Stupid question???

cexton

Hi,

I have been training for a 100 mile charity ride for the last couple of months. I own both a mountain bike and a road bike.

From reading this forum I believe I should be able to ride faster on my road bike compared to my mountain bike however if I ride the same route on both bikes my time/average speed etc is exactly the same.

I am wondering if I should just buy some road tyres for my moutain bike and do the charity ride on that. what do you guys think?

Cheers
:roll:

venster

I started cycling on a MTB with knobblies and after reading on here changed them to MTB slicks. This made a huge improvement in ride comfort and speed. However, I then progressed to buying a road bike. I've never got back on my MTB since !!

I guess I'd say ride what you're most comfortable with. Take into account how hilly the course is and use the bike with the best gearing for the situation.

baudman

You'd really do it on the same speed on your MTB? Yr a much better rider than I!!!

I love my dually, but it's nothing like the speed on my road bike - especially over a distance.

neilv

Hi Cexton

Assuming by roadbike you mean drop bars narrow road tyres (not a hyrbird with nobbly tyres) then I would expect you be significantly quicker on a roadbike than the mountainbike.

I would also expect over this kind of distance that the advantages of drop bars where you vary your position and the lower weight of a roadbike to lead to less fatigue.

I recently did the Lambourn Chase which is 85km and this guy did it on a mountain bike (I assume he finished) http://www.dgs-photography.co.uk/cyclin ... slist.html. So you can do it but I think the roadbike should be a lot easier.

overmars

baudman wrote:

You'd really do it on the same speed on your MTB? Yr a much better rider than I!!!

I love my dually, but it's nothing like the speed on my road bike - especially over a distance.

Yes. Over a distance you'll be faster on a road bike.

heavymental

Yeh thats sound weird. Maybe you're more comfortable on the mtb so able to get more speed out of it? Theoretically the road bike should be faster but I'd go with what feels comfortable for the 100 miles.

cexton

Hi,

I must doing something wrong then! I have a decathlon 7.2 road bike but no matter how hard a try the time remains the same. If anything I feel I can get more power down on the mountain bike.

How much quicker should a road bike be over a 50mile route?

heavymental

Very odd! Whats your mtb? I presume its got no suspension anywhere?!

I'd guess a road bike should be at least 10 minutes quicker over 50 miles due to lower weight, rolling resistance and increased aerodynamics.

baudman

Would also dep on winds. 100 miles into a headwind would suck on a MTB.

(OK, it'd suck on a roadie too - but just not quite as much).

cexton

My mountain bike bike is a merlin malt 2 with front suspension.

Maybe I just need to try harder on the road bike!!!

:-)

baudman

Just googled yr rides. You've got me stumped! :S

Perhaps enter some MTB enduros instead?

OnTow

Puzzling! I have to pedal going downhill on my MTB to keep up with the freewheeling wife on her road bike!
Are your tyres up to pressure?
Are you riding the road bike at varying points in your weekly training programme, or exactly the same i.e. Could you be riding "fresh" on your MTB and later in the week on the road bike?... or could it be the time of day/wind (assuming you're not riding a circular route)?

cexton

I am riding the same route to work twice a week with a long ride at weekends

ut_och_cykla

:oops:
Similar 'problem' here too. Thorn Expedition (stripped) flat bars, sun rhyno lite wheels panaracer hi road tyres. Local circuit (44 kms),'best conditions, similar HRM numbers 1:49 minutes.
Trek 1000, Conti 4000 - time 1:44. ie Trek is faster but not by much Haven't got markedelyfatter/older/ more decrepit. Can 'feel' difference, Trek is livlier, better in head winds etc but I would have liked MORE speed than just 2 or 3 minutes an hour. (not a racer of any description you understand but a happy cyclist - love both bikes - different animals)
Any ideas??
(my own theory is that my position/frontal area is not radically different - being perhaps a bit low for the tourer,and a bit high for the racer.)

carlstone

Just to add to the cunfusion when I first got off my hybridised slicked up 15 year old MTB and on to my lovely spangley Planet X I felt like a fish out of water and at first was SLOWER! on the Planet X. However after a couple of 'feeler' rides I got used to the different position/style/gears/brakes. Now I am getting consistantly faster on the Planet X and much prefer it. So much so I am not looking forward to winter when it will be consigned to the nice warm lockup and my hybrid will get the winter hammering it deserves :P .

You should be faster on a road bike just because it is lighter and you are in a more aero position. However if you feel more confident on the MTB this can negate any advantage (this is what I found at first). Persevere or get set up properly on the road bike and you'll never look back.

Rich Hcp

Weird!

I rode my MTB to work in 37 minutes, 7 miles.

Did the same route in 30 on the road bike!

The techniqe is very different, don't understand...

LeighB

I did some time trials in the early 1980's on a road bike with 27'' steel wheel rims. I up graded to alloy sprint (tubs) rims and for the first few time trials went slower with the lighter wheels. The theory being that the lighter wheels did not have the same flywheel effect and I had to adapt to them gain an advantage. Is it possible this is also the case when changing from the MTB to a road bike? Try riding the road bike only for a few weeks then time yourself again.

nickcuk

cexton wrote:

I am riding the same route to work twice a week with a long ride at weekends

Maybe you're just in the 'comfort' zone, sitting upright and pedalling at a steady but unchallenging cadence where the mechanical differences between the bikes don't show up as much. I'm sure I could get a wide variety of bikes to do the same speed even if I pushed a clapped out old MTB and held back on a slick road bike.

What kind of average speeds are you hitting for various distances so far ?

epicurus

cexton wrote:

If anything I feel I can get more power down on the mountain bike.

Can you explain more fully what you mean by this?

passout

This could just be a case of what you are used too. Your MTB is fairly fast compared to most (I had a Rock Lobster) but the road bike should be quicker in theory. If you are more confident on the MTB then your descending/cornering may be better I guess. Perhaps you need to ride the road bike even more and check that the riding position is right - start with your saddle height. Failing any of those suggestions - God knows.

Pagem

cexton wrote:

Hi,

I have been training for a 100 mile charity ride for the last couple of months. I own both a mountain bike and a road bike.

From reading this forum I believe I should be able to ride faster on my road bike compared to my mountain bike however if I ride the same route on both bikes my time/average speed etc is exactly the same.

I am wondering if I should just buy some road tyres for my moutain bike and do the charity ride on that. what do you guys think?

Cheers
:roll:

you're not confusing your moutain bike with a motorbike are you?

do you use a heart rate monitor? might be interesting to do two separate rides on the same course on both bikes. ride as per normal but record your heart rate. you might find you are actually working harder on the mtb and/or working less on the road bike even though your percieved effort tells you otherwise. just a thought.