Can you ride mountain bike on the road? Every time a mountain biker craves to pedal yet finds no hills around, the instant question befalls their mind is, are mountain bikes good for the road?
I have been through this. 💁💁💁
There is no problem in riding mountain bikes on the streets, flat roads, and even pavements; however, it has some pros and cons.
Mountain bikes can go on flat roads. It has some logical benefits, such as control and comfort, but also limitations, like putting on more energy due to being heavier.
With proper measures and practice, you can use mountain bikes on flat roads as you can on rough terrains.
Logically, as both are cycles with the same gears (tires, handles, seat, and brakes), mountain bikes can be ridden on the roads.
However, if I move to the technical side, in that case, there is a hell of a difference between a mountain bike and a road bike. This is where confusion occurs regarding riding a mountain bike on pavements or flat surfaces.
You don’t have to be confused as long as MTB Knowledge is here. My free platform to learn all about MTBs and Mountain Biking tricks and tactics.
I am writing this detailed guide to get your mountain bike ready to go on various terrains, even flat roads and sidewalks… trust me, it is possible to speed up your mountain bike just like an expensive city bike.
Can you ride a mountain bike on the road?
Can You Ride Mountain Bikes on the Road? Totally yes. Plenty of mountain bikers jaunt and flaunt on the roads with their high-class MTBs from top brands.
This shows that riding a mountain bike on roads doesn’t halt its performance or quality. Besides, riding a mountain bike on the pavement is also not bizarre.
Instead, as an expert, I consider it even better because bricked and uneven pavements give the feel of an MTB terrain.
However, having a positive answer to can you ride mountain bike on the road? It is not enough because riding MTBs on flat surfaces comes with some positive and negative margins.
What are those? Let’s dig a little deeper into the discussion here, where I will tell you about the pros and cons of using MTBs on flat city roads.
Benefits
Well, I am in love with bikes and have ridden all types of bikes during my 20 years of experience with mountain biking. So, I got many chances to ride mountain bikes on city streets.
The things I loved were:
1. Stabile sitting
Mountain bikes are heavier than road bikes (How much an MTB weighs?), so these are ridden on flat streets and pavement; they dangle less than road bikes and give an upright sitting.
2. Confident riding
When there is stability in the posture, the biker feels more confident to ride around, make turns, and commute all those surfaces; you were not so sure to track.
3. The comfort
The sitting position of a mountain bike, along with other gears, is much more comfortable because of its weight. You can have aerodynamic positions on roads.
4. Controllability
Mountain bikes have powerful controllers to keep traction on the roads we commute. They can pass minor obstacles in the twitch of seconds and let riders have sturdy runs.
5. Too strong to break
Another reason why I love riding mountain bikes on roads and telling you positively about can you ride mountain bike on roads that MTBs are not easy to break. These are designed for too rough surfaces.
6. Go anywhere
Mountain bike tires are made to last. They can take any obstacle on the way and keep bikers sitting still and relaxed while passing through rough terrains.
7. No more stuck in traffic
Traffic jams will be an old thing when you go to your office while riding a mountain bike on highways because you are able to pass through pavements, grass, and other stuff easily to reach destinations faster.
No more waiting on the road to disperse traffic and move forward!
8. Ride on all trails
A mountain bike lets you ride through beautiful trails of California or take hikes in the parks. MT bikes will make rides heaven.
9. Cost-effective
All with this, mountain bikes on straight roads will stay for a long and require no early maintenance for changing a tire, altering handlebars, or transforming seats.
Mountain bike tires are hefty and sturdy; they are manufactured to last even after riding through stones and bricks. So, on flat surfaces, their lifespan will increase even more.
Nothing without cons, and there are always some limitations involved with your query can you ride mountain bike on the road?
Limitations
So, while going on flat surfaces, using a mountain bike put me in fixes too. There are 5 things that I hated while riding mountain bikes on the roads with my friends who were riding road bikes.
Let me explain what and why in the lines ahead:
1. I hated the Slow Speed of my MTB
MTBs aren’t meant for speed but for sturdiness and robustness, which I didn’t know as a novice biker.
So, when riding with my friends who had city bikes, I felt a bit off because despite pedaling with pressure and force, the speed of my bike was slower than a road bike.
However, I later understood that tires make a difference. The tires can pass any rough surface, but on flat roads, the bigger volume makes the speed slower.
2. Consumes more energy
Because being heavier to pass through the hitching road, I had to exert a little more energy to run my MTB.
However, if we see it the other way around, this type of mountain biking can be an excellent source of losing weight because you are exerting more energy to run a bike faster.
3. Fall offs
As a city biker, you can feel a bit odd while riding a mountain bike, not only due to its slow speed but the hefty body. Road bikes or city bikes are for racing and are quite lightweight.
People, who are not used to riding heavier bikes, might face some random accidents like minor fall-offs when riding mountain bikes.
However, these won’t be life-threatening.
4. Need practice
A person needs more training and practice to get used to the heavier body of a mountain bike.
However, this shouldn’t be considered a con because learning new biking things is what all bikers want. You can learn this with me on my blog.
5. Cannot be used by kids or elders
A mountain bike can be too big for kids and too hefty to control for elderlies (find signs your mountain bike is too big). Therefore, it might not be used by everyone at home.
But what if I tell you it is possible to convert a mountain bike to a road bike? Find my free guide to converting mountain bike to road bike by clicking on the link.
Tips for riding a mountain bike on the road
Can you ride mountain bike on the road? Here are some tips you can use to ride a mountain bike on the road for longer distances, which I have prepared after many experimental expeditions:
1. Fitness
First of all, you should have all the energy to accelerate your heavier mountain bikes on flat surfaces. For this, eat healthily.
2. Always keep the necessary gears
Ensure your MTB is filled with necessary gears that make rides easy; for instance, brakes are working correctly, no flat tires, all set according to your posture (height and weight), etc.
3. Do wear safety gears
Safety gears like helmets, gloves, comfy shoes, and glasses (if necessary) are essential to your ride on a mountain bike regardless of heading to the office, park, or a stroll.
An exciting memory that occurred to my mind when you asked can you ride mountain bike on the road was once I was riding my MTB on the road (the tires were changed, of course).
On the way, the brisk wind started blowing, and just because I was not wearing my safety goggles, I had to wait one hour to get the wind stopped.
After that, I always kept my safety kit under my bike seat so I could access them whenever needed (yes, I don’t like wearing so much safety gear like gloves and glasses while riding, just helmets are good for me).
4. Carry energy jazzing edible
When you take long expeditions on mountain bikes, which require hours and hours of riding, make sure to have some energy uprising edibles along.
5. Keep water
Drink plenty of water during rides, especially when you are riding on a sunny shiny hot summer day. At least half a liter of water is recommended to consume after every hour.
6. Know your route
Also, have some notes about your course and understand the type of surfaces you will have to move through while riding your mountain bike on a ride.
7. Go slow and steady
Do not drench your energy while riding heavier mountain bikes on the road by exerting too much pressure on the pedals. Go slow and steady to win the race.
FAQs
Before ending the discussion, here are some FAQs discussing everything you would love to know about mountain bikes. I have prepared the list myself, but these also include queries sent to me by my readers.
Can you ride a mountain bike on the pavement?
Yes! The best thing about mountain bikes is that they can tackle any road and surface. As an expert, I would favor the latter when I tell you, can you ride mountain bike on the road or pavement?
As per my experience, mountain bikes ride way better and are comfier on the pavements.
Can you ride mountain bikes on the road?
Yes. Mountain bikes can go on flat roads. It has some logical benefits, such as control and comfort, but also limitations, like putting on more energy due to being heavier.
However, using my aforementioned tips, you can make mountain bike ride on roads easy and comfy.
Are mountain bikes good for road?
Yes. However, you cannot use mountain bikes for road rash and racing because these are meant for strength and have slower speeds than racing or road bikes.
Moreover, their heavy weight requires exerting more pressure while riding. Apart from this, mountain bikes are well-suitable for flat road rides.
Bottom Line
In the end, can you ride mountain bike on the road? Yes! I found no problem riding mountain bikes on the streets, flat roads, and even pavements.
With proper measures and practice, you can use mountain bikes on flat roads as you can on rough terrains. I love riding MTBS in my beautifully paved alley.
Keep visiting my blog for more free guides and free information on Mountain Bikes.
