wafflycat said:
Quite. It's suitable for MTBs and that's it.
Absulutely.
No-one has mentioned MTBers, but probably they're one of the commonest leisure bike.
I don't have a decent road bike. I use a cheap commuting bike with useful things like mudguards, lights, bell and a big rack for getting from A to B
I have a gratuitously expensive MTB with no lights / mudguards etc for leisure.
All cycling is done in shared spaces.
When riding to get somehere I'd rather share my space with cars as generally, in town, our speed differential is very small and I can generally predict what they'll do
When riding for fun I share bridleways with horses and walkers. I think this is more dangerous if I want to go quickly (which I often do) as the speed differential is so high. I therefore ride the roads to the quietest trails and avoid the much trumpetted mixed-use Sustrans paths which are the worst of all worlds.
I'm obviously careful of walkers and horses, but prefer a good old fashioned muddy bridleway. No need for tarmac or anything else.
My worry with Sustrans is the disproportionate amount of influence they have in policy making. They can provide a "quick fix" at often little cost to the council by providing a "shared use path" and have a phobia of roads.