Do I need another bike?

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Do I need a road bike for when I ride on the road while training? Most of my riding is on road but I'm training for a mtn. bike race. Currently all I have is a mtn. bike. Would it be advantageous for me to get a road bike for my longer endurance rides and reserve the mtn. bike for the offroad activities? Thoughts? Thanks, Greg

IMo - endurance rides are all about your heart rate, and time on the bike.
Plus you're adapting your body position sitting on your mountain bike for a certain amount of time.

So no, dont get another bike unless you want to start racing road bikes.

depends. is there a wife in the equation that you're trying to justify the purchase to? in that case, heck yeah! you're going to totally suck if you aren't able to train on a road bike. and the more expensive the better.



but otherwise nope. like the poster above said, training is a function of stretching your cardiovascular system and building stamina and muscle strength.

just pop slicks on your mtb when you're on the road so you don't stuff your knobblies...
you should be fine.
i'm currently commuting on the mtb as part of my knee rehab as the cadence is higher and the gearing is easier. feels like a lot more effort though!

yes i do but i am trying to restrain myself

I figured I'd get a wide variety of responses. It looks like I really don't HAVE to have one. The only real advantage I see is that there are quite a few weekly rides that involve road bikes vs. mtn. bikes. For that reason, I could see being able to justify one. But, looks like I'll keep doing what I'm doing for now. I've got plans for some offroad biking this weekend. We'll see how it works out. Thanks, Greg

I found a second bike very similar to my main bike. I fitted it with slick tires and ride it primarily on the road and could easily change the tires back and forth if I need to or lend it to a friend who might want to go along.

I'd say yes you do need a road bike if its financially feasible. Plenty of MTB guys do lots of miles on a road bike. You can train differently (better thats another question) with the road bike. Since you won't likely be racing on it you can pick up a second hand bike pretty cheap.

If you think that you'd enter some of those NORBA short-track cross country events I would 100% recommend some road riding and some crit races.


Do I need a road bike for when I ride on the road while training? Most of my riding is on road but I'm training for a mtn. bike race. Currently all I have is a mtn. bike. Would it be advantageous for me to get a road bike for my longer endurance rides and reserve the mtn. bike for the offroad activities? Thoughts? Thanks, Greg