Have you made the switch from primarily riding dirt bike motorcycles to riding mountain bikes more? What do you like better about mountain biking?
Physical exercise. 8 miles of mountain biking versus 8 miles of dirt biking is like night and day on the body. Your legs are the motor, which is good and bad at the same time. Uphills are very different since you can't just twist that throttle. The feel over flat and down hills is similar and can even be more fun since the mountain bike is so much lighter. But your top speed is way less when you are pedaling for power! If I still had my youth, dirt biking rules, but as a dirt fix substitute and in the interest of health, mountain biking has easly filled my dirt passion. Skill sets definately cross over. You might enjoy this downhill comparison: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqBy1R7IMGE
Here is my testament to riding Mountain Bikes.... http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=639945 Absolutely love it. I can't say I transferred from dirt riding because I started riding MCs a little late in life (42) ....I have rode off road a bunch but not enough to even feel close to proficient ....Mountain Biking has come a little more natural for me. We have such nice trails around here and a much of the credit goes to GORC (Gateway Off Road Cycling Club) for maintaining and making new trails. The MC dirt riding we have around here is mostly rutted and chewed quad trails that are hard to enjoy on a motorcycle for me. If I lived in Michigan where folks ban together with motorcycle only single track - it might be a different story. The other plus concerns the exercise gained from riding. I was in probably the best shape I've been in a long time from riding this past Summer / Fall. Also when wife and I did our first night ride it was amazing to be in the woods with silence while riding..... If you have good MTB single track riding areas around you I think you will find it is just as rewarding as riding a motorcycle if not more in some instances.
N. GA is an east coast mtn biking mecca. Go for it! ...as an added bonus, its harder to piss people off when you don't have a motor. (cause yer too farging tired to!) I started mtn biking, so I'm biased towards pedal power. Both are fun. Both skillsets are similar. Biggest difference is how short mtn bike rides can be vs motorbike rides. Its really, really hard to go a hundred miles on a mtn bike... M
I rode dirt bikes all through my teens and early 20's. Got my first mtn bike at age 32, and haven't looked back. The skills are the same, but the motor is harder to keep in tune...
I found the learning curve going from a moto to a peddle bike to be steep for the first few weeks. No longer could I rely on my right wrist and dumb look to get me up, down, or through an obstacle. I had to think about where my feet were in relation to rocks to avoid peddle strike for the first time. It was a challenge, but now going back to a dirt bike I find that my riding technique is much improved; a lot more fluid, and I can ride for longer just due to being in better shape.
20 minutes on a MX bilke is a complete body workout. 20 minutes on a mountainbike is a leg warmup. I've gone from racing dirt bikes a lot and using mountainbikes as training to just riding/racing mountainbikes. Riding mountainbikes is less brutal on my old body. I don't have black toes all the time anymore. I don't take 5 minutes warming my back up before I can walk upright anymore either. I don't have to drive 90 minutes to the race or practice track every week as I can ride from my house when I want. Mountainbikes are cheaper too... maybe The big thing is the social side. You ride, have a chat. Race, have a beer afterwards. Dirt bikes were more serious. Just racing and cramp on the way home. Way more fun than a mountainbike could ever be of course, just required more commitment in all kinds of way. Not sure there's a huge cross-over skills-wise. Must be some I guess.
My MTB partner is an ex-pro MX-er and his son is a lifelong MX-er. My background is strictly asphalt. I used to be able to turn trackday times that would qualify me at the absolute tailend of an AMA grid. I have zero dirtbike experience; never owned one. What I notice: A.) Their ability to pick lines. I'm used to that, but, on asphalt, the line criteria is totally different. Dirt you're avoiding ground obstacles, asphalt it's connecting corners. B.) They're very comfortable with trees and threading them. I'm still working on that. C.) They weight the pedals like a dirtbike. I'm still working on that. D.) They push the bicycle down into the corners, like a dirtbike. I'm used to leaning my body to the inside. So, I'm still working on that, too. Grazing trees with my shoulder or CamelBack is really encouraging changing my style. Their motocross experience really shows on a MTB. Their comfort level is far beyond mine. If only I had been nurtured on a dirtbike. Of course, I don't have the crash scars/issues like they do, either. Oh yeah, me getting a 29er has erased some of their advantage through the rutted/rooted stuff.
Riding Mountain bikes is probably the best training you can do to ride dirt bikes. And then back again.
I rode mtn bikes and bmx a ton before i was 17 but after getting a motorcycle license , I never wanted to peddle again. If i want exercise ill go for a walk or a run, but after that , its all about twisting the throttle. Much more excitement. But if you want to peddle thats ok too.
Riding my DR350, I sometimes feel as if as if i'm intruding on nature, always worried about running into land owners, the po-po, etc. It just adds stress. NY is not very hospitable to dual sport riders. On the mountainbike, I feel more at one with nature. The stealth quality is nice. Night riding is a blast! My 29er SS just rolls quietly along. With my 3 little ones, including an 8 mo old, time constraints are always a factor as well. I can prepare and do an epic mtb ride and get home in 4 hrs. With the DR, it's an all day affair - packing, loading, fueling, unloading, riding til we're completely shot, reloading, unpacking, washing the bike. Granted, I still love those days but it gets harder to find the time due to familial obligations. I also get a real sense of accomplishment when I can clear obstacles and hills on the MTB that previously gave me a lot of trouble.
Ya learn to pick better lines on the DR too. Since you don't have nearly the power, suspension or tires the MC has, you hafta learn where to put yer wheels so you don't lose traction. ...and for those of us in our *ahem* middle age, it keeps the roll round the middle down some. M
My experience has been that with 12" of suspension travel, you can be sloppy. With none or 2-3" you can't be. M
The biggest thing I like about MTN biking is that I can decide to go for a ride and be on the trails twenty minutes later, in the city. The closest place I can ride my dirt bike is about two hours away if it is not at a buddies house...... Skills transfer somewhat, balance is the big one since I ride bike and moto trials. Bike trials is AWESOME for balance development.
I find you can be a lot more sloppy when the thing between your legs weighs 30lbs instead of 250lbs......
