Why are mountain bikes so popular?
#101
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#102
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Yah if you want to go SLOW on a highway, then get a MTB. All the local tour guys I saw in SE Asia were riding them. My 120 lb Rohloff 700c roadster dropped them like flies, even at half my weight. Actually, on my worst day I had one of them for company off/on. 12 out of 13 miles were clay slime with three 9%/10% hills of 2 or 3 miles. Took 4 hours with digging out my front fender and all. He only went faster downhill. One hill he walked up and I rode up rather easily, right behind him. We finished together, then differed on a city route from there. Even the cars could barely get thru the muck at 3 mph. I was SO glad with my front drum brake.
Would you go downhill on pavement at 40 mph on that POS?? I doubt it.
I would choose a Pashley over a MTB ANY day of the week. Including cross country. I guess very few adults ever rode those Raleigh Sports 3 spds, so I guess they never learned how handy and comfortable they could be. Too bad. Then those hatchet 10 speeds came along and were roundly dissed.
Would you go downhill on pavement at 40 mph on that POS?? I doubt it.
I would choose a Pashley over a MTB ANY day of the week. Including cross country. I guess very few adults ever rode those Raleigh Sports 3 spds, so I guess they never learned how handy and comfortable they could be. Too bad. Then those hatchet 10 speeds came along and were roundly dissed.
Last edited by GamblerGORD53; 01-15-17 at 09:23 PM.
#103
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Oh yeah. I owned a 63 Schwinn Varsity in 1964. It was a 10-speed with down Tube shifters. It was painted Coppertone (which I thought looked gold colored). It had the leather (Schwinn approved) saddle, and gold plastic handlebar tape. It was very lightweight at about 40 pounds.
#104
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Oh yeah. I owned a 63 Schwinn Varsity in 1964. It was a 10-speed with down Tube shifters. It was painted Coppertone (which I thought looked gold colored). It had the leather (Schwinn approved) saddle, and gold plastic handlebar tape. It was very lightweight at about 40 pounds.
I picked up a Varsity for $5 at a garage sale in 2006. Changed out the handlebars to something that was more suitable for me to use as a utility hauler with a $10 trailer also of garage sale provenance. Both still work just fine today.
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Riders of racers call their bikes roadies and many assume every other bike design is not suited to the road. They don't even call their bikes racers anymore, yet that is what they are and that is what they are suited for. Road racing on smooth surfaces devoid of railway crossings, cracks, potholes and most importantly vehicular traffic. A flatbar hybrid with road tires is a vastly superior choice for today's suburban roadscape.
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That wider tires and a less twitchy steering is a safer ride for suburban and highway environments. Please stop all the ranting about drop bars too, I never even mentioned them? Bars are bars, you can put whatever bars you like on but I have ridden a racer and I know what it feel like when the front locks up on a dry downhill, I have never had that happen on a bike with wide tires.
OP suggested MTB bikes were
" a little over rated in the eyes of the general public and way too popular for no good reason."
I was simply refuting that statement by bringing a little reality to the discussion. Look down your nose on us hybrid roadie riders if you like, we're not caught up in all the bull*hit of matching cloths and designer sunglasses so we don't care.
OP suggested MTB bikes were
" a little over rated in the eyes of the general public and way too popular for no good reason."
I was simply refuting that statement by bringing a little reality to the discussion. Look down your nose on us hybrid roadie riders if you like, we're not caught up in all the bull*hit of matching cloths and designer sunglasses so we don't care.
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I see you are another "if it isn't a racer it isn't a real bike" type. Well sorry to burst your bubble but what you believe has not come from personal rational thought, it has come from marketing hype and peer pressure. Ride what you want, don't be a slave to fashion.
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If I wanted to do that, which I don't, because I have a life, I would put drop bars on. There is nothing special about the frame on a racer, get the saddle height right on any bike almost, the tires width right and all you have left is a few grams of extra material to push up hills.
I see you are another "if it isn't a racer it isn't a real bike" type. Well sorry to burst your bubble but what you believe has not come from personal rational thought, it has come from marketing hype and peer pressure. Ride what you want, don't be a slave to fashion.
I see you are another "if it isn't a racer it isn't a real bike" type. Well sorry to burst your bubble but what you believe has not come from personal rational thought, it has come from marketing hype and peer pressure. Ride what you want, don't be a slave to fashion.
#109
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That wider tires and a less twitchy steering is a safer ride for suburban and highway environments. Please stop all the ranting about drop bars too, I never even mentioned them? Bars are bars, you can put whatever bars you like on but I have ridden a racer and I know what it feel like when the front locks up on a dry downhill, I have never had that happen on a bike with wide tires.
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Same for this one:
Learn to ride before telling other people what to ride, maybe?
As with frame material debates, all we are really discussing is preference and prejudice.
Wide tires do not make a bike more stable---one can crash on Any bike. An upright riding position confers no specific comfort or safety advantage. An "MTB" frame is just a frame; true many "MTB" frames have slacker geometry than some road frames, but if the difference of a few degrees in head-tube angle makes a bike unrideable for a specific rider, that is the rider, not the bike.
I say again: I have done a lot of commuting on a flatbar and drop bar bikes, with "MTB" frames and "road" frames, and some on a full-suspension MTB.
THEY ALL WORK. And except for the F/S (which was too far out of its element to convey its specific benefits) They all work about as well.
All the rest is preference and prejudice. Some of it is eloquently defended, but eloquence does not change facts.
#111
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I like winter project bikes. I bought a Rootbeer colored Continental for $20, 3-4 years ago. I reconditioned it and cleaned it up. It rode and handled EXACTLY as I remembered my old Varsity as riding. It was a wonderful trip back in time. I didn't keep the Continental for very long... but practically gave it away to a guy who's Continental had been stolen.
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#113
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****
Let's back up a minute here. There will always be enthusiasts (most of us here) who want to ride trails, or just road, or whatever discipline of cycling they love...mostly a number of different ones. Most Americans just want a bike they can putt around with and go on rides with their kids or whatever. In the event they actually go to a bike shop and not xmart, there are usually some pretty inexpensive mountain bikes that make a lot more sense for them to buy than anything else. We used to sell a ton of Haro Flightlines at I think around $350 a pop. They were usually better outfitted than similarly priced hybrids (a lot of people REALLY want front suspension, and those are much more expensive).
MTBs are also pretty rugged, have beefier wheels, and are less sensitive to different heights. They are seen as low maintenance. A lot of Americans buying bikes aren't necessarily fit, not is cycling their main activity. It's just something that can do around their neighborhood a few times a year on a nice spring or fall day, and they want to be comfortable and not push big gears. They don't care if a knobby tire is less efficient on pavement. All they want is a bike they can pump up, hop on and go a few times around their neighborhood or greenway, and be comfortable on.
Let's back up a minute here. There will always be enthusiasts (most of us here) who want to ride trails, or just road, or whatever discipline of cycling they love...mostly a number of different ones. Most Americans just want a bike they can putt around with and go on rides with their kids or whatever. In the event they actually go to a bike shop and not xmart, there are usually some pretty inexpensive mountain bikes that make a lot more sense for them to buy than anything else. We used to sell a ton of Haro Flightlines at I think around $350 a pop. They were usually better outfitted than similarly priced hybrids (a lot of people REALLY want front suspension, and those are much more expensive).
MTBs are also pretty rugged, have beefier wheels, and are less sensitive to different heights. They are seen as low maintenance. A lot of Americans buying bikes aren't necessarily fit, not is cycling their main activity. It's just something that can do around their neighborhood a few times a year on a nice spring or fall day, and they want to be comfortable and not push big gears. They don't care if a knobby tire is less efficient on pavement. All they want is a bike they can pump up, hop on and go a few times around their neighborhood or greenway, and be comfortable on.
#114
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Here is a photo from the 1982 "Hekaton," a century with 8000 feet of climbing. I rode my Ritchey MountainBike, my buddy was on just about the most collectible bike on the planet, Breezer #2." Two other riders passed my buddy and me that day, and we passed hundreds ourselves.
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#117
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#118
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I can ride flat bars all day, and I have. When Gary Fisher and I were partners at MountainBikes, I set up one of my Ritchey MountainBikes for road century rides. I made just a few modifications, e.g. I used balloon tires with a smooth tread (Mitsuboshi "Cruiser Mits") pumped to 80 psi, I used Campy road pedals and my road shoes, and a close ratio cluster. Talk is cheap, but at the end of the long ride all the guys I had passed wanted to see what the heck I was riding with tires the size of my leg as I smoked them down the hills. As a publicity builder, it worked great! I didn't have to explain that even though it had huge tires, it was a high-performance bike.
Here is a photo from the 1982 "Hekaton," a century with 8000 feet of climbing. I rode my Ritchey MountainBike, my buddy was on just about the most collectible bike on the planet, Breezer #2." Two other riders passed my buddy and me that day, and we passed hundreds ourselves.
Here is a photo from the 1982 "Hekaton," a century with 8000 feet of climbing. I rode my Ritchey MountainBike, my buddy was on just about the most collectible bike on the planet, Breezer #2." Two other riders passed my buddy and me that day, and we passed hundreds ourselves.
#119
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MTBs are so popular for a lot of the same reasons people buy SUVs. They are heavy duty looking, whether you actually use that aspect or not.
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#120
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Oh yeah. I owned a 63 Schwinn Varsity in 1964. It was a 10-speed with down Tube shifters. It was painted Coppertone (which I thought looked gold colored). It had the leather (Schwinn approved) saddle, and gold plastic handlebar tape. It was very lightweight at about 40 pounds.
Varsitys, and don't forget the occasional Suburban.
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#121
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Yes.
I should have been less specific and simply stated that most prefer a bar with multiple positions (whatever style that may be) for distances longer than a few trips around the block. A flat bar just doesn't cut it with a single position. Can it be done? Of course it can.
Jeez what did I start?
I should have been less specific and simply stated that most prefer a bar with multiple positions (whatever style that may be) for distances longer than a few trips around the block. A flat bar just doesn't cut it with a single position. Can it be done? Of course it can.
Jeez what did I start?
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Yes.
I should have been less specific and simply stated that most prefer a bar with multiple positions (whatever style that may be) for distances longer than a few trips around the block. A flat bar just doesn't cut it with a single position. Can it be done? Of course it can.
Jeez what did I start?
I should have been less specific and simply stated that most prefer a bar with multiple positions (whatever style that may be) for distances longer than a few trips around the block. A flat bar just doesn't cut it with a single position. Can it be done? Of course it can.
Jeez what did I start?
1. hands on grips
2. hands near stem
3. IAB
+ one or two more if you have barends!
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"I don't understand why mountain bikes are so popular"... all I hear is that these people live somewhere that sucks... move somewhere cooler and ride some trails with other cool people...
Last edited by durangotang; 01-16-17 at 04:18 PM.