# Road vs mtb injuries



## TheBigV (Aug 18, 2011)

I have come to the conclusion that riding my road bike is much more dangerous than my mountain bike. Most of my mtb injuries have been bruises, strains, a concussion here or there, and the occassional serious cut. In the last 2 years, I have had two semi-serious injuries on my road bike due to being run off the road. Not only were the injuries more painful, but the recovery time was much longer. After being run off the road earlier this year, I have barely touched my road bike. At least with the MTB I feel like I am in control of whether I fall or not, the ground is softer, and I am also not doing descents at 30 mph.

Anyone else have a similar experience?


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## snafs (Sep 6, 2008)

I forget who but a wise man once posted something to this effect

Mountain biking: High crash chance, low injury chance
Road Biking: Low crash chance, high chance of injury.

Falling into a cactus hurts a lot less than road rash haha.


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## Turveyd (Sep 30, 2007)

Road descents I've seen 45mph with V brakes and weaker wheels and bike in general with no suspension to take a pot hole, a roadie died on a race at that speed very easily recently.

Me and a mate went over together on the same patch of diesel someone had spilled, the stuff you can't see that'll get you.


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## Mattlikestobike (Nov 1, 2010)

Depends what mtb trail you ride.. Some trails are dirt, and some are gravel infested... The ones with gravel hurt like a B****, for the first few minutes.. 

never had experience with road bikes... but after riding mtb on road, i would say Road rash hurts the most, and the longest..


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## Bob12676 (Sep 10, 2008)

I once had an ER doctor tell me he could tell what kind of biking you were doing by the type of injury you had. He was cleaning wood chips and gravel out of a gash in my knee at the time, so I don't remember all the details but it was something like: MTB = cuts RDB=road rash, MTB= separated shoulder RDB=broken collar bone... Then he went into skiing VS. snowboarding injuries, and on and on, then the drugs kicked in and I stopped payin attention :skep:. I guess if your an ER doc for long enough you pick up on the patterns. 

I wonder If we have any doctors in the forum that could elaborate?


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## bbbr (Nov 6, 2005)

Last Fridays trip over the drop bars may cost me another knee surgery. Smacked my good knee really hard upon landing and then slid across the pavement picking up some road rash. A little over a week later and I have a visit with my ortho for an evaluation on what the urgent care doc thinks is a torn meniscus. 

All I get in the woods are scuffs and minor abrasions...


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## Andy Pancroft (Aug 3, 2011)

Aside from falling over from not clipping out at a light, the only road crashes I've endured were during races, which is to be expected. But, most of my team mates and riding partners have all had bouts with cars. That is what I worry about more than anything; having a car take me out!!!


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## Pike14 (Mar 22, 2011)

I agree, the road is much less forgiving than the trail. I've had crashes on the road that involved nothing more than falling sideways that left me off the bike for a while. The only catch was that I was going 50+ mph's down a freakin' mountain. My last bad road crash came in Spain. I was skidding across the tarmac long enough to realize I should roll to a different part of my body because the part that was sliding probably didn't have much skin left. When I finally came to a stop I had much less flesh on the left side of my body and could literally SMELL my skin burning.

Just about every gnarly crash I've taken on the mtb has resulted in me getting up with suprise at how NOT hurt I am (knock on wood). 

If nothing else, crashing on the mtb has made me a better crasher on the road. I still enjoy road riding and the fitness it gives me for the trails, but I make sure I'm THAT much more careful when I do.


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## mbcracken (Aug 12, 2006)

Been riding for about 15 years with many miles on MTB and road. 
Road crashes 2 (that I remember) resulted in 2 trips to the ER. One was a concussion from my tires sliding out on a small patch of slimy moss. Split helmet resulting in concussion. Two, my feeble race attempt when I collided into a slower rider. Broken nose, couple loose teeth, and stitches to repair split lip.
MTB crashes... Too many to remember. But most of them, I walk/ride away from. Except my latest MTB crash from three weeks ago. Dislocated fingers and wrist which resulted in three pins to repair wrist. But to keep road v MTB in perspective, I did get in about 1500 miles MTB this year as of Sept 13.:thumbsup:

Cheers,
Mike


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