[Talk-GB] difference between bicycle and MTB cycle routes

[Chris Hodges]

This is really tricky TBH; there's a big grey area.  My road bike is a 
fairly rugged tourer, and I'd take it on KAW, in summer at least.  Some 
of my friends have done it on similar machines. It would be heavy going 
but that's acceptable.  Cycling UK have a helpful page on bike 
suitability at 
https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/what-bike-best-king-alfreds-way-and-other-questions 
but that's helpful for the rider, not the mapper


Some of the other stretches of NCN are pretty rough for a (skinny-tyred) 
road bike, like 45 from Ironbridge to Bridgnorth (flat but boneshaking, 
and with a hilly road alternative) and some towpath routes with steep 
gravel descents near bridges where grip becomes a limiting factor.


In an ideal world the tracktype and surface tags would help end users, 
but they're rarely picked up.


I pretty much agree with your opinion.  I'd say most but not "almost 
all" bikes could do KAW; but that would include a lot of rugged hybrids 
that never leave the city. I suspect you and I could ride it within a 
few days and come up with a different answer - or possibly even ride it 
together and not agree!


Chris



On 15/06/2021 12:38, Jon Pennycook wrote:
> Hello.
>
> Is there a clear differentiator between what should be tagged as 
> route=bicycle/network=rcn and route=mtb/network=rcn?  In particular: 
> https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/12665990 
> <https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/12665990> (King Alfred's Way), 
> currently tagged as route=bicycle/network=rcn.  From the description, 
> it's intended for "gravel or cross-country bikes."
> That particular relation is also tagged ref=NB, implying it's part of 
> the National Byway (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/National_Byway 
> <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/National_Byway>), but the 
> Wikipedia page for the National Byway 
> (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_National_Byway 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_National_Byway>) has "It runs along 
> quiet roads, rather than a mixture of roads and tracks like the 
> National Cycle Network, making it more appropriate for road bikes." 
> which doesn't fit with the route of the King Alfred's Way.
>
> In my opinion, unless there's a clear definition of the difference, a 
> route=bicycle relation should be suitable for almost all 
> bikes, leaving MTB for routes requiring off-road bikes.  I certainly 
> wouldn't take a road bike on a "gravel or cross-country" route!
>
> Jon
>
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