I have a hardtail that I would like to use on road or 'rail trail' rides. Usually when I ride my hardtail it's on singletrack (which I love), but with all the climbs and extreme focus required, I usually get tired pretty quick, and only ride about 15 km before I'm spent.
So I was going to start using my hardtail for longer rides on roads in my area (no need to transport bike 😉 ) and on some local rail trails. I was going to swap the tires (or tires and 2nd rims rims) to slicks/semi-slicks.
Just wondering if anyone else does this, or if you have a road bike for such a ride.
Riding a hardtail on paved or crushed limestone trails/roads is not the most efficient/fastest way of going, but it works. If you're going to be travelling a long distance (say, 30+ miles), you might want to consider a road bike. It's faster, and not as tiring.
I ride road with a bunch of guys and some of them don't have road bikes. They ride their MTBs and keep up fine (our pace is not super fast though). In fact one guy is so fast on his MTB with knobbies that we don't WANT him to get a road bike!
If you really want to do hundreds of Ks on the road each week then a road bike will improve your experience but you can get the same training effect on a mountain bike.
I just completed a 250 mile back roads tour on my hardtail in a leisurely 5 days. The ride included pavement, dirt roads and single track trails and best of all it was a ride that didn't include competing for space with vehicles. I ride my hardtail on backroads pavement, hardpack, and limestone gravel all the time and often those rides are considerably longer than 30 miles [50k]. Absolutely no problem. In fact I find it more enjoyable than the road bike I rode for years. I just love the versatility it gives me in comparison to my road bike and unless you're after pure speed you can fly along surprisingly fast on a hardtail. Tire options and high tire presures can even improve the speed variable.
With some training and conditioning, a decent bike, and proper setup, I'm sure you will discover the same.
Originally posted by noonievut Yep, I ride a hardtail as well and have recently laboured through a 140 mile trek which included some cinder paths, forest trails but mainly roads.....with fully laden panniers, no probs. Have knobblies at home but used Specialized 1.5 road tires and managed to keep ahead of friend on a Dawes tourer on the road sections.
I ride my mountain bike on the roads all the time, it's how I get to trails etc. I do have a road bike as well. Now a days I ride my road bike more (preparing for college cycling team), but not having a road bike should NOT stop you from riding your MB on the road.
It makes you work harder and makes your stronger quicker.
I probably should have thought a little more about this question before I bought my new bike, but anyway...
All last summer, I rode my dad's Raleight hybrid bike. He's 6'4" so it was 21" frame with I think 27" tires, that were kinda smooth. I used it to ride on a 45 mile round trip rail trail all the time, I loved it.
I just bought a Gary Fisher Marlin which is all mountain bike and it has front shocks. I'm only 6', and I got a 19" frame and it has 26" knobby tires. I know I'm out of shape and all, but it just feels a lot slower than my dad's bike, like it isn't capable of going fast, I don't really know.What can I do to make it perform better on the road?
I've been using a retired dual suspension mountain bike with slicks for road riding for some time now. It's an older Specialized FSR that is no longer state of the art enough for off road riding but it makes a great commuter/trainer since I can hop curbs, take off road short cuts, go down stairs, etc. I originally started biking as a cross training activity to keep me fit for kickboxing and as Duckwah pointed out, you get the same training effect. My training rides are fun since I can take any route and even big potholes don't faze me and I don't get beat up by rough roads. Since I'm not a racer and I always ride alone, any loss of speed doesn't bother me and I'm not that far off the pace anyway. With light rims and slicks, the rotational weight is low so it accelerates fairly well. I say ride the mountain bike, get strong legs, and have fun. When you do jump on a light road bike, it will just feel that much more unreal.
I will probably spend maybe 75% of my time on rail trails mainly because if I choose to just take the rail trail all day, it's 100% rail trail, and to get to any off-road trails, I have to go about 8 miles each way on the rail trail to get there, so about 50% rail trail.
I guess i'm not necessarily looking for lots of speed, but I think I'd like to know what about it being a mountain bike is slowing it down? How much do the knobby tires matter? Do the shocks really slow me down? i'm a big guy (225 lbs), would maybe just getting better shocks help me, or can they be adjusted or something?
I spend less time than you on rail trails or road, but I want to do more of it because they're closer to me and dry up quickly after wet weather.
I took my moutain bike on the trail the other day, well stocked with water, a gel and an energy bar, and I kept up a fast pace, used the big chain ring (for once) and really enjoyed it. I too have knobby tires and I'm sure I was a little slower, but for now I don't care. I'm also heavy (200 pds) but I have my fork set as tight as possible and I don't see a need to change it.
Quoted post said:
Originally posted by grrr223 I will probably spend maybe 75% of my time on rail trails mainly because if I choose to just take the rail trail all day, it's 100% rail trail, and to get to any off-road trails, I have to go about 8 miles each way on the rail trail to get there, so about 50% rail trail.
I guess i'm not necessarily looking for lots of speed, but I think I'd like to know what about it being a mountain bike is slowing it down? How much do the knobby tires matter? Do the shocks really slow me down? i'm a big guy (225 lbs), would maybe just getting better shocks help me, or can they be adjusted or something?
I have a full suspension mountain bike, but I often have to settle for riding on roads and paved trails, at least during the week. I have Panaracer Fire XC Pro for tires. They are just what I want for riding off road, but damned if they don't feel weird riding on paved roads. I can work up a good pace, but if I know ahead of time I am gonna ride on road for a long stretch of days, I am gonna start putting my slicker tires back on.
I find my geax tyres are a nice compromise between road and off road. They have knobbles down the side, and a slick strip down the middle. Works well for both.
I ride a 2003 Rockhopper on the pavement all the time. I'm too poor to afford a road bike! I put slicks on it and it made a huge difference. Only problem is going uphill...too much "bob"...not the most efficient way though. Still works.
Change your tires !,we used to have this knobby MTB tires that were noisy and rough to ride especially on paved bike paths.We changed over to Continental Travel Contacts and i can asure you that they are the most confy tires to ride on period.You'll be able to keep up with road bikes any time,the Contis are a little on the pricy side but you can buy them for $ 33 canadian over at MEC (Mountain Equipement Co-op),i think they shipp anywhere too. Dan
I probably should have thought a little more about this question before I bought my new bike, but anyway...
All last summer, I rode my dad's Raleight hybrid bike. He's 6'4" so it was 21" frame with I think 27" tires, that were kinda smooth. I used it to ride on a 45 mile round trip rail trail all the time, I loved it.
I just bought a Gary Fisher Marlin which is all mountain bike and it has front shocks. I'm only 6', and I got a 19" frame and it has 26" knobby tires. I know I'm out of shape and all, but it just feels a lot slower than my dad's bike, like it isn't capable of going fast, I don't really know.What can I do to make it perform better on the road?
You can do a lot to this kind of bike, to take it closer to the performance of a hybrid. In fact, you could probably better it although it might not have quite the same comfort levels.
Get some smooth rolling road tyres, 26x1.5 would be the best choice.
Get a solid fork, these are not expensive and will save you lots of weight (on your bike). Remember you could stick your fork back on later if you wanted to.
I ride a Trek MTB on the road and I have found that a good set of bar ends really helped me streach out on the bike and give me a lot more power climbing the hills. Some SPD clippless pedals will pull power out of you that you didn't even know you had. My first set of slicks are on the way and I also just orderd a new Ti Bontrager saddle. I think that will be enough to stay next to my dads Kestrel. You could spend all the money in the world but for real results just keep pedaling man.
I got some 1.4 Ritchey tom slicks and love it. The difference between them and the knobbies on the road is like night and day. On the flats I usually ride in one of the top gears and love covering so much distance in so little time.
I'm getting a 2nd set of rims so I can easily switch between roads & singeltrack...I found the slicks hard to get on the rims and don't want to do this once or twice every couple of weeks.
I do it all the time. The biggest improvement will be changing the tires. I have a second set of rims with skinny slicks but lately I've been using some "Serfas Drifter" tires (26x2"😉 that are pretty fast and do really well on trails.
I got my tires and it turns out I ordered city tires not slicks but they work great. Mine are performance 1.5's and I had to fight to get them on also but man was it worth it. This was the best mod I've done so far the new saddle is really nice too.
