How much easier is it to Climb hillsWith Road bike than MTB?

[bagusbagus]

I have an MTB which I bought about 9 or 10 years ago (was worth about £160 when new- so it's pretty crap compared to what the rest of you got)
Its 14.5kg ''light'', I have recently upgraded tyres to low rolling resistance schwalbe hurricanes and it made a really good difference as to how fast I can get it to roll+ I managed to shed 550grams just from upgrading the tyres

I still like the bike very much ,it's the perfect fit for me and all that,or I just haven't tried anything else in my life so I don't know what a better bike feels :lol: But when there are some incline, I just feel dead after a 1-2 minutes climbing one and have to do it standing up,sitting=no chance even on the lowest gear. + I sweat like crazy from climbing.

Now I'm just wondering if it's my st form/experience/stamina ( I'm 1.86m/ 77kg and fairly active so I can't really complain about anything)
Or it's just easier to do it with a better bike?
Or it's the exactly same heavy work whatever bike you have?

Those who have tried/have more than 1 type of bike what's the actual difference between each of these types of bikes when it comes to climbing up an incline?

-Crap cheapo 15kg mtb like mine
-Expensive 10kg Mtb
-Decent sub £1k 10kg Road/CX bike with good gears?

How would you describe the difference in feel/hard work between those 3 types of bikes?

[Mark83]

I’ve owned a heavy-ish full sus, 10kg hardtail and a 6kg road bike.

If I ride at the same level of exertion (say 200w), to quote Greg LeMan, it doesn’t get any easier, you just go faster... on the lighter, skinnier tyred bike on the road.

My MTBs were geared much lower than my road bikes so yes, you could argue the gearing makes the perceived effort easier but you’re traveling at a slower pace.

I feel like I’m rambled and not really answered your question.

[youngricharduk]

As the previous poster just mentioned, I would say based on what you've said its more to do with the gearing then the weight of the bike. Bikes can make a huge difference but your fitness will always be the biggest factor IMO. As you say if your generally fit it may just take a while to get 'bike fit' which is a completely different thing

[ChocolateFrog]

It doesn't get easier, only faster.

[P-Jay]

Easier, probably the MTB - yeah it's heavy, but you've probably got a 22t front and 36t rear in 1st. What's first on a road bike these days? 30t and 28t rear? There's not much you can't spin up on an older 3 ring MTB.

Road bike will require less effort to go fast though, less weight, more efficient frame (unless MTB is full rigid) and less resistance from the tyres.

[Donbot]

When I went from a 10.5Kg road bike to a 7.5Kg bike the difference in climbing effort was obvious. Much more than I thought it would be.

A road bike with a compact chainset (34 - 32) gearing will make climbing hills loads easier. Spinning away on a low geared MTB is still knackering as you need to make the effort for a longer time.

[jfdi]

A road bike will certainly be quicker for the same effort, but if you're standing to climb you will suffer after a few minutes.
Stay seated in a low gear and spin, if it hurts then your just not fit enough or your trying to go faster than your fitness will allow.
Also don't start the hill pushing a harder gear and change down as it hurts, change down at the start.

[Rich_W]

ChocolateFrog said:

It doesn't get easier, only faster.

THAT!

Your effort will be the same on a crap bike or a £10K Pinarello. You'll go slower or faster. But in the real world you won't be more than maybe 5-8Kph faster or slower. Less if you are generally fast anyway.

[ukbabz]

There's a section of road climb that I've done a few times on my specialized allez sport (Sora groupset) and on my Cube Attention Hardtail 27.5

Best time on my Allez Road bike - 2:32
Best time on my cube attention - 3:15

I've not tried a max sprint up that on both bikes for a while but each road ride i've done is above the MTB by at least 20seconds.

[numtumfutunch]

My best carbon road bike weighs about 7kg fully kitted out

My current winter bike/commuter/tourer looks the same from a distance but is fitted with mudguards, panniers, tractor tyres, disc brakes and carries more tools and spares than I reasonably would ever need in a saddle bag and weighs 12kg

The difference is immense uphill
Seriously night and day

On the flat they are pretty evenly matched but as soon as the gradient kicks above 4% or so its much, much harder work on the love handle bike which has a 32T (major wuss spec) rear cassette versus 28T (regular wuss spec) on my pocket rocket

The other side of the coin is ride quality on par with a Bentley, brakes that actually work and the ability to carry a change of clothes and a laptop if needed

Cheers

[b2hbm]

bagusbagus said:

Those who have tried/have more than 1 type of bike what's the actual difference between each of these types of bikes when it comes to climbing up an incline?

-Crap cheapo 15kg mtb like mine
-Expensive 10kg Mtb
-Decent sub £1k 10kg Road/CX bike with good gears?

How would you describe the difference in feel/hard work between those 3 types of bikes?

It's probably not what you want to hear, but if you're out of the saddle all the time when you're climbing on an MTB then it's probably your fitness more than anything. The range of gearing on your average mtb is far wider than a road bike with lower bottom gears so you should be able to remain seated and get up most UK hills. On a positive note, try staying in the saddle and change down earlier. Riding out of the saddle uses more energy and I find it more likely to get me breathless than pedalling a lower gear at the same speed.

I've gone from the heavy mtb to my current light(ish) mtb but I'm 99% a road biker. I find the difference between the heavy & light mtbs to be more in terms of drag from the tyres than anything else. 5kg of weight sounds a lot but when you're climbing it's the total weight that your legs are moving, so for example if you're 80kg+15kg compared with 80kg+10kg, it doesn't seem as big a percentage difference, does it ?

Going back to your question, with similar gearing I'd expect to travel quicker on a road bike than an mtb even if they were the same weight as in your last two cases. An expensive MTB will have suspension and unless you lock it out you'll have some loss of effort there. Road bikes are rigid and hence transmit energy better, plus of course they have tyres (and hence drag) roughly half the width of an mtb.

My mtb is about the same weight as my winter bike and I keep it for road riding when our lanes are really muddy & slippy. Going from road bike to mtb is an immediate 2 mph loss in speed and that's on mainly flat roads. It's not gearing or weight, all down to drag from the chunky tyres.

[Daveyraveygravey]

b2hbm said:

It's probably not what you want to hear, but if you're out of the saddle all the time when you're climbing on an MTB then it's probably your fitness more than anything. The range of gearing on your average mtb is far wider than a road bike with lower bottom gears so you should be able to remain seated and get up most UK hills. On a positive note, try staying in the saddle and change down earlier. Riding out of the saddle uses more energy and I find it more likely to get me breathless than pedalling a lower gear at the same speed.

I'd go with this. On an MTB you SHOULD be able to sit and spin up most road hills because of the gearing.

I live in Steyning, near the Bostal. On Tuesday I went up it on the road bike, probably about 8kg, 36/32 gearing, managed it in 6.38. My pb up this route on this bike is 5.58; the KOM is 3 mins 40! I can not get up it on the road bike seated all the way, there are a couple of steeper sections that force me out of the saddle. On Wednesday I did the same climb on the MTB, a 10 year old Boardman hardtail 26 er, not sure of the gearing but its a triple chainset, took me 8 mins 43. I can ride all the way up it in the saddle, but usually get up once or twice just to change position. I can't see how you can check a pb by bike on Strava, but I suspect it would be nearer 8 minutes than 6. What I can't remember is how much effort I was putting in either day this week; the MTB one I was happy just to get up it without pushing myself, but I may well have been trying harder on the road bike the day before.

The thing with gears is if you have them you use them. If you wanted to get better on your mtb, try climbing with one or two changes left in the bank. You'll be panting earlier and it will hurt more, but if you can do it for a couple of weeks you should see the benefit.

[jamiebae]

It all depends on the gears on the MTB - if it^'s a cheap old one it could only have a 28T cassette and a 30 or 32 up front so the gearing may be horrible. Of course if it's running a big cassette and a triple up front then I think the fitness may well be the source of the problem.

OP, any idea on the gearing the MTB has?

[Barchettaman]

Bagus, what you've discovered is that cycling fitness is not necessarily related to 'general' fitness.

Do that nasty little hill you mentioned five times in succession, staying seated as long as possible, every day for a week. You'll be amazed at how much your times come down.

Some Belgian rider once said 'don't upgrade, ride up grades' and he had a point.

[Chrisgr31]

ChocolateFrog said:

It doesn't get easier, only faster.

Where you cycling up Beachy Head a couple of months ago? That was the response a cyclist gave me as I said you make it look easy as they pissed past me!

I have a hybrid mountain bike and last year I bought a CX bike for doing the Palace 2 Palace. The first time I tried going up one of the hills around me I thought I had made a big mistake as the gearing meant the lowest gear was much harder than the hybrid.

However you get used to it and therefore get fitter.