The bicycle I most often ride is ...

Me, too. Actually, it's a mountain unicycle (Kris Holm 24").

Not only that, another big advantage is that the wide weels and offroad tires provide great breaking, whereas with other bikes rain or dust on the road can increase break distance to dangerous levels (or forces you to slow down).

I really question whether you actually ride on the road. My experience is that the majority of mountain bike riders are bicycle-pedestrians that ride on the sidewalk without the slightest clue that it's often illegal.

Any argument that road bikes have less stopping power or likelihood of falling over due to pot holes is really silly so let me explain...

1. Mountain bikes have knobby tires which are designed to grab rocks and dirt and not provide traction when cornering on asphalt, cement, etc. As such, the likelihood of a slide on a mountain bike in a corner is vastly increased.

2. Road bikes generally use a 700c (centimeter) wheel which is about equivalent to a 29" mountain bike wheel; however, most mountain bikes sold at box stores have 26" wheels. As such, it's easier to go over a pothole with a road bike because the wheel is less likely to fall into the pothole. There's simply a larger surface to distribute into/over the pothole. The tires on road bikes are generally pumped to between 85 and 120 psi whereas the tires on mountain bikes are pumped to much lower levels. This means there is less deflection on a road bike and technically less likelihood of a pinch flat with properly inflated tires.

3. Brake distance is a factor between the amount braking prior to the sheer limits being reached. With a road bike tire there is more surface area in contact with the road at any given time which means the sheer limit is higher between the road and the tires. However, mountain bike brakes (cantilever brakes usually) are often capable of putting higher amounts of force on the rims which would cause the wheels to stop moving. If the wheels stop moving too quickly the sheer forces climb rapidly which may cause a loss of traction as the wheels reach their limit. In short, if you know how to properly brake with a road bike you're more likely to stop faster.

4. Road bikes are capable of much greater speed on roads (in general -- I've seen some really fast mtb riders before) and all the above factors really come into play when you're doing 35-50 mph on a bicycle and need to execute a fast turn or brake quickly. I'd never want to be cornering at 50mph on a mountain bike because the knobby tires would likely break traction or they'd introduce a death wobble.

Personally, I think that's just silly, but to each his own. I've been riding a hybrid bike for about 18 years for commuting and fun, totaling over 20,000 miles. I have never fallen due to a pothole, nor been hit by a car (or even had a close call) due to avoiding a pothole. And even if you have a mountain bike, there are still lots of obstacles in the road to look out for - sewer grates with long openings parallel to your direction of travel, for example. And you still have to watch out for traffic - they can hit you even when you're "safely" within the bike lane or shoulder. Over the years, I've continually moved to narrower and balder tires, because of the improved ride and lower rolling resistance.

Far more important, I would say, is a mirror so you can easily see what's behind you, experience in handling your bike, and the chutzpah to take over a traffic lane when it's not safe for cars to pass you, especially when there's a second lane for them to use (e.g. a very rough or no shoulder, parked cars too close to the traffic lane, biking at or near the speed limit, etc.).

I disagree. When riding in traffic, speed and acceleration is survival. The closer you can keep to the speed of the rest of traffic the safer you're going to be. On a road bike you can easily cruise at 25MPH and get over 30 on a descent, which in a busy enough city is plenty fast enough to keep up with cars.

And any modern road bike should be able to take the pounding that uneven roads can throw at them. Concerns about potholes are always overstated. I've never been thrown off by one of them, you'd have to be riding blindfolded before that would be an issue.

(I ride a Specialized Tarmac SL2 all-carbon road bike. Cat 4 competitive rider.)

I've been through 5 bicycles in the past 20 years, the one I still ride the most is my old Cannondale Delta V 600 with a frame you just can't break. Bought it before I sank money into 4 different road bikes, some of which I really liked, but they were only suitable for road. The old Cannondale goes everywhere, easy to strip down and put back together and all components are inexpensive to replace. Hard to beat that.

Bicycling is impractical in the area I live

You don't ride a bicycle because it is practical (although it often is), you ride because it is fun.

Where do you live that it is impractical? The south pole? The amazon?

Woooo tandem!

I had to vote for a hybrid though, because that's what I use to commute to work 5 days a week. The tandem is for weekend fun rides (and it is fun - and wicked fast). I did use it to "bikepool" on Bike to Work Day though, mostly to be ridiculous, and because a couple coworkers wanted to see it. Too bad there's no HOB (High Occupancy Bicycle) lanes for it, because we just scream past any other bikers.

Ah, a beauty. Rides best with panniers all around. I've got over 13,000km on mine.

I use it instead of my fixie even for short rides/commutes now, and I've even built some custom bags for my photo studio gear to do quick location shoots.

Sorry I messed up the link to the BentRider Online forum [bentrideronline.com]...

If your wedgie bike hurts and you don't have a medical condition, you need a fitting and possibly a different saddle.

Yea, but for $300 or so, I can get a decent mountain bike (good enough to ride back and forth to work). The recumbants all seem to be in the $2,000 range. Fine if you're riding races I suppose but not for the folks that aren't that serious.

[John]

Whatever. Problem #1 with recumbent bikes (I meet one now and them) is that *you don't see them*. Everything else in traffic is at least 1.5 m above ground, but these guys sneak up on you like a miniature combat helicopter. They make me nervous, which is not what I want to be when commuting.

Did you have to grow a foot-long beard?

Do you ride in traffic? I've always wanted to try a recumbent bike, but I don't think I would be comfortable without the visibility I get on a standard bike when I'm sharing the road with cars and trucks.

Neat. I bet I could totally drop Lance Armstrong up L'Alpe d'Huez in my Corolla.

> The NiMH pack lasted until 2011. The bike is now offline until I can scrounge the money for a LiFePO4 pack.

Uh, forgetting lead acid, you should be able to source and build something for under $200...

Vehicular homocide sure is funny!