Mountain VS Road bike

road bike for fitness and MTB for fun!

I use both, Road cycling is a great way to build your cardio base and increase cardio capacity. MTB is closer to riding MX and is a good way to build balance and hand eye coordination when you cant ride MX.

I have actually noticed i have been applying what I learn on my Down Hill rig to riding quite a bit lately!

I do both, but more mountain biking. But I guess I actually race MTB and don't race MX.

I don't see a need for a road bike, just ride your MB on the road. Nothing more fun than getting a road bike guy who has never mountain biked on the trail.

@bvm111 hit the nail on the head.

Both are awesome...

Why do you ask?

Different mental strength required for road riding compared to mtb, I ride real hardcore Xc, a lot of road, bmx occasionally and race DH. All have their own strengths for me when I get on my mx bike.

I personally enjoy getting on my road bike and disappearing for 4 hours or so, sometimes it's just nice to go and ride without the intensity of hammering through trees at warp speed, I dare say that along with the mental side is why the road is so popular as a training method.

Learn how to chainsaw the corners with the rear mate, it's wild on a push bike.

Much harder jump mTb than mx, throttle makes it so easy.

Road bikes look painfull.. All hunched over with that seat up you bum..

No thanks, give me a big heavy DH bike anyday..

and no thats not me..

VO2 max.

I guess it depends on where you live, no hills or mountains then maybe that's why some ride road bikes. Florida is pretty flat where Cali has lots of hills.

the goal is to not get hurt while training to do what pays the bills. less risk of injury on a road bike.

I love my road bikes and I love my mountain bikes. But I can honestly say that I have never, ever had a tree turn left in front of me.

Bingo. I enjoy both road and mountain but the frequency of hitting the ground is much less on the road.

I can ride my road bike out the door, mt I have to haul at least 30 minutes.

If you're going for a specific time/effort goal, and more consistent pace, road bikes are the way to go.

If you're looking for something closer to an MX experience, it's mountain bikes all the way.

Of course, you can also do both. I try to get three or four rides in per week on the road (it's easier to go from our offices at lunch on road rides), and hit at least one MTB ride per weekend.

I do both and love them both. For me, the practical considerations are the greatest.

Bicycles are stupid expensive. However, the difference between a 800-3500 on a road bike doesn't matter so much but on a mountain bike it does. Road bike - no suspension and brakes don't really matter. Mountain bike, that stuff matters and that's where the big price differences come in.

You can buy a semi-decent road bike and get away with little more than tires and chain lube for quite a few years. They don't break and wear out like a mountain bike does. Mountain bike - they get dirty and moving parts don't like dirt. I am constantly cleaning, adjusting, replacing worn parts and such on my mtb. I can get 2 years out of heavy duty road bike tires. Maybe 5 months on a mtb if I am lucky. But that is mostly due to the rocks and thorns here in AZ.

Road bike - cars suck! but you can leave right from your house for a quick ride. MTB - you have to load up and go somewhere unless you are lucky enough to live by sweet trails.

i thought the same way until i was hit while on a road ride. cars just dont pay any attention to road bikes. myself i have a fixed gear road bike and have enjoyed training on it way more than what i would of thought. i myself would say a combination of both is best because they both have advantages.

road isn't very friendly where i live, too many hills. mountain biking is where it's at. from my house i can do about 25 miles one way and 30 the other. within a 15 minute drive i can be surrounded by a complex system of trails with 100's of miles, not to mention the downhill courses at the ski resorts.

i've never tried road biking, doesn't seem like my cup, but mountain biking? fuck yeah bro

Same here..I bought a new Mnt bike last winter and didn't use it much in the beginning of the summer because we had a wet spring, in addition I also have a 30+ min drive to the trails. A road bike is more convenient because I can head right out the garage..that being said my friend is in awesome shape..to fit his schedule he rides his road bike during the week after work and then the Mnt bike on the weekends when he has more time.

There's no better way to train cardio than mountain biking. If you're just riding fire roads, that isn't what I'm talking about. The gnarly hills are the key.

I used to be a runner @7-7:30 minute/mile pace (and down in the 6's when I ran a lot) until I went mountain biking with some serious mountain biker friends of mine.
I was gasping for breath trying to keep up. I couldn't believe it! Was all my running for nothing?

There's this one hill by my house that I thought was a really cool downhill. I thought no one in their right mind would try to climb it. Sure enough, they all went right up it like it was nothing!

So, that day, 3 years ago, I stopped running and started mountain biking. Now I scale most of those same hills, and my endurance is pretty good. When I was racing 2 years ago, I could do 50 minute sessions all out on the main track at Pala. I believe that's because of weights, and mountain biking.

So, the differences:

For one, when riding the street you have to deal with cars. In So Cal, I have no interest. People driving cars aren't looking for bicycles, so you can never assume anyone in a car is going to do the right thing. They'll look right at you, then pull out in front of you as you go through an intersection.

Mountain biking is all you. If you crash, it's your fault, and you won't have to fight with a car. For me, this is the same reason I don't ride a street motorcycle. I'd feel safer doing doubles on a track.

Fitness wise the hills are great. Not only do you have to do short sprints up the steep stuff, at the same time you have to balance your weight to navigate the rocks, roots, and to keep your back wheel from spinning.
It's a lot of work and that work turns into fitness.

Street is great if you want to ride a mostly steady pace, with your heart rate remaining fairly steady. Sure there are hills, but it's less intense than mountain biking. I'd say it's similar to distance running in that way. You'll be able to transfer some of your street bike riding into MX, but a lot less than dirt.

With mountain biking, the training is less like distance running and more like interval training where you run at a strong pace, with intervals of 200-1000 meter sprints thrown in. In my opinion there's no better way to train cardio than mountain biking.

I believe mountain biking is better cardio training than MX, but I believe MX is better endurance training than mountain biking. I say this because of the number of muscles used in MX whereas mountain biking includes intervals of intense cardio, MX includes intervals of taxing various muscle groups.

Doing both, plus adding in weight training is unbelievable for fitness.

Back to transferring skills between mountain biking and MX:
You can muscle a mountain bike around and it'll actually move. Do that on a motorcycle and it'll just wear you out. It's better to practice your balance on the bike, muscle it less, and use finesse. It's better form in both MX and mountain biking. No need to introduce bad habits. If you do this, I believe you can transfer a lot of your skills back and forth between mountain biking and MX. But damn I wish I had a throttle some times .

I now like the uphills when mountain biking just as much as the downhills. The challenge is great, and the payoff is endurance.

I know a lot of people who love to ride street. It's simply not for me. I need the dirt .

Well said Radical dude..

I had that same problem when I first started riding clipped in MTB! I would actually twist my right wrist and hope the bike would accelerate!

Being clipped in you are forced to have both feet up on the pedals when going through turns, I learned to really carry a lot of momentum with both feet up. I just started riding MX again after a long layoff and I was amazed at how much longer I stay standing into the corners and go deep with both feet up. There are a couple berms I actually stay standing the whole way through the apex!

I also seem to ride lighter on the pegs and out of habit I unload my weight through certain sections of rollers and small jumps almost pre jumping over and using the unloaded suspension to soak up impact. I don't think I'm doing it on purpose, I just think it is out of habit.

Not sure if that made sense.

Training is way more effective on a road bike, hands down no comparison. I've raced mountain bikes for a long while, but now only ride them for fun. On my road bike I just leave my house and am in the mountains for nonstop climbing any day of the week. You gota like pain though. Four hour ride at near your threshold will put you in shape or kill you. Lol. Fuckin road bikes, can easily cost more than a Dungey edition.

Like many have said, using both- each for their own strengths, is great. If you have to choose only one, then MTB. Just make sure to switch your brake cables so the front is on your right.

That's a detail that allows you to pick out the MX guys from the MTB-only guys.

H

I have 2 MTB 1 is a 26" hardtail and the other a 29er full suspension. I put close to 3000 miles on the 29er this past summer but am looking at getting a roadie next spring to do more miles and hopefully get in my first 100 mile non stop ride in as my furthest on the MTB has been 48 miles.

The one plus a roadie has over an MTB is the fact that there are far more hot chicks on roadies