Mountain Bike Vs. Road Bike Saftey

July 22nd, 2005 by Carl

I’ve yet to take a road bike out for a spin… but I must admit that it has crossed my mind many times. The road bikers I know swear by it, though there are some people who won’t go near a road bike for fear of getting hit by a car. Definitely a valid argument… you obviously don’t have to worry about getting hit by a car when riding in the middle of the woods.

Some guys over at bikeforums.net decided to debate the issue of mountain bike vs. road bike saftey…. and before reading their discussion I never really understood why some people were afraid to ride a road bike.

The thread starts with a post by “dwightonabike”, who says “I am having trouble getting my mountain biking friend to join me on a road trip. He claims the danger of road biking is too great. I remember reading that only a small portion of cyclist deaths involve a motor vehicle, but I can’t find the citation. Does anyone know of any information that compares the danger of cycling on the road to off-road cycling?”

He started a fantastic debate about the hazards of road cycling… and though I’m still not convinced that road bikes are rolling deathtraps, I will definitely be cautious when I finally stop procrastinating and try one out. The bottom line (as someone in the forum said) : On a road bike you’re much more likely to suffer a fatal injury, but you never have a run in with a tree, and for the most part you don’t come back from your daily ride with bruises, scrapes, and broken bones like mountain bikers do. On the other hand, you don’t hear of many mountain bikers getting killed, but almost every time we go out we come back with some form of injury. Agreed?

Check out the entire post here. It’s fantastic.

4 Responses to “Mountain Bike Vs. Road Bike Saftey”

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1 fixedgear on Jul 23rd, 2005 at 6:48 am

Where are these folks riidng their road bikes? If you’ll load up the car to drive your MTB to the nearest trail, then load up the road bike and rive to somewhere nice to ride. I live near Philadelphia which was still the fifth lagest metroploitan area last time I checked, and we have plenty of great low-traffic places to ride nearby. It’s paranoia to think that you’ll go for a ride and a car will come from behind and kill you. Ride predictably, signal your intentions and you can live to tell about it, just like me. Your more likely to have an accident in the shower after the ride.
2 Carl on Jul 23rd, 2005 at 9:36 am

LOL… hey! I slip and fall in the shower every day! Just kidding… Appreciate the info though… before reading that post I never thought too much about cars and road biking, I guess I just assumed that people look out for bikers when driving. Sometimes you’ll see that roadie that’s in the middle of the street going 6mph, but they’re few and far between. I’m not too worried about cars myself, but then again I’ve never really ridden on the road yet, so we’ll see…
3 Ellie on Jul 24th, 2005 at 1:59 pm

Im terrified of cars! I recently moved to Manhattan for work. I miss my bike. Im too afraid to take it out for fear of crazy commuters anxious to get out and psychotic taxi cabs anxious to just get going!! As logn as you are aware of your surroundings I think itd be OK, though. While I am here, here is an article I found on a neat type of bike:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/content.cfm?content_type=article&content_type_id=1945
Take a look, if youd like. Be safe.
4 Robert D on Jan 14th, 2008 at 11:14 am

I have two road bikes, and one modified MTB bike for road riding. I modified my MTB (replaced the suspension fork with a rigid fork, and put on 26 x 1.95 slicks) go traverse the local roads here in north Fort Worth, Texas because I was forced off the road several weeks ago while riding my road bike. So, common sense told me that a mountain bike can withstand any sudden moves where I have to go off road to avoid getting hit.
While most Texans hate bicycles because that hate slowing down to make way for a cyclist (Texas has consistently earned top honors for that fatest people in the United States) I feel a modified MTB makes a good choice for all cyclist who ride solo while on the road. Oh, and for all of you cyclists who must talk on your cell phone while driving your car the guy who forced me off the road was on his cell phone.
If this message sounds harsh in 1987 I was hit by a car in Houston while riding my MTB. I was told later by an eyewitness that the driver, after hitting me, backed up, looked at me while I was on the ground, unconscious, at sped off.

Mountain Bike Vs. Road Bike Saftey

4 Responses to “Mountain Bike Vs. Road Bike Saftey”

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