MTB On The Road

MarkInNC

I ride a MTB on the road. I am much more comfortable with the riding position that this provides me as apposed to a road bike. I have a KHS road bike but dont ride it anymore as it does unkind things to my back. I have changed out some of the MTB components making more of a hybrid. I have a nice set of 700 Cane Creek wheels with x32 road tires. I have a carbon fiber ridgid fork and a differant seat. I enjoy the bike which is what it is all about, I guess.

I am still unable to keep up with the roadies and am wondering how much of this is the motor and how much is the extra drag presented by my more upright position. I am middle aged and consider myself pretty much average in terms of athletic ability. I had hoped that Id be able to comfortably ride with the "slow" roadies after fixing up the bike and continuing to improve the motor. My average 2-4 times weekly rides are 15-25 miles and my computer says I avg about 14.5 mph. The local club says the fast roadies are 24mph+, medium are 18-22, and the slow folk are 16-18.

I have not joined a club ride to this point because I dont want to slow the entire group down. Anyone have any comments?

Mark

andy765gtr

considering the miles you do id say it was the machine thats bogging you down not fitness - there just not very efficient. you'll always be struggling to keep up on a mountain bike; a steady 16mph speed is quite respectable imo. well, i think im reasonably fit and thats the mph i can get on a level road without trying really hard. i can get to 28mph on hills but the low gears and drag make it impossible to go quicker. and you may as well give up trying to compete into a head wind. serious looking road bikers usually zip past unless i am feeling very energetic [and they dont look like their even trying], but i can usually keep up with other mountain bikers. you'd not likely be cruisin at 24 on a flat road no matter how fit you get. but i like the 'feel' looks and versitility of my mb, and im getting at least as fit or fitter in spite of its deficiencies as a 'speed machine'. so i would say you'd be 5mph quicker like for like if you gave up your mb, but you wouldnt be fitter or have more fun,which is the point of cycling isnt it.

MarkInNC

Andy,
It sounds as if your experience is about as mine. We don't have many real hills in the area as I live on the coast. But going down a grade without a headwind I top out around 26-28mph due to the gearing. We do have a lot of windy days here and I agree that pedaling into a headwind on my bike is really something.

I pedaled the local club's 36 mile route last weekend in the rain by myself just to see how I would do. My average for the trip was a shade under 14 and I stopped around the halfway point for water and a snack. Good news is that 36 miles was done without any undue problems. I am working up to commute to work one or two days a week which is 17 miles one way. I'll pick a morning that is above 40 degrees F to give that a try.

Mark

e_space23

I switched to MTB in '94 and hung up my road bike for good. I ride a Trek 6700 and use it for everything. My commute includes curb hopping, gravel and dirt trails, steep hills, and traffic curb to curb. It's so great to hop the curb and ride past the backed up traffic. Not much gets in my way. Plus, riding in the dark, with headlight and taillight of course, the fat tires and front shocks are much more forgiving when I ride over the objects I didn't see while watching for approaching traffic.

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GhostWhoWalks

Hi,
I have just joined. I ride a Giant Thermo 2 on the road(cycle paths) to and from work. Its about 10Km either way if going the short way. I have a Michelin Road tyre on the front and a Maxxis Hookworm on the rear. The Hookworm is 2.5 Wide, and looks like a motorbike tyre, but has a rep of not puncturing, which is what I wanted. I did have a Giant Iguana from 97, which when fitted with Specialized Fat Boys, I could keep up with the road guys.
Maybe try the Fat Boys, but be warned, they are a straight slick

Bro Deal

You can easily keep up with medium fitness roadies on an MTB if you are fit. I've done organized centuries on an MTB with big knobbies with no problems. Once you get past three or four hours it all comes down to base fitness level.

Knobbies and a slightly less aerodynamic position drops your speed by about two miles per hour. So instead of crusing at 20 or 21 you end up doing 18 or 19, which is pretty much what your average century rides at solo.

Bar ends give you more hand positions. Using a tighter cassette will give you better control over cadence. Using something like 25mm Conti Grand Prix tires will erase almost all the different between an MTB and a road bike. A suspension fork with lockout make climbing out of the saddle more efficient.

Very, very few riders are averaging 24 mph solo.

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

AngryPenguin

I would say that the roadies aren't going as fast as they claim.... I found this when I went along for my first few group rides, I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up with them but they arent as fast as they like to think.

Also when you get to the end there is the satisfaction that you have worked a whole lot harder than them, in terms of fitness riding a mountain bike on the road is the best thing you can do

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Adam-from-SLO

Great points.

Also, you could swap out/ change up your front chain rings a bit. Pushing a bigger cookie up front will result in increased speed esp. going on downhills and flats, etc. I'm guessing you have a 44/34/22 gearing. You could change that to a 48 or 46 / 36/ 24 chainrings. If you have a compact crankset... from what I've noticed, there is more limited chainring sizing out there , vs. standard sizing cranksets(110mmX 75mm).

.... and yes, Tires.. Tires Tires. Conti Grand Prix 26 X 1.0 ... would be the ultimate.

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