Sycamore
Pack Dog
I know I'm probably p*ssing in the wind trying to change this, but there's an illogical tradition in the bike community that drives me nuts. It's this: we keep on saying "off road" when we mean gravel road. It's stupid and misleading and it happens all the time. I'd guess that 90% of the time an adv biker mentions "off road" he's talking about a road.
Tyre manufacturers:
"The new blah blah brand tyre is great for highway riding, but it's also versatile enough to do some off road touring."
No Mr Salesman, your tyre will take me on paved road, and also on gravel road. Botha are called roads, neither is off road. If I take your tyre OFF the ROAD I would be an idiot and might kill myself.
Forums:
"I'm looking for a 1200 cc adv barge, I plan to do about 70% road and 30% off road riding."
No Mr Wishful Thinking, you plan to do 70% paved roads and 30% gravel roads. Both are called roads. Your barge will not get you 100 meters off road.
Bike reviews (saw something like this on TV the other night):
"The new Honda blah blah looks like a street bike, but it also has some offroad capability..."
No Mr Bike Expert, that's a road bike that can also go on gravel roads. Both are called roads. If I take that bike off road it will, break into pieces, you idiot.
It can't be more simple - "off road" means "off the road", i.e. no roads. Gravel / dirt / farm roads are all roads. It might bruise some egos to admit that our 1200 / 1100 / 1190 / 990 or whatever bikes have virtually zero offroad capability (unless you're Marc Coma) but I wish we could stop talking twak and accept that road is a road and off road means no road.
(BTW not knocking this forum, it's everywhere).
Whew, rant over.
Tyre manufacturers:
"The new blah blah brand tyre is great for highway riding, but it's also versatile enough to do some off road touring."
No Mr Salesman, your tyre will take me on paved road, and also on gravel road. Botha are called roads, neither is off road. If I take your tyre OFF the ROAD I would be an idiot and might kill myself.
Forums:
"I'm looking for a 1200 cc adv barge, I plan to do about 70% road and 30% off road riding."
No Mr Wishful Thinking, you plan to do 70% paved roads and 30% gravel roads. Both are called roads. Your barge will not get you 100 meters off road.
Bike reviews (saw something like this on TV the other night):
"The new Honda blah blah looks like a street bike, but it also has some offroad capability..."
No Mr Bike Expert, that's a road bike that can also go on gravel roads. Both are called roads. If I take that bike off road it will, break into pieces, you idiot.
It can't be more simple - "off road" means "off the road", i.e. no roads. Gravel / dirt / farm roads are all roads. It might bruise some egos to admit that our 1200 / 1100 / 1190 / 990 or whatever bikes have virtually zero offroad capability (unless you're Marc Coma) but I wish we could stop talking twak and accept that road is a road and off road means no road.
(BTW not knocking this forum, it's everywhere).
Whew, rant over.
