Mountain Bike ok for road biking?

Question

I had knee surgery last november and i was told i should not run anymore. So after i finished 6 months of physical therapy i went out and bought a mountain bike. I was told how great biking was for people with bad knees, i have gone out on a few rides already and i love it. What i was wondering is are mountain bikes ok just for riding on either blacktop or concrete? Im not looking to actually go on an off road mountain bike trip but i did go on a long 20 mile ride on a bike trail. Is there something i need to do to maybe convert the bike into a road bike? Or should it be okay the way it is? Any help by people who know what they are talking about would be very helpful! I want to get the best out of my biking experience! Thanks guys and gals!

Answer 1

In many respects mountain bikes are safer on the roads than road bikes. I ride both types and the thicker tyres on my mountain bike bounce over ruts and potholes in the road that might cause me problems if I were riding my road bike with it's ultra thin tyres.

Answer 2

Ride what you want.   Unless you're trying to hang with roadies on a group ride, the MTB is just fine.   You won't be quite as fast, but if you're just out for the fun of it and a bit of exercise, that doesn't matter.

The only downside to an MTB on the road is if you have really knobby tires- those can be a little noisy on pavement.    Swap to slicks or semi slicks and you're good to go.   The semi-slicks will work fine off-road too, unless you're operating on some tough singletrack or in the wet.

Answer 3

A MTB isn't ideal but can certainly be used on the road as you experienced. I think replacing the knobbie tires with smooth high pressure 1.5 width tires will greatly increase your enjoyment of riding on pavement. It'll be faster and smoother.

I have a road bike and MTB. I ride around the 'hood with my kids - I use my MTB with my 1.5 slicks. i have 2 sets of wheels as I use the knobbies for trail riding.