Road bikes are far comfier than mountain bikes in my opinion!

[Accy cyclist]

I haven't been on a mtb for umpteen years but yesterday i borrowed one to see how they handled. I did about 8(long and slow) miles and it was sheer torture! The sitting up position is uncomfy,the wide straight handlebars offer only one position and the wide tyres seem to stick to the road rather than glide over it and boy they don't half make a noise! I know they aren't designed for road use but even off road i found the ride not to my liking.Now if they made mtb's with drop handlebars and put thinner tyres on they might be ok,but as they are they feel like a speedway motorbike, but the only engine onboard is the knackered one that has to project the beast forward!


Anyone care to disagree?

 

[slowmotion]

I have a road bike but I really don't like the riding position when going downhill at speed. The wide stance of the bars of an MTB gives me more confidence. You just hang on and listen to the awesome rubber rumble.

 

[vernon]

A case of confirmation bias?

 

[Brandane]

I have a road bike (Secteur), a cyclocross (Tricross), a hybrid (Trek 7.3), and a MTB (Trek 6500).
On the average UK road surface, the road bike is without doubt the most uncomfortable! On the hard to find smooth surface, they are all comfortable but the road bike is faster (but not by much; and if I'm in a hurry I use alternative methods of transport). On canal paths the hybrid is most comfortable. Off road it's the MTB. Need I go on......?

 

[Steady]

I use to use mtbs as a road bike, and actually doing typical of road bikes, now I've switched to a road bike and in terms of bike position comfort I find the road bike far more comfortable.

Unfortunately though any near the city riding is a pain in the arse and neck from the constant jarring of road surface, so a mtb is more comfortable in that respect, albeit slower!

 

[dexter101]

I used to ride my mountain bike everywhere from the ages of 7 to 18 and loved it. Rode around denmark when I was 7 on a bright yellow Townsend with purple forks (come to think of it, must have been a girls bike...)

now they have all departed to other people garages or the scrapheap in the sky I decided to buy a road bike and have found it to take some transition from one to the other. now I have been riding it for 2 weeks and my body has adjusted I think I would find it hard to go back to MTB (apart from for trail riding etc) as the road bike is just so smooth and quick. the only thing I do miss is front suspension when the road suddenly deteriorates into a surface resembling the face of the moon! Round my way though most roads are pretty good so cant really complain much!

I think for youngsters, mountain bikes are the way forward though as they give versatility and get them out riding.

 

[thecube]

Surely it depends what you mean by comfortable? I find my hybrid the most comfy, it has the right balance of speed and comfort, it is more like a road bike with straight handlebars and a slightly more upright geometry. If I am sat going downhill without requiring any actual effort, the mountain bike is best, but since I have to go up hills too i could never describe it as being comfortable to ride since it is physically a lot harder than the road / hybrid. But I guess it depends a lot on terrain. It's like asking a gym goer if the exercise bikes are comfortable, well a middle aged overweight person will probably say yes since the all seem to have big fat cushioned seats, but a hard core exercise freak will say no since the seat will chafe their legs.

 

[Cyclist33]

I find smoother tyres more comfortable and the forrard position of road bikes more comfy too, as I have a bony arse and I always find that the knobblier the tyre, and the more upright the ride, the more vibration is transferred from the knobbles to my bits and I get more of a vertical shunt down my spine.

By comparison, slick road tyres seem to soak up the buzz better and the streamlined position gives my cartilage less gyp.

So there.

 

[Ajay]

I find apples taste differently to oranges...

 

[wintergreen]

I find touring bikes more comfortable than road bikes,
Its all subjective, What I find comfortable you might find torture.

 

[Cyclist33]

I find apples taste differently to oranges...

You mean "different".

 

[SamR]

Can't remember the last time I rode a MTB properly, but from the experiences on the road bike now,I reckon a MTB would struggle to keep up in terms of comfort over long distances.
Will report back on this in 5 days. Doing the C2C on a rigid MTB with slick tyres.

 

[sheffgirl]

I've done 100 miles a week on my MTB before, on the road mostly. I find it's my hands and wrists that suffer most.
The roads on my commute are terrible in places, I would be nervous of catching a pothole or the edge of one of those channels left by tarmac reinstatements if I tried a road bike.

 

[Davidc]

For most riding I like my tourer. However I have an MTB with road tyres (marathons) and other adaptations, which I find better for use around town, and also better when I take it to London. Much easier when I ride from mother's in Sutton up to the West end and sometimes City. I do find that the straight bars give me pins and needles in the hands and wrists after 30 minutes-ish, and if I was going to do many hour long trips like the London ones I'd change the saddle and put on some good bar ends, but that's nothing to do with it being an MTB, just me being tight with the money.

 

[nappadang]

Horses for courses. I wouldn't fancy hurtling down our local, disused railway on a road bike, nor would I relish my 45 mile hilly road circuit on my MTB.