DreamRider85

What is considered a more admiral sport? The thing I love about riding my road bike is speed. My mountain bike doesn't get very good speed on the mountains. And I'm not sure I like going downhill very much on the mountains because it feels dicey at times and requires a lot of guts and skill.

But I guess the benefit of mountain biking is you can get a challenging workout both physically and mentally, but at the same time it can be fun to get a little dirty and be in the woods, mountains, etc.. Some people know how to do a lot of tricks and in that sense it can look cooler than road cycling, but I'm not the one for tricks. I can barely descend down a hill with my mountain bike.

With mountain biking, unless you know a lot of tricks, I think it's more about being in the mountains, then the actual ride, whereas with road cycling, it's probably a little more about the ride, although a good scene can help. With road biking, if you're not doing trails, you're surrounded by a lot of cars, and even if you don't get hit, you're filling up your lungs with car pollution. Whereas when you ride in the woods, you're giving your lungs a lot of fresh air and actually benefiting your system.

Right now I'm just getting obsessed with my bikes. I have both mountain and an ALR Road. I am doing the roads too, but slowly. Doing a lot of MUP as well and am slowly doing the mountains. So a little bit of everything.

Machka 

Admiral?

Do you mean admirable?

Admirable: "arousing or deserving respect and approval"


If so ... then neither one. They're both good in their own way. But it is kind of limiting to do a mountain bike vs road bike comparison. What about all the other types of cycling? What about the variations within those types of cycling?

Try one, try them all ... pick the type(s) of cycling you like. Variety is the spice of life ... but if you prefer to specialise, that's OK too.



About this ... not necessarily.

I cycle on the road in a lot of places where there are hardly any cars and thus hardly any car pollution.

This is my favourite road ... best road I've encountered in my cycling adventures through 13 countries. When I lived near there, I used to go out and ride it every few weeks during the summer.

Count the cars ... that's pretty much how many were out there. Maybe one or two more.

Doctor Morbius

Beautiful! That looks like cycling heaven.

10 Wheels

Go for it.

Canker

My big local facebook bike group is 90% road bikes. I think a lot of it has to do with ease of getting started/fear of getting hurt. Anybody can get a road bike and head out their front door and ride. Mtn biking requires you to be able to get to a trail head and for some reason people think it is more scary than having cars flying 2ft from you at 50mph . When I do a road ride they all seem surprised when I say road riding scares me a lot more than mtn biking. This has been a bad year for my local group. Seems like somebody has been hit by a car every month and we have had multiple dog bites. It just doesn't do it for me but when it is raining all the time I have to get a ride in some how. I hate riding with cars and the idea of sliding on asphalt doesn't appeal to me. Road biking is great exercise since you can just pick a level of effort and sustain it for long periods of time. Mtn biking is more about fun IMO, your effort has to vary a lot just due to the terrain.

Darth Lefty 

I think this forum skews road-bike. I wonder what response you'd get on MTBR

DreamRider85

I hear you. I'm very wary of the road myself. I love road bikes. I ride them on the long trails. I started testing out some roads too, but man it's not very relaxing. These cars are pretty close and I just don't get how anyone could be relaxed like that. Maybe I'll test out some routes where there are less cars. Because just being around these fast and noisy cars is stressful. I love road bikes though, I love the speed.

I am praying that in the future, road cycling becomes safe due to change in society and infrastructure. We can pretend all we want that it's safe, but like you said someone gets hit every month in your group. People on here write they have 3 close calls in a day. There are more accidents then reported. I even overheard that by other cyclists today.

Machka 

That future won't likely come until after you're long gone. So ... deal with it.

You have choices:

Stop whining, take a bicycle handling course, and learn to ride on the road.
Ride on less busy roads.
Ride on trails and MUPs.
Go mountain biking.

Just to name a few.


Meanwhile ... have a look at this thread:
https://www.bikeforums.net/living-car...like-ride.html

DreamRider85

Well I choose to be optimistic. Look at this video from a couple years ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYthMxhSyH4

Shows they are WORKING on my vision. It's not just coming from me. Anyways, I was reading about a cyclist who got killed by a driver texting on the highway and it was gonna be a highway that I was going to do. That's why I think we need better solutions.

MMLC

We have been offered a false dichotomy much like asking what is better; beer or wine?

cyccommute 

I would say a mostly false dichotomy. If you want to learn how to handle a bike in a hurry, go with mountain biking. You'll learn more about cornering, braking, climbing and steering in an afternoon of mountain biking than you'll learn in a year of road biking. There's not a lot about road biking that flows the other way, however.

rydabent

Why set them at odds with one another. Let everyone chose which ever they like best, or better yet do both if you like.

Jim from Boston

Your opinion on Mountain biking vs Road Biking

Soon after my second child was born, I came home from work, and kiddingly asked my wfe and then-eight-year-old son, "Well, how's my favorite child, and the how's the other one?." He cleverly replied, I'm fine."

GovernorSilver

You forgot cyclocross - that's a popular sport here in the DC area. Apparently its popular all over the US.

TheLibrarian

Mountain biking is better.

and more admiral.

Leebo

The term is called a cyclist. Im not a roadie, but I commute and tour. Also do errands and such by bike. I also mt bike and have a fat bike as well. I also do some off road commuting. All good.

unterhausen

there is no "versus" in this case. Around here, almost everyone rides MTB, because we have some of the greatest mountain biking anywhere just outside of town. Our roads, on the other hand, are nothing special and are populated by angry, stupid people. So it's a no-brainer.

Bandera

Isn't going too fast on the MUP how you ran over a five year old girl in the Trolling thread: "Is it weird to ride just on trails?"

-Bandera

corrado33

Road biking where I live is boring. It's almost completely flat until you get to the mountains, then it almost always turns into dirt road which is a no-no for normal road bikes. Any elevation change not directly associated with a mountain is generally a very long gradual grade on a very straight road.

Mountain biking, on the other hand, is very prolific here. However, if you don't like going downhill and feel nervous/uncomfortable, you should probably stick to the roads. The whole point (for most people) of mountain biking is suffering on the uphill to have a glorious/fast/crazy downhill. That's why we suffer carrying full face helmets and pads on the uphill, so we can use them and be safe on the downhill.

It all depends on what you're in to. Personally I consider road biking exercise and mountain biking fun.

spdracr39

They are both enjoyable and totally different. Some people prefer one over the other I do both and love them both. Tricks on the MTB are not required just as crit racing on the road bike isn't. Everyone has their own requirements and desires for pleasure. If you are just riding for fitness I think the MTB gives you more bang for the buck but it all depends on the terrain you ride in.

Jim from Boston

I note you post in Happy Valley, PA. There Is a Fifty-Plus Annual Bike Ride for Columbus day weekend at Lake Raystown Resort in Entriken, Pennsylvania. Is that anywhere nearby? They offer both types of rides.

I'm bringing both road and mountain bikes, though I'm pretty much a road cyclist (only) and the mountain bike is my beater (rain, snow, and salt) bike.

WNCGoater

Which is best?
Well, mountain biking by far!.... that is, when I'm mountain biking.
But road biking rules!.....when I'm riding the roads.

I love 'em both and neither one nor the other is "better", "preferable", "safer", or requires any need to "do tricks" to enjoy. When I'm on my mountain bike I'm a little kid again. When I'm on my road bike laying down 40 miles or riding a century I feel like an athlete. Just go ride, whatever your flavor of the day, it's all good. Neither is more "admiral" (sic) than the other.

But if I worried and wrung my hands over being nervous about downhilling on a mountain bike or getting hit by a car on a road bike, heck I'd just give it all up and take up sewing.

indyfabz

Not sure exactly what constitutes "Happy Valley," but I rode across PA last year, stayed just north of Bellefonte and then road through the Nittany Valley and then crossed over to the Brush Valley on the way to Raymond Winter S.P. This was on a weekday. Most of the route east of Bellefonte was traffic lite and pretty nice. Hadn't been in the Brush Valley since '08. It was nice to see it again.

fietsbob

In the US, outside of publicly owned parks*, off road you have to sort out the access with the property owner,
to ride off the public right of way. ie Highways.

* BLM lands are public , but some lease holders may act like they Bought it.

jsigone

I don't do tricks on the MTB, too many urgent care trips.

MTB : strength and LT training
Roadie: speed and endurance

I have 3 MTBS and 2 roadies and one do it all cross rig w/ disc brakes. Ride everything and follow N+1 rules