chas58

I agree. Long, low, slack, suspension is only fun downhill. I want an agile bike that is fun everwhere. I would rather be underbiked - to ride slow bike fast, than a fast bike slow.

chas58

I see your point. But I've been mountain biking as long as Gary Fischer - and I find that being underbiked makes a boring trail fun again. But riding a fast downhill mountain bike on anything not downhill to me is boring. I want that thrill even if I'm just riding around my neighborhood.

Leinster

I don't have an off-road-suitable bike in my quiver, and I've taken my Columbus steel frame, Campag 11-speed, single-pivot-rim-brakes, 23c tire road bike through some hard-pack dirt trails in recent weeks, and it's a lot of fun. It is not, as Riveting says, fast, however.

Kapusta

No. F'ing. Way.

Rigid is fine on occasion to bring life to otherwise less challenging trails (and I do have a rigid fat bike), but for me there is no greater joy on 2 wheels than riding challenging terrain with downhills on a decent FS bike.

Honestly, I'd quit road riding and take up another sport before I gave up my FS bike.

Rigid MTB or beefy gravel bike is certainly the most versatile... but for me it is definitely not the most fun.

Notso_fastLane

If I could have only one? It would have to be a velomobile. That's literally the only thing that keeps me riding all winter. I prefer two wheels, so I like having a recumbent for the nice weather, but I would give it up before I give up the velo.

chas58

True. Its not fast. But that does not mean its not fun. I have a "road bike" (geometry wise) that takes 54mm front 40mm rear tires. Its fun. Its amazingly fast on rolling single track- and at 17lbs it climbs like it has a motor. That is fun. So is wearing out guys on full sus mountain bikes when riding single track. a 30+++ lb bike just takes it out of ya eventually. Its also fun doing "A" road rides with $5000 dedicated road bikes on 23mm tires, where people stare at me because I have the fattest tires on the ride. Its my one bike.
Yeah, I'm "faster" on my mountain bike. But I traded in fast for fun long ago. Mountain bikes these days are so good they get boring.

Leinster

Oh I'm completely with you on everything you say (except my 23c tire bike probably weighs 19-20ish, so that's why you'll fly past me uphill...). The trails I struggled with on my skinny tires, especially that 3/4" gravel that my wheels were just itching to slide out on, I'm pretty sure I would've flown around with just a bit more volume. And maybe disc brakes, there are a couple of tricky downhill bits.

bwilli88 

This

Kapusta

They make FS mtbs well under 30 lbs, you know.

chas58

1) LOL, true - kinda. Plenty of people ride fully ridged bikes on trails that are not rough. Brings some of the fun back into it. But anything loamy or hardpack is fine on a ridged bike. Rock gardens or lots of verical - not so much. But you knew that.

My point is: Fat tired road bike (AKA Gravel bike) is fun on road rides and fun on single track. Not the fastest on either, but lots of fun.

Mountain bikes are a ball on single track, and boring on anything else. Actually, modern mountain bikes are boring on most single track. I had quit riding all but the most aggressive single track around here – but using a gravel/CX bike on them with 50+mm tires is a friggen ball. I’ve fallen back in love with many of these trails.

On my drop bar bike, I’ve done hard road group rides, crits, single track – even seen similar bikes win our cross country races (i.e. 25+ miles of single track). I’ve spent years using my hard-tail as my single bike (I’ll get dropped on fast road rides, but its not bad for a 100 mile (windless) day). But realistically as mountain bikes get longer, lower, slacker, more upright, wider handlebars, etc. – they get better at single track and worse at everything else (including less aggressive singletrack). If I was going to pick a mountain bike - I'd get a light XC hardtail - but those are not too far off from a good Gravel/CX bike.

2) It shocks me how many bike reviews have hardtails that weigh over 30lbs. Naturally if you spend enough money you can get something lighter. But gosh, over recent years, a lot of mountain bikes have gotten heavy. I realize a lot of this weight is in bigger tires (and wheels).

Paul Barnard

This one without question. Wearing the pictured tires and rims, I get get in a pretty darned sporty ride. Wearing the tires and rims that are on it now, it's the ideal multi-surface machine for CO where I am heading tomorrow. I can go to larger tires yet for old school rigid mountain biking. I can dress it out for touring as well. It's the best bike I have ever owned period.

chas58

True Again. You are 2 for. No one is gonna win an argument with you, lol. I see your passion for your bike.

"One Bike" is going to be dependent on where you live and what your passion is. But if you are focused on one discipline - get a bike for that. I have half a dozen different bikes in my quiver - but the gravelish bike is my N-1. Yeah, I don't do aggressive mountain biking on it, nor do I ride it on the velodrome. But if you need suspension – obviously get it. (or join the crowd for simplicity and go ridged single speed if that floats your boat)

(P.S. if there is climbing, its not hard to wear out someone on a bike that weighs twice as much (again, kinda obvious)).

Random11

Not a hypothetical question for me. I only have one bike: a Specialized Diverge. I mostly ride it on pavement, but have taken it on gravel and some rougher trails. It's clear to me why "gravel" has the most votes in the poll.

canklecat

Drop bar touring bike.

Or traditional swept bar city bike.