Any Tips For An MTB Rider Taking His First Ride Out On A Road Bike?

[Lovacott]

The last time I had a road bike was over 20 years ago. It had a five speed freewheel with a single chainring and the gears were selected with a friction lever (not indexed).

I had those pull up brake lever extensions for when you fancied sitting bolt upright and taking it easy.

The frame was tubular steel, the handlebar tape was leather.

I lost that bike in an altercation with a car in London in 1996.

Ever since then, I have owned a few cheap MTB's and I've become very used to how they handle (2nd nature).

This week I took the plunge and bought a Boardman 8.9 SLR carbon road bike and it's like I've just bought a spaceship.

So many alien things (brake lever shifting, trim settings, pencil thin tyres etc.).

It's a work of art and engineering combined so I don't doubt for a second that it will be great to ride, but I've been using the weather as an excuse to hold off from taking my maiden voyage on this one.

I've run the bike on a stand and I've gotten to grips with the shifting mechanism (beautiful) and I've set the saddle and bars exactly to my liking.

I couldn't be more prepared for my first ride out, but I am nervous all the same (it's how I am with everything).

Does anyone have any tips on how I should approach my first ride out?

 

[ianrauk]

Just go out, don't worry or over think. Just enjoy being on the bike.

 

[vickster]

Just pedal...and obviously look out for ice at the mo.
It’s a bicycle not an F1 car

 

[Slick]

Be prepared to fall in love with road bikes all over again.

 

[Gunk]

Close your eyes and pedal as hard you can

 

[ColinJ]

Remember that you can't just blast over kerbs, ruts, debris and potholes... Huge knobbly MTB tyres can take big hits but skinny road tyres can't!

 

[Lovacott]

Just go out, don't worry or over think. Just enjoy being on the bike.

Over thinking things has saved my arse many times and ruined my life just as many times.

One day, I hope to get the balance just right.

 

[Lovacott]

Remember that you can't just blast over kerbs, ruts, debris and potholes... Huge knobbly MTB tyres can take big hits but skinny road tyres can't!

I still drive a car looking for the best bit of road surface after my road bike experiences of 25 years ago. From memory though, my old road bike tyres were a bit fatter and deeper than the very thin and rock hard tyres on the Boardman.

That's probably the bit I fear the most to be honest. Hitting something, getting a sudden flat and going arse over tit.

I know it's a bit of a sissy thing to do, but I live a few hundred yards away from a very nice park with a smooth tarmac path which snakes its way around the outside and does a figure of eight across the middle. I'll have a crack at that one in civil twighlight tomorrow morning when nobody is around.

 

[fossyant]

Just jumped back on my two rather good vintage road bikes after 5 years off due to getting a badly broken spine commuting to work - the commute road bike was fine and I sold it this summer. I started riding my expensive pro level 90's road bike in N Wales this summer just before we smelly lot couldn't go 60 miles from home to our caravan - custom frame/Dura Ace bike...

Since Christmas, decided to repaint the workhorse Ribble handbuilt bike. Just needed a respray. Spent a fair amount of time sorting it out, re-painting etc.

It's a bit like learning to ride again, as I've been on MTB's last 5 years.... half the bar width, stem 2-3 times longer... and the road bike was what I spent most of my life on. It's like a rocket ship I can't control, despite being OK on gnarly descents on a MTB.

Two rides on, still scared.... and this is a bike that fits me. I've put slower tyres on it mainly for robustness. It does go like stink.

 

[Lovacott]

Just pedal...and obviously look out for ice at the mo.
It’s a bicycle not an F1 car

Said Alonso.

 

[ColinJ]

Lifted from one of our forum ride reports...

Tip for the day: If you think that your tyre pressures might be a bit low, they almost certainly are, and probably even lower than you think! Just before setting off from home this morning I noticed that my tyres seemed to be slightly less firm than I normal have them. I thought they would be ok, and probably more comfortable anyway, so I left them as they were. That was a mistake. I felt an impact on the front wheel as I rode over a cattle grid at Leighton Reservoir, and sure enough, the tyre went flat - a snakebite puncture.

Oh, I just decided to check the punctured tube for evidence of the 'snakebite'. (Carrie and Kevin had never heard of snakebite punctures so I had explained to them that an impact causes a wheel rim to chomp the tube, causing a characteristic pair of holes.) Here is today's example ...

I've just had a look at the cattle grid on Streetview. The imaging is fairly recent so I am fairly sure that the grid will not have been repaired since then. It is easy to see why an inadequately inflated tyre on a bike carrying an 83 kg rider would have problems hitting that concrete lip at speed!

 

[vickster]

Said Alonso.

Who?

 

[fossyant]

Who?

F1 driver knocked off his bike by a 'driver'.....

 

[vickster]

F1 driver knocked off his bike by a 'driver'.....

Ah ok

 

[DCLane]

Take it steady, but not too steady: a road bike won't keep going at very low MTB speeds easily. Get used to how the gears change, and that the steering will be a bit different. You're also higher up.

I take a little while to adjust between road / hybrid / cross / track / TT bikes - it's no different if you're on a road bike from an MTB.