How much faster is a road bike?
Discussion
Went out for a ride on my mountain bike today, 95% on roads. I inflated my tyres in preparation but it still felt woefully slow. It's a hard tail with front suspension, but these can not be locked, only tightened to reduce travel somewhat. I was overtaken countless times by people on road bikes. I did about 35 miles, averaging about 10-12 mph. This got me thinking about buying a second-hand road bike. I don't cycle very often, but do plenty of running, so my cardio is OK, but boy did my quads burn by the end!
Question is will I see a decent improvement in average speed or am I limited by fitness?
Question is will I see a decent improvement in average speed or am I limited by fitness?
magpie215 said:
are you still on off road knobbly tyres or narrow section slicks?
slicks make a huge difference also your gearing could be a bit small
Still big knobbly off road tyres. It does feel as though there is quite a lot of rolling resistance. I don't think the gearing is a problem - I never even used the big front cog today, mostly the middle.slicks make a huge difference also your gearing could be a bit small
nammynake said:
magpie215 said:
are you still on off road knobbly tyres or narrow section slicks?
slicks make a huge difference also your gearing could be a bit small
Still big knobbly off road tyres. It does feel as though there is quite a lot of rolling resistance. I don't think the gearing is a problem - I never even used the big front cog today, mostly the middle.slicks make a huge difference also your gearing could be a bit small
will report back once I've tried them out
road bikes are leagues and leagues quicker than MTB bikes. it's not even a comparison. i struggle to average 13-14 on a MTB on road for more than 2-3 hours, but on a road bike i could average 16-17 for about 4-5 hours.
the difference is massive.
i'm comparing an £850 MTB hard tail, with my old (gone, but not forgotten!) £1100 giant TCR road bike.
the difference is massive.
i'm comparing an £850 MTB hard tail, with my old (gone, but not forgotten!) £1100 giant TCR road bike.
The one thing I learned very early on with MTBs is to ditch the heuooge fat tyres they inevitably ship with and stick some 1.5inch ones on if you want to keep off road capability. Conti and Specialised both do some decent offerings. As well as rolling well on tarmac at 60psi, these also work really well in most off-road conditions (certainly better in mud). No brainer for the riding I do...
I switched my mtb front tyre for a semi-slick one last week. There is a big difference, I used to stick with front middle cog and small at the rear on the flats, was able to change up to large/small for what felt like the same effort. The rear needs changing so that'll be going the same way.
Going back a few years, I did have an Irc Missile (proper chunky tyre) on the front of my bike, it was great off-road but SO much effort riding the mile to the local woods.
Going back a few years, I did have an Irc Missile (proper chunky tyre) on the front of my bike, it was great off-road but SO much effort riding the mile to the local woods.
I sometimes use my old Marin MTB in winter on the roads instead of a road bike. Over the same routes I'd average 15mph on the marin (17mph would be a good day) against 18mph on a road bike in winter trim. The biggest difference is the feel of the bikes though, the road bike will accelerate quicker and feel much livelier so you'll be more inclined to push along.
nammynake said:
I don't think the gearing is a problem - I never even used the big front cog today, mostly the middle.
It will be if you put slicks on your MTB...Try this first. If it suits you, a second set of wheels for your MTB, (one with knobblies and one with slicks,) will be cheaper than a half decent road bike. (If you really like it though, get the road bike.)
Beware that road bikes are money holes, and very addictive when it comes to buying trinkets...
A roadbike will be significantly faster and much nicer to ride on the road than even a slick tyred MTB. For road riding the riding position of an MTB is very inefficient and restrictive so becomes tiresome on road. On a roadbike you can move around a bit more when you get tired in one position.
Edited to answer your question: I'd expect you to be around 4-5mph faster on a reasonable (£500rrp+)roadbike.
Edited to answer your question: I'd expect you to be around 4-5mph faster on a reasonable (£500rrp+)roadbike.
Edited by Roman on Monday 19th April 09:50
louiebaby said:
nammynake said:
I don't think the gearing is a problem - I never even used the big front cog today, mostly the middle.
It will be if you put slicks on your MTB...Try this first. If it suits you, a second set of wheels for your MTB, (one with knobblies and one with slicks,) will be cheaper than a half decent road bike. (If you really like it though, get the road bike.)
Beware that road bikes are money holes, and very addictive when it comes to buying trinkets...
I've got a decent road bike and an MTB with 1.5 slicks that I use for commuting. As others have said the difference is night and day...even with the slicks. The riding also makes an absolutely massive difference....it's just a much more athletic position and also is obviously much more aero too. Then there is the frame which is designed for completely different things, one is designed to take impact so has to be relatively soft whereas the other needs to be as stiff as possible to maximise the riders effort.
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