mtb comparison to road bike?

[david462]

ive been very much interested in the sport of road cycling for over a year now, but im still saving up for a bike....

i while back i used to ride a mountain bike on the road. its just a generic diamondback road bike. it was pretty tough to ride long distances, especially up hills.

i quit that and started using bike machines at the gym. i think that has helped me improve my strength and endurance quite a bit.

today i tried the mountain bike again on the road. i thought it would have gotten a little easier since using the bike machine. i started out at a decent speed for a good 15 minutes on flat road. then comes the first uphill. its a pretty long hill, but not too terribly steep. i stood up on the bike to get up the hill, pedaling pretty hard to make it.

after the hill i was exhausted. i mean im not out of shape, and this hill really put me out of breath. i had to turn around and head back.

so..........heres my question...

how does a heavy mountain bike with fat tires compare to a road bike on the road? are hills just something that you need to get stronger to overcome? after riding today, ive become a little discouraged about my ability. i dont want to buy a road bike if im just really out of shape (which i dont think i am).

basically, how much easier is riding up hill on a road bike than a mountain bike?

 

[Hookyrider]

Grasshopper – a road bike is like being set free.



You’ll need to arrange a test ride.



MTB are great fun OFF-Road! Even my slick XC rig, with light treaded racing tires can be more like work on the road. Case in point: On my regular Road bike riding loop I pass by the gas station were the trailhead for my favorite MTB trial is. On my road machine, without killing myself this is 20+/- one or two minutes. On the MTB this becomes nearly a 40 minute odyssey that is nothing short of work.



HR

 

[david462]

Grasshopper – a road bike is like being set free.



You’ll need to arrange a test ride.



MTB are great fun OFF-Road! Even my slick XC rig, with light treaded racing tires can be more like work on the road. Case in point: On my regular Road bike riding loop I pass by the gas station were the trailhead for my favorite MTB trial is. On my road machine, without killing myself this is 20+/- one or two minutes. On the MTB this becomes nearly a 40 minute odyssey that is nothing short of work.



HR

well thank goodness. i was really getting discouraged after riding today. hopefully by the end of summer ill have a road bike

 

[Bikeridindude]

David, I wouldn't expect such drastic results as HR has experienced. Before I had a road bike, the route I took my mountain bike on would give me an average speed of 15-17 mph. With my road bike, I can average over 20 pretty easy. I darn sure can't average twice the speed with my road bike as I did my mountain bike. This was over about a 20 mile or so ride. One thing that may be effecting your climbing ability is your technique. I've seen inexperienced folks try and tackly a hill by sprinting up it, ain't happennin'. Just settle into a nice tempo and cruise up it, you shouldn't have to stand for the entire effort. Just my 2 cents. And, them road bikes is sweet to ride! Get one!

 

[david462]

im just saying, the hills kill me on the mountain bike. i can ride flat ground and even a slight uphill closer to 20mph for 45 minutes. i used to do this on a route that didnt have many hills.

 

[Postie]

im just saying, the hills kill me on the mountain bike. i can ride flat ground and even a slight uphill closer to 20mph for 45 minutes. i used to do this on a route that didnt have many hills.

It could be a combination of a cheap bike (ie, gearing, weight, tires, etc), inexperience, and state of fitness. Road bikes are great, however they do not allow someone to magically fly up hills where they were totally spent before. I know SO many people that do 20 minutes every other day on a stair climber and think they are marathoners. Then, you put them on a track and, low-and-behold, they can't run 1/2 a mile.

You might be in great shape, but you'd only know that if you try yourself against other people that are in great shape. Gym machines can be deceiving.

 

[Doctor Morbius]

I was really disappointed when I got my first road bike. I was expecting about a 5 MPH increase in speed over my MTB. I got 2.

 

[dot]

ive been very much interested in the sport of road cycling for over a year now, but im still saving up for a bike....

i while back i used to ride a mountain bike on the road. its just a generic diamondback road bike. it was pretty tough to ride long distances, especially up hills.

i quit that and started using bike machines at the gym. i think that has helped me improve my strength and endurance quite a bit.

today i tried the mountain bike again on the road. i thought it would have gotten a little easier since using the bike machine. i started out at a decent speed for a good 15 minutes on flat road. then comes the first uphill. its a pretty long hill, but not too terribly steep. i stood up on the bike to get up the hill, pedaling pretty hard to make it.

after the hill i was exhausted. i mean im not out of shape, and this hill really put me out of breath. i had to turn around and head back.

so..........heres my question...

how does a heavy mountain bike with fat tires compare to a road bike on the road? are hills just something that you need to get stronger to overcome? after riding today, ive become a little discouraged about my ability. i dont want to buy a road bike if im just really out of shape (which i dont think i am).

basically, how much easier is riding up hill on a road bike than a mountain bike?

There is no problem about an MTB on the road. There is a problem with your fitness.
I've never owned road bike and even never ridden MTB slick tires but did a lot of miles on the road on different MTBs including FS using knobby tires (I don't like to change tires). I'm not a great racer but on fairly fast 2.1" knobby tires I can do metric century in 3 hours on local roads (rolling hills). When I did it I didn't even have a lockout on my fork.

 

[Hookyrider]

fitness is a HUGE key factor! However the gearing, lack of aero anything, and rolling resistance do make a significant impact. I need a Power Tap for my MTB! To ease down the road at 23mph on my racing bike to me is devine. To do 23mph my MTB over the same course - now that takes a might bit of effort.

maybe I'm just partial

HR

 

[DJA]

fitness is a HUGE key factor! However the gearing, lack of aero anything, and rolling resistance do make a significant impact. I need a Power Tap for my MTB! To ease down the road at 23mph on my racing bike to me is devine. To do 23mph my MTB over the same course - now that takes a might bit of effort.

maybe I'm just partial

HR

I average 34kph on the mtb on a flat out and back coarse but the rode bike its closer to 39kph. But I still regular ride the mtb in training because of this fact.

When it comes to hills there's a 3k hill that climbs 200m that's about 7% average and at the moment the best I can do on the mtb(14.5kg) is around 15mins but the road bike(8.5kg) is 12:45 mins. With hill it doesn't matter if you ride them slow or fast they are still going to hurt so you may as well ride them hard and get over they as fast as possible you can recover going down the other side.

 

[BillBB]

ive been very much interested in the sport of road cycling for over a year now, but im still saving up for a bike....

i while back i used to ride a mountain bike on the road. its just a generic diamondback road bike. it was pretty tough to ride long distances, especially up hills.

i quit that and started using bike machines at the gym. i think that has helped me improve my strength and endurance quite a bit.

today i tried the mountain bike again on the road. i thought it would have gotten a little easier since using the bike machine. i started out at a decent speed for a good 15 minutes on flat road. then comes the first uphill. its a pretty long hill, but not too terribly steep. i stood up on the bike to get up the hill, pedaling pretty hard to make it.

after the hill i was exhausted. i mean im not out of shape, and this hill really put me out of breath. i had to turn around and head back.

so..........heres my question...

how does a heavy mountain bike with fat tires compare to a road bike on the road? are hills just something that you need to get stronger to overcome? after riding today, ive become a little discouraged about my ability. i dont want to buy a road bike if im just really out of shape (which i dont think i am).

basically, how much easier is riding up hill on a road bike than a mountain bike?

I wouln't worry about it. I had a similar experience. Six months ago I broke my collarbone and a few ribs, so I was forced to limit my cycling to the trainer. I built to the point where I was spending more time on the trainer than what I had ever ridden before. After two months on the trainer, I thought I was in great shape. I went out for my first ride outside on the road and did notice some difference. I don't know if it's the fact that you are actually pulling your weight or what, but I was sore after that first ride outside! Just keep riding on the roads and very soon you'll feel as strong as you felt in the gym. You want to get stronger in the hills? Well ride up the hills. Whether you're in a MTB or a road bike your strength gains will depend on the effort you put into it.

 

[JohnO]

I got back into road cycling on my MTB, with a set of slicks. It went pretty well, but after a few months, went and got a proper road bike.

No, it wasn't that much faster, except perhaps for the downhills. What I did notice is that after a few hours, the road bike was decidedly more comfortable. Seating position on a mtb is optimized for a lot of short sprints, not continual riding.

Also, the road bike handled so much better. It was like getting out of a truck and into a sports car.

If you're riding a mtb on the road, at least be sure you have the seat set so that you get proper leg extension.

 

[velomanct]

Mtn bikes are slow as heck on the road, especially if you got huge knobby tires on it, and ESPECIALLY if it's a dual suspension. Even that front shock eats up tons of power when standing.

 

[gclark8]

I got back into road cycling on my MTB, with a set of slicks. It went pretty well, but after a few months, went and got a proper road bike.

No, it wasn't that much faster, except perhaps for the downhills. What I did notice is that after a few hours, the road bike was decidedly more comfortable. Seating position on a mtb is optimized for a lot of short sprints, not continual riding.

Also, the road bike handled so much better. It was like getting out of a truck and into a sports car.

If you're riding a mtb on the road, at least be sure you have the seat set so that you get proper leg extension.

This is good advice and often ignored. I would like to add, move the seat forward a little (or a lot) this will make pedalling at higher (road) cadences easier.

The "Fun Bike" at the bottom, 17" ladies frame, for me the seat is as far forward a it can go. I sold the slicks last weekend and did 10 agonising km on knobblys today. Oh for the new Conti slicks, next week...

 

[david462]

i finally got to ride a road bike. right now im borrowing an old shwinn (sp?) road bike. its not in the best condition but it rides.

anyways, the first big hill i came upon, i didnt even slow down going up it. i sat down for most of it too.

i can tell a very very big difference between a road bike and a mountain bike.

the ride i used to do on my mountain bike was 15 miles which took over an hour, and that was as much as i could do. first time out on the road bike i did 40 miles in a little over 2 hours.

 

[Postie]

i finally got to ride a road bike. right now im borrowing an old shwinn (sp?) road bike. its not in the best condition but it rides.

anyways, the first big hill i came upon, i didnt even slow down going up it. i sat down for most of it too.

i can tell a very very big difference between a road bike and a mountain bike.

the ride i used to do on my mountain bike was 15 miles which took over an hour, and that was as much as i could do. first time out on the road bike i did 40 miles in a little over 2 hours.

If you're comparing a 50 pound department store mountain bike which is also made of two dollar components to a 22 pound road bike that was made fairly well, then I could imagine the difference that you speak of. However, comparing a decent road bike to a decent mountain will never result in such a difference in speed. The ride of a road bike is phenomenal on a road in comparison to a mountain bike, but when comparing speed, the differences are surprisingly low.

 

[Hookyrider]

sounds like the bug has bitten - enjoy!!


HR

 

[david462]

If you're comparing a 50 pound department store mountain bike which is also made of two dollar components to a 22 pound road bike that was made fairly well, then I could imagine the difference that you speak of. However, comparing a decent road bike to a decent mountain will never result in such a difference in speed. The ride of a road bike is phenomenal on a road in comparison to a mountain bike, but when comparing speed, the differences are surprisingly low.

well thats what i was comparing it to, a very heavy, cheap mountain bike, with suspension in the front.

anyways, i started the thread asking what the difference would be between this type of bike an a road bike cause i was discouraged after riding the mountian bike.

 

[Postie]

well thats what i was comparing it to, a very heavy, cheap mountain bike, with suspension in the front.

anyways, i started the thread asking what the difference would be between this type of bike an a road bike cause i was discouraged after riding the mountian bike.

I understand, and it makes sense. The people that were responding by saying "a road bike doesn't make a massive difference in speed vs a mountain bike" was taking it as "mountain bike vs road bike". If you would have taken a nice mountain bike out on the road you would have found that it too would have made a massive difference over what you were riding.

I love the ride my road bike provides me on the road so it's totally worth having a nice road bike, however I must admit I was surprised that the speed difference wasn't nearly as great between my mountain bike and my road bike as I had anticipated (2 - 4 mph).

 

[lennyk]

my mountain bike is a Jamis Cross Country, I used to ride it a lot on the road so I changed the fork to a regular non suspension fork, 26x1.25 slick tires and changed the cassette to one with better gearing for the road. It weighs about 25lbs and I used to regularly ride it for 15-20 miles at average speeds of 14-15 mph.

I just purchased a Trek 1200 which weighs around 20-21lbs. The difference in speed is not that great, about 1mph or so. However it is much more comfortable to ride efficiently due to the better aero positioning and most of all the frame/carbon fork is easier on the body in damping the road vibrations.