lukas wrote:I'd recommend going with the flat bar roadie in this case. 40-60km is a fair ride.. not one I'd want to do on my mountain bike.
I've had my Giant CRX3 for a few months now and it does the job. However now that I'm starting to ride further and wish to go faster, I'm already eyeing off drop bar road bikes. Just received a generous salary increase so I think I'm going to treat myself within the next month or two.
It's a big difference in what you can do.
You can go faster on your own on the flats by getting onto the drops and tucking in better, and still have access to the controls.
You can climb better because it's easier to stand on the pedals and lean forward. If you try climbing out of the saddle on an MTB afterwards it just doesn't feel right.
It's easier to ride in a group because your arms are outside the edges of the bars, so you'd bump shoulders rather than tangle bars.
You get access to the shifters and levers from a more natural riding position - bar ends on flat bars takes your hands away from the levers.
You can move your hands around more, because there is more bar to use.