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5 things road cyclists could learn from mountain bikers
The seemingly opposite bike disciplines have a lot more in common than first meets the eye. These are five things road cyclists could adopt from their mountain biking cousins to improve their ride.
What can road cyclists learn from mountain bikers? We recently had a look at what mountain bikers can learn from road cyclists, and since the questions obviously works both ways, it only seems sensible to turn the tables now and ask the same in reverse.
The worlds of mountain biking and road cycling often seem so far apart, not just in terms of terrain but language, fashion and so much more. At their heart though, the two sports will always be intrinsically linked by two wheels, a set of handlebars and a saddle – and there’s a lot that they can learn from the different paths they’ve ridden down in the last few decades.
Here are a few things we think road cyclists could learn from their off-road cousins!
1. Leave the tech behind sometimes
Sometimes it's fun to switch off the computer
© Garmin
To say that every mountain biker rides purely for the fun and for freedom of the bike would be untrue. Plenty of off-road riders still stop to snap photos for their Instagram or to record their rides with whatever app, which is fine. But it’s important to remember why you started riding your bike in the first place – for the fun of riding a bike out in the fresh air.
It often seems like mountain bikers tend to live in the moment a little more than road cyclists. Mountain bike rides are about that particular day and enjoying that particular moment and occasion and everything that comes with it rather than planning or training for a future, longer ride, or recording speeds and fitness levels all day to track progress, which is significantly more common in the roadie world. That stuff’s important sure, but leave the tech behind every once and a while, remember to ride just for yourself, and embrace the freedom.
2. Bike handling skills and cornering
Roots and rocks in Lenzerheide
© Johannes Fredheim/Lenzerheide Bike Park
We love a well-maintained road. You can ride along without having to worry about a thing in the world other than your next pedal stroke and the views around you. But sooner or later you’re going to come back to a road which isn’t so well maintained, or a little bump in the road, and you’re going to lose speed, momentum or fly over your handlebars if you don’t handle it properly.
Mountain bikers have to navigate roots and rocks on a daily basis for nearly the entirety of each of their rides. If you get the chance to get out on a mountain bike every now and then, you’ll improve your bike handling skills incredibly quickly, particularly if you’ve not tried it before. It’ll do wonders for your downhill cornering as well, having to navigate turns against tricky trail features. Hey, if it’s good enough to Peter Sagan, it should be good enough for you too.
3. Embrace the Discs
Are road cyclists still scared of disc brakes? They're more reliable in wet weather, despite what many think, and they give more consistent braking as well.
It's also better for the wheel, reducing the wear. Sure, they weigh a little more, but they make up for it overall. If you tell any mountain biker who doesn’t know much about the road that disc brakes were only approved for road racing in June 2018, you’ll be greeted with a gasp. Mountain biking is often a little bit quicker at embracing the latest tech, which sometimes leads to silly trends, but road cyclists need not be scared of new technology. There’s great stuff coming out all the time that can help your riding, from tubeless tyres to disc brakes and more. So much of this comes out of the stuff that sticks from all those MTB trends, and when something does stick, it tends to stick around for a while. Get involved!
4. Get as far away from civilisation as possible
Kirsten Sweetland cycling in the Sierra Nevada
© Christian Pondella / Red Bull Content Pool
What’s the worst thing about road cycling? It’s not the pain. It’s not even bonking or getting a flat without a spare inner tube 50 miles from home – okay, maybe it is that actually – but for the sake of this argument, we’re going to say that it’s cars. Hard to argue with that, isn’t it?
The worst thing about riding a bike on a road is cars. On a mountain bike, you’re able to get away from all of that, and it brings a real meditative quality to be able to look out over valleys and hills and not see any technology or cars or Sainsbury’s Locals.
This is achievable on a road bike too, of course, but because road cycling is a much more city-friendly sport than mountain biking, it can be tempting to just do your regular route, near your house or flat, because it’s easy to do so. All you have to is go out your door and ride.
Why not plan a bigger trip though, even if it’s only once a month or once every few months? Get in your car or on a train and head out to a countryside route with great roads that’ll take you through beautiful scenery you’ve never seen before, with half as many cars as you’ve had come across in the city and much less pollution. It’ll remind you why you love the sport.
5. Intensity Training
Uphill Struggle
© © Maasewerd/Martin
Road cyclists are a lot better than casual mountain bikers at endurance riding, typically at least. But mountain biking, almost by definition of the sport, is interval training at its best. You’ll find yourself hitting the upper limits of your heart rate at certain times on a trail, usually for a short period of time, before retreating back to a coast.
While you can of course replicate this on the road if you’re super disciplined, and you bring all the stuff you need to time and record it properly, a better way to do it is perhaps… just to go mountain biking? You could find the cross-training fitness benefits will benefit you tenfold when you get back on a road bike and get into the racing season.
