How much slower is an MTB with slicks on the road?

[Gingerbread Man]

Hi,

I just started commuting to work again today after a long time. (15 miles each way along English country lanes) on a late 90s Specialized Hard Rock.

There is no way I can afford to go out and buy a road bike but I am just wondering how much extra time and effort it is costing me to commute on an MTB instead of a road bike.

I have put slicks on it (which I rescued from a guy at the dump) - though it still has wide handlebars. there is no suspension. I am guessing that it cant be much heavier than a road frame. So is really that bad a solution?

I am a beginner - I managed an embarrassing 12mph average today - though I can get it up to 16mph.

Any advice for a beginner?

Cheers,

Joe

 

[Scotty_Dog]

How much slower is an MTB with slicks on the road?

Factor in weight, riding position, gearing, and I'd say 3-5 MPH average.

Any advice for a beginner?

Keep riding. As a beginner, actual time in the saddle is your best training aid.

 

[jhuskey]

My experience, 3 mph but why worry? It is energy expended that matters unless you are in a race.

 

[Skoorb]

Factor in weight, riding position, gearing, and I'd say 3-5 MPH average.


Keep riding. As a beginner, actual time in the saddle is your best training aid.

I have a 15 mile fairly hilly loop I do and the best time i've done on my mountain bike with slicks (1.25 front and 1.50 rear; I'd like to reverse that but can't be bothered) is 49 minutes with aero bars--yes I fit aerobars on the bike, but because the handlebars are still so high, I'm not terribly aero anyway. When I did the same loop on a road bike with aero bars (its handlebars were still high, so I wasn't more aero than before) I managed 45 minutes--and sprint tris say I'm quite fast at this distance, so in my experience the mountain bike was only about 10% longer in time. That was pumped to 60 psi on the mountain bike, btw. It's a fairly low end bike with front suspension (but I put it on max stiffness).

Slicks, as you know, make a huge difference. I presume my time on the mountain bike with knobbies would be closer to an hour...certainly 55 minutes, anyway.

 

[FreeHueco]

In my experience, the roadie is worth an extra 2-3 MPH on the flats (commuting speeds); but I can go a lot faster if I put some effort into it (I can go about 8 MPH faster at the top end).

Going up a certain local hill my time on the road bike was about 18 minutes faster over the 7 miles of climbing (59 vs. 41 minutes). But for really steep climbs you may be faster on the mountain bike due to the lower gear ratios).

 

[mongooseboy]

im averaging probably 2mph faster, but im going on much longer rides before tiring on the road bike than i ever could on the slicked up mtb. on the same route, i can probably average 4-5mph faster on the road bike...The hills kill me...for now