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Mountain bike or road bike?

Q. Should I get a mountain bike or a road bike? Where I live the roads are bad and uneven and have potholes. I would prefer a mountain bike but I do go on casual, medium cycles and I like to go fast enough. Which one should I get?
— Indecisive Declan, Ireland

P.S. I don’t want a hybrid.

A. I think you should go with a mountain bike. Road bikes don’t do so well on rough roads, but the suspension on most mountain bikes will help swallow up the uncomfortable bumps and holes. Since it sounds like you will mostly be riding on the road, instead of knobby tires consider getting semi-slick mountain tires, which have a smoother (and faster) tread for road riding.


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5 Comments on Mountain bike or road bike?

  1. I think it depends on if you ever (or like to) go mountain biking ,also, you should get a mountain bike but if you don’t ever really mountain bike and you don’t want to be bouncing around you might want to look into getting a lite weight mountain bike would probably be great. So making a long story short, get a mountain bike.

  2. hscout14 // May 5, 2012 at 6:18 am // Reply

    I’m all for mountain but the good gear can get really expensive. I gust bought a new suspension system and the cheapest one with good quality was about $300.
    p.s. don’t get one of those cheap bikes from wal-mart they have bad quality and never last. Go to a store that specialises in high quality bikes

  3. mountian

  4. Off trail monkey // January 16, 2012 at 8:48 pm // Reply

    You can buy two way tires for your mountain bike; great for road and trail.they are smooth in the middle and knobby on the sides. They do cost about $40.00 for a set, but it’s cheaper than two bikes.

  5. Take a look at Mountain bikes with 29″ wheels.

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