I stumbled across this old article on adventurecorps.com… what do you think?

I routinely dust every mountain biker I encounter on the trail. And I ride a road bike.

Furthermore, I think, no, I know, the mountain bike is the most over-rated, most improperly used, most over-built, and most greedily promoted piece of hardware to hit the sport and fitness industry in modern history. Ninety-nine percent of the miles ridden by 99% of the mountain bikes could, and should, be ridden on the first and only real all terrain bike, the ‘road bike.’ More bluntly, a road bike is equal to or better than a mountain bike if ridden with skill like I have.

Blasphemy, you say? Don’t think you could possibly ride off pavement without monster knobbies, suspension, enough titanium for an ICBM, and enough gears for at least two whole bikes? Don’t be a trained parrot by thinking this and don’t let the greedy hawkers control your thoughts and your pocket-book! Simply put, invest in some skills, some style, some finesse, and some balls (girls included), not more over-hyped bike junk.

Keep Reading.