Are road bikes safer than mountain bikes in the city?
(Disclaimer: This is all coming from someone who chooses to use a road bike to commute) I’ve used both a hybrid, occasionally a mountain bike and a road bike all when I used to be a bike messenger in Manhattan. I would say that mountain bikes, especially with road slicks on them, are probably actually safer than any bike. At the same time they probably also require you to expend more energy while riding on the road compared to a road bike. Here’s why I think they’re safer: • The upright position makes you more visible to cars. The upright position also lets you see down the road more than on an equivalently sized road bike. • A lot of mountain bikes, especially ones with disk brakes, probably have a lot more braking power compared to a road bike. Some people will argue that’s offset because they’re heavier but come-on, we’re talking a 5-10 pound difference when the truth is the majority of the weight is from the human riding it. • The bigger tires are also less likely to result in a pu
