How much road riding is there in LA

Just wondering what the options are around West LA.
I'm debating whether to buy a road bike when I have the money or to build myself a new singlespeed mtn bike.

thanks for any help 8)

 

Do both:

 

Dude, you new to the forum? I'm usually aware of other west siders.

Yes, in my opinion, there's tons of road riding. But that's a pretty subjective thing. Some people might hate the traffic, but I've found some nice routes I like a lot that are safer and better than others. I prefer mountain biking over road riding but during the week I don't have much time to mtn bike so I hit the roads quite often. Some good rides to do are the La Grange rides. You can join the rest of them at an ungodly 6:30 in the morning, or you can go on your own time, like I do. They're good rides. Mandeville and Riveria are super nice and relatively peaceful and safe.

Velo Club La Grange: Rides

Plus, if you've got a touch more time, there's fantastic rides up in the Malibu area of the Santa Monicas. Topanga, Fernwood is great, and Latigo / mullholland is my favorite if I've got more time. Piuma / stunt are cool too. Everthing up there is great.

I say get a road bike. There's roadies all over the nation that would give their first-born to be able to ride here all the time.

 

What kind of bike(s) do you have now? What can you get the most use out of, should you buy it? Do you plan to commute, race or just get accustomed to road riding.

Me, I'm perfectly happy running slicks on my HT when I ride road so my next build is going to be a 29er SS. I think a road bike is more useful and an SS is more of a novelty than anything else.

 

I'd really like to have a SS in my stable but I have to agree on this point.

 

Being kind of spoiled I have two mountain bikes full suspension a ss and a road bike. My favorite of course is one of the squishy's, but I have become very fond of my road bike. It's so easy to just get changed and throw a leg over it and be gone. Total time to get ready is somewhere close to 5 minutes and then I'm riding. Fortunately where I live there are a number of hills to ride real close by and I love these.
But nothing replaces a good ol mtb ride.

I'd get the road bike as there is great riding all over that side of town and some really cool clubs over that way too.

 

Yeah one of the main reasons road riding seems so attractive is that it doesnt require any preparation. Mountain biking is possible for me during the week but only on one local uphill fire road. The worst part is that I havent bothered to get my driver's licence yet so even though I dont have to pay insurance, gas, etc., I also can't get to many trails easily.

If I bought a roadie I'd mainly be doing it just because I love cycling in general and also because I'd want to get into road racing since there seems to be so much of it in the area.

Anyway its great to know that there are good riding spots around here. Thanks for the responses8)

BTW, 0gravity, I've been a member here and at mtbr for a while now but I sometimes stop posting for extended periods due to other sports I do. During the summer I ride constantly in the Santa Monicas so we've probably passed each other on the trails at some point.

 

There are so many roadies in West LA it will make your head spin.