Re: What is a "Montana Road Bike"?: Bikefanclub.com

Hello-

How cool is this that there are folks out there in cyber land talking about my work...I'm truly pleased.

As for the MRB. I designed it for how I use a road bike here in Bozeman MT. The paved roads here aren't too bad but they all turn to dirt when you get to the edge of town. I wanted a bike that I could keep going on when the roads turned to dirt or to single track or whatever.

The bikes are sized just like a standard road bike but they have clearances for a 35c tire. They differ from a true cross bike in that they are fit to the rider like a road bike (cross bikes tend to have shorter seat tubes for more standover). they are also different from a cross bike in that the bottom bracket is low (typically an 8cm drop). An MRB is still reasonable quick handling (typically about 6cm of trail).

To sum it up ...it's a road bike that has slightly slower handleing to deal with dirt roads and it has clearances for wide tires and canti brakes.

The one I built for myself is my main bike. I have two sets of wheels for it. One set has cross tires and wide range gearing and the other has road tires (23c) and narrow range gearing. They are amazingly versatile and will go anywhere for the most part. I take it into the mountains exploring dirt roads one day and on a club road ride the next.

Thanks for the interest and Happy New Year,

Dave

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