Just wondering do many on here have a road bike that they use?
Reason i ask is ive been thinking of getting one to build the owld legs up for the savage xc climbs.
I found any time i do a race that i suck on the climbs but tend to catch people on the downhill sections.
So i thought if i got a road bike to use over the summer and get some miles into the legs that way i could improve the fittness.
Now ive only been back on the saddle (No pun intended) since September but i cycle at least 6 days a week so anywhere from 3-6 hours depending.
The only way to do it.
I dont get to mtb much and do 95% of my training on the road.
When focusing on a particular mtb race i would make sure i get more mtb done - even if its on the mtb on the road but with 4 kids and mountains almost an hour away road riding is the only way.
Back in the good auld days riding as a junior international it was more like a 50/50 mix of road and mtb. You will be surprised at how little and often on the bike - no matter what kind will bring you on.
cannot stand the whole road bike thing just practice going up savage hills its the only way i use my dh bike climbing uphill to torture myself and when i get back on the xc bike its a breeze thats my opinion though i can sense the abuse on the way
just a personal suggestion
sounds like you have the aerobic fitness but not the muscle fitness
Train on your XC bike (but get a pair of slicks perhaps)and seek out the hills so you train on the same bike that you will be doing those savage XC climbs on.
The harder you have to push, the stronger you will get
A road bike will make the hills climbs easier butthat aint going to help the next time your on your XC bike on the side of a mountain
Cheers for the comments.
Ive never even been on a road bile before its always been MTB's
But the local club here tends to do more spins on the road so that why ive been considering investing in one.
Ive def felt an improvement since in the last few months beeing from Galway im limited to only 1 trail really and there is alot of climbing but its never the same cycling on your own and pushing yourself like you would do in a race.
Really hit home when i did a couple of the development races Richie held a couple of months back.
Watching people fly by me on the climbs just pissed me off haha
There is no 'only way' to being savage, all training methods can get you results if done right. For example I've never even tried riding on a road bike....
Get a coaching session from Richie, it will make you deadly!
unless you are intending to compete at a high level and are really serious about your racing, XC and DH, then you don't need to get a road bike and train on it. But they are a training tool for MTB, like a HR Monitor or a turbo trainer.
In my opinion where you are at , at the moment, you are only starting to enjoy your biking..just keep mountainbiking any chance you get and push a bit harder.
Training and more training, and having no craic on the bike will just ruin the mountainbike for you. you are not limited to 1 trail out there either, contact Darren mcGann in West Coast Wheelers..
go and find others like yourself and have the craic..if you get sucked in to the easy life of a roadie you will be lost forever to the Mountains !!
As Max says, it's how you train, not the bike. Road bikes are handy though, because they are convenient. open the hall door and go. Possibly safer too if riding alone, compared to having an MTB crash in the woods...
But when it comes to hillclimbs, I think MTB'r are better (IMO)... Roadies can turn out strong solid power for long durations.
As Max says, it's how you train, not the bike. Road bikes are handy though, because they are convenient. open the hall door and go. Possibly safer too if riding alone, compared to having an MTB crash in the woods...
But when it comes to hillclimbs, I think MTB'r are better (IMO)... Roadies can turn out strong solid power for long durations.
spoken like a true closet roadie ..the state of you !! go on now..shave your legs for us and do your little roadie man dance for our entertainment !!
don't turn your back on me then you hairy little roadophiliac !! come on now..do your little roadie man dance..you and Rossco and Morty and Gordob!! the state of you with your big wobbily nonsense heads stuck on top of your pipecleaner bodies !!
Put simply, road biking can be very useful for building fitness. On road rides you tend to peddle a lot more (less technical descending) so you can bring along your fitness quicker. MTB works on different things and to be fast on an MTB you really need to spend the time on the MTB. What a lot of fast guys do (I'm talking pros like Burry Stander etc...) is spend a lot of time building fitness over the winter on road bikes and road races and then move back to the MTB when getting closer to racing. Lots of different ways of doing it - I hear Wolfram Kurshat spends almost all of his time doing intervals on rollers indoors and then rocks the MTB for a preride and kicks everyones ass come race day...
Other things that are nice about the road:
- can train from anywhere - getting to trails (for some) takes time, if you have a 3 hour window for training, and it takes 1 hour (driving?) to and from trails, if you are building fitness, get straight on the road bike (or mtb with slicks) and ride for 3 hours versus 2
- if there are other road riders local (as you mention), having others to go with and push you on can help. Nothing like racing another up a hill versus being out solo by yourself.
- road biking is different, something fresh - can be nice for a change
Riding the road on a road bike is very different than being on a MTB with slicks - if cost is not an issue, I would get a road bike. Also, maintance wise, they are usually very easy to keep - great if you are time pressed.
Me - when I'm training for MTB racing, I spend about 50/50 road/mtb - because I'm doing the RAS in a few weeks I have been focused more on the road and stage racing for the last two months but once that is done. Focus is 100% back to MTB with XC Nationals being one of the main events.
don't turn your back on me then you hairy little roadophiliac !! come on now..do your little roadie man dance..you and Rossco and Morty and Gordob!! the state of you with your big wobbily nonsense heads stuck on top of your pipecleaner bodies !!
Don't tar me with the same brush as GordoB.... we may both have 4 kids, but that's as far as it goes. Firstly, he's in a road club, and secondly he does cycloc... cyclocr....cyclocro....
Feck, I can't even say it....
It's funny, my MX mates say I'm Gay 'cos I ride a pushy. They have no idea if the different levels of the gay.....
unless you are intending to compete at a high level and are really serious about your racing, XC and DH, then you don't need to get a road bike and train on it. But they are a training tool for MTB, like a HR Monitor or a turbo trainer.
In my opinion where you are at , at the moment, you are only starting to enjoy your biking..just keep mountainbiking any chance you get and push a bit harder.
Training and more training, and having no craic on the bike will just ruin the mountainbike for you. you are not limited to 1 trail out there either, contact Darren mcGann in West Coast Wheelers..
go and find others like yourself and have the craic..if you get sucked in to the easy life of a roadie you will be lost forever to the Mountains !!
Thanks for the reply Richie,
I was up in westport with Darren on the bank holiday weekend the connacht mtb league was on up there,
Your right in saying im only really starting to enjoy the cycling alot more this weather.
I was talking to a friend of mine today about going down to ballyhoura for a day when i finish up college for the summer. Thought the trails were good the day the xc development race was on.
I think what i might do i pick up a pair of slicks for my hardtail that i dont use that much, so if i dont fancy driving 40 mins to get derroura i can just cycle out the prom with the slicks.
I might give you a pm over the summer about maybe joining yee on a trail up in the big smoke if i can rob a car from the house.
Im trying to get to as many different tracks as i can over the summer.
Just wondering do many on here have a road bike that they use?
Reason i ask is ive been thinking of getting one to build the owld legs up for the savage xc climbs.
I found any time i do a race that i suck on the climbs but tend to catch people on the downhill sections.
So i thought if i got a road bike to use over the summer and get some miles into the legs that way i could improve the fittness.
Now ive only been back on the saddle (No pun intended) since September but i cycle at least 6 days a week so anywhere from 3-6 hours depending.
The only way to do it.
I dont get to mtb much and do 95% of my training on the road.
When focusing on a particular mtb race i would make sure i get more mtb done - even if its on the mtb on the road but with 4 kids and mountains almost an hour away road riding is the only way.
Back in the good auld days riding as a junior international it was more like a 50/50 mix of road and mtb. You will be surprised at how little and often on the bike - no matter what kind will bring you on.
cannot stand the whole road bike thing just practice going up savage hills its the only way i use my dh bike climbing uphill to torture myself and when i get back on the xc bike its a breeze thats my opinion though i can sense the abuse on the way
just a personal suggestion
sounds like you have the aerobic fitness but not the muscle fitness
Train on your XC bike (but get a pair of slicks perhaps)and seek out the hills so you train on the same bike that you will be doing those savage XC climbs on.
The harder you have to push, the stronger you will get
A road bike will make the hills climbs easier butthat aint going to help the next time your on your XC bike on the side of a mountain
Cheers for the comments.
Ive never even been on a road bile before its always been MTB's
But the local club here tends to do more spins on the road so that why ive been considering investing in one.
Ive def felt an improvement since in the last few months beeing from Galway im limited to only 1 trail really and there is alot of climbing but its never the same cycling on your own and pushing yourself like you would do in a race.
Really hit home when i did a couple of the development races Richie held a couple of months back.
Watching people fly by me on the climbs just pissed me off haha
There is no 'only way' to being savage, all training methods can get you results if done right. For example I've never even tried riding on a road bike....
Get a coaching session from Richie, it will make you deadly!
unless you are intending to compete at a high level and are really serious about your racing, XC and DH, then you don't need to get a road bike and train on it. But they are a training tool for MTB, like a HR Monitor or a turbo trainer.
In my opinion where you are at , at the moment, you are only starting to enjoy your biking..just keep mountainbiking any chance you get and push a bit harder.
Training and more training, and having no craic on the bike will just ruin the mountainbike for you. you are not limited to 1 trail out there either, contact Darren mcGann in West Coast Wheelers..
go and find others like yourself and have the craic..if you get sucked in to the easy life of a roadie you will be lost forever to the Mountains !!
As Max says, it's how you train, not the bike. Road bikes are handy though, because they are convenient. open the hall door and go. Possibly safer too if riding alone, compared to having an MTB crash in the woods...
But when it comes to hillclimbs, I think MTB'r are better (IMO)... Roadies can turn out strong solid power for long durations.
As Max says, it's how you train, not the bike. Road bikes are handy though, because they are convenient. open the hall door and go. Possibly safer too if riding alone, compared to having an MTB crash in the woods...
But when it comes to hillclimbs, I think MTB'r are better (IMO)... Roadies can turn out strong solid power for long durations.
spoken like a true closet roadie ..the state of you !! go on now..shave your legs for us and do your little roadie man dance for our entertainment !!
don't turn your back on me then you hairy little roadophiliac !! come on now..do your little roadie man dance..you and Rossco and Morty and Gordob!! the state of you with your big wobbily nonsense heads stuck on top of your pipecleaner bodies !!
Put simply, road biking can be very useful for building fitness. On road rides you tend to peddle a lot more (less technical descending) so you can bring along your fitness quicker. MTB works on different things and to be fast on an MTB you really need to spend the time on the MTB. What a lot of fast guys do (I'm talking pros like Burry Stander etc...) is spend a lot of time building fitness over the winter on road bikes and road races and then move back to the MTB when getting closer to racing. Lots of different ways of doing it - I hear Wolfram Kurshat spends almost all of his time doing intervals on rollers indoors and then rocks the MTB for a preride and kicks everyones ass come race day...
Other things that are nice about the road:
- can train from anywhere - getting to trails (for some) takes time, if you have a 3 hour window for training, and it takes 1 hour (driving?) to and from trails, if you are building fitness, get straight on the road bike (or mtb with slicks) and ride for 3 hours versus 2
- if there are other road riders local (as you mention), having others to go with and push you on can help. Nothing like racing another up a hill versus being out solo by yourself.
- road biking is different, something fresh - can be nice for a change
Riding the road on a road bike is very different than being on a MTB with slicks - if cost is not an issue, I would get a road bike. Also, maintance wise, they are usually very easy to keep - great if you are time pressed.
Me - when I'm training for MTB racing, I spend about 50/50 road/mtb - because I'm doing the RAS in a few weeks I have been focused more on the road and stage racing for the last two months but once that is done. Focus is 100% back to MTB with XC Nationals being one of the main events.
don't turn your back on me then you hairy little roadophiliac !! come on now..do your little roadie man dance..you and Rossco and Morty and Gordob!! the state of you with your big wobbily nonsense heads stuck on top of your pipecleaner bodies !!
Don't tar me with the same brush as GordoB.... we may both have 4 kids, but that's as far as it goes. Firstly, he's in a road club, and secondly he does cycloc... cyclocr....cyclocro....
Feck, I can't even say it....
It's funny, my MX mates say I'm Gay 'cos I ride a pushy. They have no idea if the different levels of the gay.....
unless you are intending to compete at a high level and are really serious about your racing, XC and DH, then you don't need to get a road bike and train on it. But they are a training tool for MTB, like a HR Monitor or a turbo trainer.
In my opinion where you are at , at the moment, you are only starting to enjoy your biking..just keep mountainbiking any chance you get and push a bit harder.
Training and more training, and having no craic on the bike will just ruin the mountainbike for you. you are not limited to 1 trail out there either, contact Darren mcGann in West Coast Wheelers..
go and find others like yourself and have the craic..if you get sucked in to the easy life of a roadie you will be lost forever to the Mountains !!
Thanks for the reply Richie,
I was up in westport with Darren on the bank holiday weekend the connacht mtb league was on up there,
Your right in saying im only really starting to enjoy the cycling alot more this weather.
I was talking to a friend of mine today about going down to ballyhoura for a day when i finish up college for the summer. Thought the trails were good the day the xc development race was on.
I think what i might do i pick up a pair of slicks for my hardtail that i dont use that much, so if i dont fancy driving 40 mins to get derroura i can just cycle out the prom with the slicks.
I might give you a pm over the summer about maybe joining yee on a trail up in the big smoke if i can rob a car from the house.
Im trying to get to as many different tracks as i can over the summer.