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Darn road bikes!

29K views 181 replies 114 participants last post by  bradkay 
#1 ·
I borrowed a Carbon road bike (Giant TCR2) to cruise around the lake with some work friends. I didn't think my commuter was up to the task. Now I have the bug.... something about cruising at an avg speed of 22 mph for 40 mins. and not considering a 15mph north wind as much of an obstacle. Not that I would give up singletracks... but the budget doesn't exist.:madman:
 
#79 ·
SlickOne said:
I grew up on MTBs and recently bought a Roadie. I purchased a Specialized Tarmac Pro in Carbon fiber. The amount of effort, or should I say "lack of" to produce forward momentum is crazy. The bike is a Bullet, and it is amazing to cruise at 20mph for upto 45-60minutes with minimal excertion, I love it.
Im currently shopping for a new MTB which will not flex so much, Im thinking about just switching as a whole to DH riding cause I hate pedaling on MTBs.
Funny - I just came from the opposite direction. Started with roadies and now am here checking out off road stuff. They are both fun for very different reasons. The road stuff is like riding a sports car. The mtb stuff is like riding an old beefy 4x4. Both have their place in the arsenal :D
 
#81 · (Edited)
Wow...it's been a minute since I've posted here (translation: since I've gone roadie).
I got rid of my FS Fish and picked up a Trek 1.5 initially which I outgrew and now have a CAAD9 + an SE Lager Singlespeed.

It was a combination of having the road so readily available to me just outside my door and having a few deals that were too good to pass up.
It all began innocently enough. I thought about getting a road bike to develop my endurance for MTBing. Got lucky and came across a late
80's Giant RS900 someone put out for trash. Filled up the tires and it rode great.

Then, when I went to my LBS, my bud there told me to take out a Trek 1.2 for a spin (the gateway drug!).
Wow! 20lbs of crotch rocket! Did my research and settled on a 1.5. Graduated to a CAAD9. Now waiting on an uber rig
(Cannondale SuperSix HiMOD, Madone 6.9 SSL, Parlee, etc...); something I'll build from a frameset.

However, the call of the wild has been gnawing at me and I'm on my way back to MTBing.
Literally today I just rescued my tried and true '07 Gary Fisher Opie. The top 1" of the seat
tube was cracked clear. I'll have to pick up a narrower seat clamp. Chain's rusty. Tires need
air. I'll have her back together in a couple of days though. That bike just felt good to me.

Will be picking up a full suspension rig before I get a carbon road bike though.
I'm leaning towards a Turner 5 Spot right now.

But here is what I'm riding now...
2009 Cannondale CAAD9: 18.5lbs, Full Dura Ace 7800 w/Ultegra SL Crankset & Cassette.
Full Carbon Cockpit: FSA K-Wing, Bontrager Race XXX Lite OS Stem, cut fork,
Fizik Aliante Carbon Railed Saddle. Continental Grand Prix 4000S Tires.

To complete her:
Edge 2.0 Fork, Fizik Cyrano Post, 2011 Mavic Ksyrium Elite Wheelset,
Dura Ace 7810 Pedals & 7800 Brakset. She'll be in the mid-15lb range.





 
#85 ·
my custom built steel rocket, Since I have discovered mountain biking, I only ride this thing after rains when the trails are too muddy. I also agree with some fo the above posters regarding the additude of many roadies, I typically ride road alone!

it is great cross training!

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#86 ·
Mo$ey said:
my custom built steel rocket, Since I have discovered mountain biking, I only ride this thing after rains when the trails are too muddy. I also agree with some fo the above posters regarding the additude of many roadies, I typically ride road alone!

it is great cross training!

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True North custom? Perfect.

Yummy bike. :thumbsup:
 
#88 ·
Like my Allez Elite. But I found myself on the roadie much more on Oahu where it seemed easy to maintain a 20 MPH pace. Here in Texas I like the MTB way better. It seems like there's too much wind here, it is hillier; I have trouble averaging 16 MPH. Or perhaps it could have something to do with being 50 pounds heavier,,,hmmm? nah.
 

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#89 ·
Any Riding Is Good For Me

I like mountain biking, I like road biking.
A road bike gets me to almost the same places as my truck, maybe takes a little longer to get there. I'm lucky to live in an area with great trails and low traffic(except for logging trucks) backcountry roads, I gladly ride both.
If you don't like road bikes, don't ride 'em.
 
#90 ·
Today I took this on my road ride instead of my real road bike. It was a test because this is something I'd like to bring on long, organized centuries for comfort and a sweet granny gear. It's a 2X8, unbranded 26" Kinesis frame on Big Apples. It was nice, but slooooww. It's obnoxious with hot pink grips and cable housing.

I got dropped by all the roadies today, but not without their stupid comments.

Bicycle tire Tire Bicycle frame Bicycle wheel Bicycle wheel rim


Now, I don't go on the boards hating on road riders - but a d-bag is a d-bag, no matter what they ride.

So I'm stopped at about the 1500ft mark talking to some other riders, when a road rider, right out of an 80's movie, yells out, "Race you guys to the top..."

The guy I was talking to says, "You win." :lol:

I was, like, "Really? WTF was that all about?"

Then, I'm granny'ing up the second part of the the climb (which goes to about 3100ft.) and some roadie pulls up to next to me and says, "Ha! I wish I had your gears..."

"Yup, granny gear all the way up. Relaxing ride today..." :D

"Yeah, ha... my small ring is bigger than your big ring..."

Me -> :skep:

He then proceeds to mash past.

Whenever I'm on my road bike, I pay special attention to not promote d-bag behavior by being a little nicer to people (that's my nature anyway). But really, the pissing matches are embarrassing for the likes of what I witnessed today.
 
#91 ·
TR said:
25mph is 40km/h
30mph is over 48km/h

Maybe they can "hold" that speed on an extended downhill but there is no way on earth they are holding that speed anywhere else unless they are part of a pro peleton.

This same thing has been said recently on RBR and called as BS by most there too.
No way, I average 30mph with a 40mph headwind in the snow.

Seriously, I'm glad there are some sane people here. Either nobody knows how to properly calibrate their computer or they're only looking at it when they're going downhill. 18-22 mph is about average for most of the roadies around here, and it's flat ground. Sure, there are guys that are going faster but those are the hardcore guys.
 
#92 ·
Yeah yeah yeah, OK OK OK, so I actually do miss some aspects of the roadie world, such as being able to blast along at 25+MPH for 10 miles at a time. Yes, once again back in 2009 I went from a 15.8 pound Belgian-made carbon fiber roadbike to a 32 pound aluminum 29er, and then once again transitioned to a 47.8 pound steel suspension-free mountainbike with heavy-ass 65mm wide rims and DH tires. There I said it. :blush: :madman:
 
#94 ·
I love those climbs

Either when I went up to visit my day who was outside of Independence or when I was working at Owen's Lake and staying in Lone Pine, I would do a couple climbs a day sometimes. Start at Kennedy Meadows, then Horseshoe Meadows, Whitney Portal, Onion Valley ond on up into Bishop. Then my mountain bike for Mammoth Mt. and Cerro Gordo. Alabama hills were good for quick training. Loved the eastern Sierras.
 
#95 ·
You guys are making me consider...

I will often take my Hardrock 29er out on the road if I can't get to a trail or if it has recently rained. I also commute on it.

Is a roadbike that much different than a 29er? Will it make that much difference in my speed? Obviously my Hardrock weighs in at 34 pounds so there is a big difference right there -- but other than the weight?
 
#96 ·
jstaples said:
You guys are making me consider...

I will often take my Hardrock 29er out on the road if I can't get to a trail or if it has recently rained. I also commute on it.

Is a roadbike that much different than a 29er? Will it make that much difference in my speed? Obviously my Hardrock weighs in at 34 pounds so there is a big difference right there -- but other than the weight?
learn to turn over a much larger gear on a roadbike, especially in the mountains. On my MTB, am constantly up and down. On the road bike, just constantly turning over the pedals with a much more constant pressure throughout the whole ride.
 
#97 ·
jstaples said:
You guys are making me consider...

I will often take my Hardrock 29er out on the road if I can't get to a trail or if it has recently rained. I also commute on it.

Is a roadbike that much different than a 29er? Will it make that much difference in my speed? Obviously my Hardrock weighs in at 34 pounds so there is a big difference right there -- but other than the weight?
Geometry will be different.
ETT length on my on my roadie is much shorter than my 29er (but this is made up for with the curved bars).
Obviously lighter as you mentioned.
No reason why you cannot do it but I have done it on my 29er and come away having had to work a lot harder over the same route on the 29er than on my roadie.
 
#98 ·
TR said:
25mph is 40km/h
30mph is over 48km/h

Maybe they can "hold" that speed on an extended downhill but there is no way on earth they are holding that speed anywhere else unless they are part of a pro peleton.

This same thing has been said recently on RBR and called as BS by most there too.
No.

Did you read that I said you get "some" riders that can hold 25-30mph? Most are 19mph+

I'm on rbr, and if you've ever been to Sacramento, you'd know it is the truth. It's super flat until you hit the hills here. I rarely road ride and could put down 20mph on a 40mile ride. So can alot of people around here. Why? because on that 40mi ride, there is probably less than 75ft of elevation gain lol.

The folks who ride regularly can definitely put down 25+ for the whole ride. That is what flat land riding does, it's easy.
 
#100 ·
I don't get the reference, but my friend chugged along behing a recumbent holding 31mph the other day on the american river bike trail. Said the big recumbent was nice to draft behind haha! My friend is a pretty strong rider though. And obviously, drafting / group riding is alot easier in regards to going faster. That said, my hardtail can hold about 19mph for an hour or two out there with cx tires :)

My road bike cracked a few months ago :(
 
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