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18 Reasons Why MTBs Are Better Than Road Bikes

By Adam Marsal

While racing against a road bike on tarmac, you’ll lose the battle no matter how much effort you put into the ride. All other advantages are on your side, though. This is why you might like MTBs over road bikes.

1. You don’t need to follow man-made roads, which gives you unlimited freedom.

2. Unlike spartan road bikes, modern full-suspension MTBs have more interesting features to show off if you want to impress your friends.

3. On forest trails, you can enjoy solitary cycle trips without complaining that nobody’s slicing through the air ahead of you, ensuring an effortless ride against the annoying headwind.

4. Because beer is not a crime.

Doctors in Japan have observed patients with what’s now called the “auto-brewery syndrome”. It is found in people with overgrowth of candida yeast in the intestine. Candida is a microbe that excretes alcohol as a metabolic by-product. In severe cases, the overgrowth can cause drunkenness.

5. An MTB delivers you to the zen realm with fewer concerns about frame scratches or the harmony between the bike paint and the colour of your brand new cycling kit.

6. You don’t lose time on bike fitting.

7. Even official cycle paths are rather inappropriate for sporty road bikes, unsettling the rest of the commuters with speed exceeding 40 km/h.

8. While riding a road bike engages your legs only, MTB trip is a perfect exercise for the whole body.

9. There’re jumps and they’re so enjoyable.

10. Humans concerned about their body shape would most likely appreciate the loose fit of MTB shorts over uncompromising lycra.

11. You can have a good time riding even with less physically fit mates.

12. There’re fewer arguments for spending a fortune on ultra-light components as a five-minute ride in the rain adds a bucket of mud to the overall weight of your bike.

13. You don’t need to shave your legs.

14. Nobody’s asking you when the love parade hits the town.

15. You can’t hide from cars even on such dream locations as Stelvio Pass. With an MTB, you can forget about anxieties caused by riding in traffic once for good.

16. You can live without Strava records.

17. Rails, curbs, potholes or drains in the city won’t make you an issue for an emergency.

18. The inventors of mountain biking were hippies and that’s cool.