Mountain bike to road bike?

exmachina · June 2007

I am currently still pluggin away with my mountain bike fitted with slick tyres. I am tempted to change to a proper road bike probably a decathlon sport 3 or similar (it's the only shop that sells bikes that I can find in malaga!)

My question is..and I apologise in advance because it's a wierd one. Is the change from a mountain bike to a road bike in any way quantifiable?

For example if i can ride 20 miles on my mountain bike before i get tired will I be able to ride 25 on a road bike. Will hills that kill me now actually seem easier.

Mark

Anonymous · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by exmachina

I am currently still pluggin away with my mountain bike fitted with slick tyres. I am tempted to change to a proper road bike probably a decathlon sport 3 or similar (it's the only shop that sells bikes that I can find in malaga!)

My question is..and I apologise in advance because it's a wierd one. Is the change from a mountain bike to a road bike in any way quantifiable?

For example if i can ride 20 miles on my mountain bike before i get tired will I be able to ride 25 on a road bike. Will hills that kill me now actually seem easier.

Mark
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Yes...the difference is remarkable...I started off mountainbiking but I remember the first time I went out on the racer....jesus! for a start there's less weight, less restriction, you'll use much bigger gears...just so much faster....horses for courses

jay_clock · June 2007

There is a clear and noticeable difference in my experience partic if you have suspension.

I would liken it jumping from a 1.0 basic Fiesta to a top of the range sporty model. It feels great!

my trip round Corsica: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/corsica

ColinJ · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by exmachina

I am currently still pluggin away with my mountain bike fitted with slick tyres. I am tempted to change to a proper road bike probably a decathlon sport 3 or similar (it's the only shop that sells bikes that I can find in malaga!)

My question is..and I apologise in advance because it's a wierd one. Is the change from a mountain bike to a road bike in any way quantifiable?

For example if i can ride 20 miles on my mountain bike before i get tired will I be able to ride 25 on a road bike. Will hills that kill me now actually seem easier.

Mark
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
The single biggest difference between riding a mountain bike and a road bike on the road is normally the tyres. Lightweight slick road tyres roll so much better than big knobbly mountain bike tyres. In your case however, you already ride mountain bike slicks so the change to a road bike will give you rather less of an improvement.

If those hills are killing you because your mountain bike is heavy, then switching to a lightweight road bike will really help.

As indicated above, mountain bike suspension can really soak up your energy when climbing unless you remain seated and spin smoothly, so a road bike is a definite improvement there too.

If poor fitness is your problem when climbing, then you might find the lack of really low gears on the road bike a pain. I suppose it depends on how long and steep the hills in question are. I'm pretty strong, and I have fairly low gears on my road bike, but there are some very steep local hills (for example - this one) which I struggle to climb on my road bike but can get up fairly easily on my mountain bike with its ultra-low bottom gear.

I'd say if you find hills difficult, by all means get a road bike but get one with the lowest bottom gear that you can. As you get stronger, you can always change the cassette to give you higher gears. For example - I currently have 14-28 on my road bike. When I was fitter, I used 13-26. When I was really fit, I used 12-23.

A Miss is as good as a mile, especially if she cycles...

Mosschops2 · June 2007

While I'm not qualified to argue with ColinJ, not had that much experience, one of the big issues with an MTB is that you just run out of gears. Even going down a decent hill you can't peddle beyond 25mph as I recall. If you opted for shorter gears - would you still have plenty of "top end"??

- Make me a bicycle, clown!
- All right, I'm going to make you a bicycle. But I don't want to make you a bicycle.

ColinJ · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Mosschops2

While I'm not qualified to argue with ColinJ, not had that much experience, one of the big issues with an MTB is that you just run out of gears. Even going down a decent hill you can't peddle beyond 25mph as I recall. If you opted for shorter gears - would you still have plenty of "top end"??

- Make me a bicycle, clown!
- All right, I'm going to make you a bicycle. But I don't want to make you a bicycle.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
It's true that what you 'gain' at one end, you 'lose' at the other. In my case, with the 12-23 road cassette I could pedal (downhill!) upto about 40 mph but struggled going up anything steeper than about 15% gradient. With the 14-28, I can get up about 20% without feeling like my legs are going to explode, but I can now pedal to a maximum of 'only' about 35 mph. If you don't race, how many times do you really need to pedal faster than 35 mph [:)]!

As for mountain bikes - I'd only manage to pedal to about 30 mph on them (again, downhill, with a tailwind...).

A Miss is as good as a mile, especially if she cycles...

Unknown · June 2007

I have an Giant Escape MTB with 48-11 top gear(30mph+) and 1.0" slicks. On my 7 mile commute it's only slightly slower than my Allez and I prefer it in traffic.
However the Allez is much faster on longer rides.

My Best Bike

marinated · June 2007

Hello Mark, it's a very small world

I swapped from MTB (old model) to MTB (up to date) to Recumbent (urgh!) to Hybrid (more road than mtb) last year. Glad I ended up on the bike I have now, the difference is like chalk and cheese compared to my MTBs. Can go further with less effort. I suspect that if I went the whole hog and got a proper road-bike, it would be even easier.

Gary (p57 on KA forum)

.

Mosschops2 · June 2007

Fair play ColinJ I agree - 35mph is plenty!!
Just as long as you don't get frustrated maxing out at 23mph!!!

- Make me a bicycle, clown!
- All right, I'm going to make you a bicycle. But I don't want to make you a bicycle.

exmachina · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by marinated

Hello Mark, it's a very small world

I swapped from MTB (old model) to MTB (up to date) to Recumbent (urgh!) to Hybrid (more road than mtb) last year. Glad I ended up on the bike I have now, the difference is like chalk and cheese compared to my MTBs. Can go further with less effort. I suspect that if I went the whole hog and got a proper road-bike, it would be even easier.

Gary (p57 on KA forum)

.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

lol hi mate... I suppose this means i have to invite you out to spain for a holiday!!

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts I'll be going shopping tomorrow!

FlyingWelshman · June 2007

I have just sold my MTB this evening and cant wait to get my hands on a new Road Bike....(my first)

Was just wondering, will it make a huge difference buying a Road Bike with full Tiagra (Giant SCR Ltd) or a Tiagra/105 mix (Trek 1200)??

I was riding a 2003 Carrera Zelos, with XT/Deore gears, road tyres, it was a light bike but it had front suspension.

hoppergaz · June 2007

I changed a few months ago , yes a road bikes quicker,changes direction in a flash too,watch out for that.

If your worried about the hills buy a bike with a triple chainset,ive got a decathlon sport2 triple and im not ashamed to say i use the granny ring either,but then again i do most of my ridding in the peak district.

Forget this macho real bikes have a double rubbish!! a doubles no good if your dying on the climbs.[;)]

Rich Hcp · June 2007

I pick up my Specialized Allez Sport Trilpe today![:D][8D]

Because of the crap weather it may be a while bvefore \i get a proper go, but there are plenty of days...

I got œ130 off [8D]at my LBS because the 2008 bikes are coming!

(I've kept the MTB, still ride that...)

Richard

Best thing I ever bought for a bike?
Padded shorts![:D]

Mountain bike to road bike?

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