The end of the mountain bike boom?

[screenman]

The MTB events are doing very well, I think the races at Cannock yesterday were fully subscribed weeks ago.

 

[Peteaud]

The MTB events are doing very well, I think the races at Cannock yesterday were fully subscribed weeks ago.

I was at Cwmcarn a few weeks ago, the moneys worth of bikes there was astounding.

 

[Chris S]

I saw a group of about 6/8 cyclists on the prom near me yesterday, all on 'old' style bikes a couple had wicker baskets on them and the men were dressed in jackets. Seemed to be some 'olde worlde' cycling club. Anyone know anything about them, it was on the Wirral.

This lot, perhaps?
http://www.togglechaintour.co.uk/

 

[Nebulous]

Timely thread for me this - I've just retired my hardtail mtb, after about 8 years of ownership. I kept anything I thought might be useful, and threw the rest away, so there's no going back!

 

[compo]

Outside our supemarket on Sat, of about ten bikes locked to the stands 7 were mountain bikeish, one was an old racer and two were nasty old ladies 3 speeds. Not a half decent bike among them. Surrounded, of course, by a veritable sea of automotive carriages, most of them less than five years old.

I expect the nasty old ladies three speeds will still be going strong long after our superior credit card busting modern bikes are consigned to the scrap heap. Anyway, how do you know the old ladies are nasty, they might be dear old souls

 

[fenlandpsychocyclist]

My mountain bike has earned its battle scars as it has been ridden(pushed and carried) up snowdon mountain.

Generally i'll use it for the chase to and from work, smashing over traffic islands and acting like a 12 year old on a bmx.
I love it when a couple of lads at work are riding furiously along the pavement on their mtb's, and i overtake on the strip
of grass between them and the road ... then crash off a six inch kerb, up the other side, etc.
Basically using the bike, my legs and skills aquired thrashing round forest tracks.

On the other hand if i'm on either road bike i spend most of my time either avoiding pot-holes, or trying not to kick the front
wheel whilst steering at low speed.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Lets not be too harsh on the "Mountain Bike Revolution"

It did introduce a lot of technology that we now take for granted. Twist Grips, and trigger changers, V brakes etc are a legacy of this phase.

This technology has made cycling easier, more approachable and available to many people, and the evolution into Hybrids, commuting bikes etc is a result.

Hear hear!

I would say that on the MTB side of the sport technical innovation has been far higher than on the road side of things - at least until electronic shifting came along.

Personally I think MTB's are way more comfortable in general than road bikes plus they have brakes that work in all conditions.

More MTB's than road bikes here in the Lakes and some get ridden very fast.

 

[slowmotion]

I've borrowed a 17kg MTB on holiday. It was really hard work to ride, but ye gods, it took off like a rocket going down hill on tarmac. I've never been as fast on my road bike.

 

[MacB]

I've borrowed a 17kg MTB on holiday. It was really hard work to ride, but ye gods, it took off like a rocket going down hill on tarmac. I've never been as fast on my road bike.

I've got a stomach I could lend you that has a similar effect

 

[Bobtoo]

Is a hybrid basically a traditional roadster type bike with modern brakes and gears? That's what the default "just a bike" offering should be, and it's what most BSO (why are they called this when they are rarely shaped like a bike?) buyers really need. Unfortunately the Top Trumps mentality means there is little demand for such a thing at the entry level.

 

[lulubel]

Is a hybrid basically a traditional roadster type bike with modern brakes and gears? That's what the default "just a bike" offering should be, and it's what most BSO (why are they called this when they are rarely shaped like a bike?) buyers really need. Unfortunately the Top Trumps mentality means there is little demand for such a thing at the entry level.

Oh, no, don't mention hybrids

A hybrid, as far as I can tell, is a catch-all term that's often used for anything that doesn't fit neatly into any particular category. A hybrid can be very similar to a MTB or very similar to a road bike, or not very much like either!

 

[MontyVeda]

...

whatever happened to the concept of rotating a drop bar up through 180 degrees? Not seen that for years.

well would you Adam & Eve it... I saw one last night, first time in years!

 

[fenlandpsychocyclist]

At the end of the day all these people who go out on "training rides" should ditch their normal ride and grab the nearest heavy bike instead.

That'll usually be a mountain bike!!

You'll burn more energy doing 50 miles off road on a mountain bike (as i have several times) than doing 100 miles on a carbon road bike.

 

[screenman]

Fenland cyclist from your earlier post.
"Generally i'll use it for the chase to and from work, smashing over traffic islands and acting like a 12 year old on a bmx.
I love it when a couple of lads at work are riding furiously along the pavement on their mtb's, and i overtake on the strip
of grass between them and the road ... then crash off a six inch kerb, up the other side, etc."

Just the sort of riding that gets us all a bad name.

Also the mountain bike over road bike, how many fast cyclist have you trained with your expert knowledge.? turning pout 250 watts on a road bike is the same as 250 watts on a BSO.

 

[fenlandpsychocyclist]

Fenland cyclist from your earlier post.
"Generally i'll use it for the chase to and from work, smashing over traffic islands and acting like a 12 year old on a bmx.
I love it when a couple of lads at work are riding furiously along the pavement on their mtb's, and i overtake on the strip
of grass between them and the road ... then crash off a six inch kerb, up the other side, etc."

Just the sort of riding that gets us all a bad name.

Also the mountain bike over road bike, how many fast cyclist have you trained with your expert knowledge.? turning pout 250 watts on a road bike is the same as 250 watts on a BSO.

So a pedestrian wearing ipod whilst staring at smartphone prior to stepping out onto a road
without looking ... gets all pedestrians a bad name?
And a motorist who approaches traffic lights at 35mph in a 30mph zone and then jumps the
amber and red lights ... gets all motorists a bad name?

As for training, you can put 200 watts into a roadbike on tarmac and cover 48 miles in 3 hours,
or the same 200 watts input on a mountain bike on tracks covers 25 miles in 3 hours.

So for the same effort x time you have a choice of bragging to your mates about 48miles in 3hours,
or keeping the 25 miles in 3 hours quiet.

And that ladies and gentlemen is the real reason so many of you prefer your road bikes over
your mountain bikes.