifter levers work. SRAM does everything with just the little shifter levers. Shimano gear changes sometimes use the little levers, but for other shifts requires sweeping the entire brake/shifter "brifter" assembly. I hated it. And I like the loud, beefy clack of SRAM. Shimano is quieter and more subtle, but with SRAM there is a solid feel to the shifting. and SRAM tends to fit smaller hands better (even with the smaller Shimano shifters I had a hard time making the full brifter sweeps without taking my hands totally off the hoods, where I probably ride 80-90% of the time unless I'm racing) That said, I prefer the shifter hand mechanism of the Shimano Deore shifters on my mountain bike…because they work better with smaller hands without going to twist shifters. Go figure!
What's he asking for the CX bike? What year is the F6? Pretty nice mid-level specs on that CX bike. Love that insane color scheme!! Difference between Shimano and SRAM is more in how the shifter levers work. SRAM does everything with just the little shifter levers. Shimano gear changes sometimes use the little levers, but for other shifts requires sweeping the entire brake/shifter "brifter" assembly. I hated it. And I like the loud, beefy clack of SRAM. Shimano is quieter and more subtle, but with SRAM there is a solid feel to the shifting. and SRAM tends to fit smaller hands better (even with the smaller Shimano shifters I had a hard time making the full brifter sweeps without taking my hands totally off the hoods, where I probably ride 80-90% of the time unless I'm racing) That said, I prefer the shifter hand mechanism of the Shimano Deore shifters on my mountain bike…because they work better with smaller hands without going to twist shifters. Go figure!
They're asking $1500 for the Crux...not sure what year the F6 is. I don't see it listed on Felt's website, and the first hit on the Google search brought up a magazine review from 2012. So, I'm guessing a couple of years old. Which makes me wonder why it only has 300 miles on it. Not particularly worried about it, since I'm kind of leaning toward either a CX or mountain bike after our conversation here. I'll definitely give it a look when I'm there tomorrow, though. If it's the bike in that review I linked to, sounds like it's a carbon frame, which would be nice for that price.
Showed that CX picture to my BIL, the one that's a mountain biker (as in, he worked at a bike shop), and his first question was about the size, which is 54cm. He feels like I'm at least a 56, so I guess we'll see.
Thanks for the explanation of Shimano vs. SRAM. At DW's last race, at one of the aid stations, I talked to a lady who had almost the same bike as DW, but she had upgraded the shifters to something that only required a light tap on the shifters because she'd had a very bad accident at a race years before and her hands weren't strong enough for the other kind. Wondering if that was the upgrade she was talking about.
MTA: Oh, and I never answered your question about my wife's bike...yep, it's a Ruby. She LOVES it!