I'm not much on dirt (trail) riding, so I ride my mountain bike on paved trails - Is that bad for my bike?

Question

I'm not much on dirt (trail) riding, so I ride my mountain bike on paved trails - Is that bad for my bike?

Answer 1

Not a bit.  Your bike and its components will last a lot longer.  In the long run if you keep riding in this environment you'll be a lot more comfortable if you switch to smooth (or otherwise non-knobby) tires.  You'll get much less rolling resistance that way.

I do RAGBRAI, the ride across Iowa, every year and lots of the riders are on mountain bikes.  The long days are tough on them because of the combination of wind resistance from the upright sitting position and rolling resistance from off-road tires, but I'm assuming you are riding much less ambitious distances.  Check out the link below.

Although I am primarily a roadie, when I was back in graduate school I commuted to school on my hard-tail mountain bike every day.  The heads up position worked better for me in rush traffic, and I carried books and computer in panniers mounted on my rear rack.  I didn't have a lock-out front fork so I would bob a bit when riding up hills hard but it was generally a pleasant experience, especially after I converted to slick tires.

Happy riding.

Answer 2

yes! your bike's heart and soul pine for sweet single-track. it is slowly dying inside, cruising all that pavement.

Answer 3

Not really.  Maybe you can wear your tires faster if they have lots of knobbies, but otherwise no.

Probably you should get a semislick or a slick tire to make the bike perform better.

Answer 4

I agree with the first man who answered. It will help the ring and cogs and chain. But it may wear out the tires because of the make but you can replace them after a while. When I say a while I mean like 15 years. But that's about the time you should replace them anyways.

Answer 5

Of course not.   Dirt is bad for chains, cogs and bearings, so you're actually being kind to your machine.