How does a road bike compare to a mtb for speed?

explosifpete

This might seem like an odd question but i'm a keen xc mtber and I want to get in to some road riding as well.
Until I can afford a road bike I use my mtb to do road rides on but I just wondered how much slower this is?
I do a 10mile loop in just under 30 mins and my best ride so far is 20miles in 58.23mins on my knobbly tyres, I want to do the holy 25mile in an hour but it is so hard to keep that pace for any longer that about 3/4miles, d you think it is posible?

woody-som

If you change the knobbly tyres for some slicks, and you don't have rear suspension, and lock the front if you have it, then there isn't a huge difference.

In the really wet winter, snowy weather a few years ago I used the MTB and it was only marginally slower thant he road bike, unless you really push a road bike hard.

The slicks will make a difference, try and get the narrowest possible, I did hav some 1" but most seem to do 1.25" now, you will notice the increase in speed, but not sure about an extra 5mph, but for £20 or so a worthwhile change.

portuguese mike

I have an mtb with no suspension running road tyres and on my 12 mile commute it takes
4 minutes longer (40 mins v 36 mins) than on my winter road bike (canondale R900 with 'gaurds, lights etc) which equates to 2 mph slower. it would definatley be even slower than that on knobblies.

i reckon on a full on TT bike you would be getting pretty close to the 1 hour mark for a 25 if you can break the hour for 20 miles on your knobbly tyred mtb

explosifpete

I have got some slicks that i've only used once because I just ran out of gears on anything other than uphills and as I use it offroad alot.
That said there is a local hill that i've been trying to sprint up and the slicks could get me that edge to break 4 mins!

AndyGates

On a road bike you won't run out of gears, you can get more aero, and skinny slick tyres wee all over those knobbies. You're pretty quick from the sound of it. Borrow a road bike and cane it - you might find a new calling!

Mettan

explosifpete wrote:

I do a 10mile loop in just under 30 mins and my best ride so far is 20miles in 58.23mins on my knobbly tyres

For a MTB that's exceptional - typically, a Road bike will give you around a 1.5-3 mph ~ increase in your avg (flat-ish) - depnds on the terrain though - might see a greater increase if your doing longer rides with considerable climbing - all IMHO.

ut_och_cykla

For me there isn't much difference if you have slicks on the MTB (& no suspension) I don't ride my road bike in a very aggressive position & am probably flatter on the MTB than most so position to wind is similar. At 75kg I don't notice the 5 kg bike weight differnce much either unless going up hill for a long time. Unless you ride teh road bike like a roadie, fast & flat ish back, you won't notice much diffrence

hambones

Agree with last post - there will certainly be a difference and depending on your perception that could be a significant difference. I found that in terms of rolling speed the road bike was around 2mph quicker than slicked mtb.

I know someone who can ride a 10mTT on a full knobbly MTB in a long 22 mins, his best on a TT bike being just over 2 minutes quicker.

explosifpete

I know someone who can ride a 10mTT on a full knobbly MTB in a long 22 mins, his best on a TT bike being just over 2 minutes quicker.

bloody hell, he knows how to push it!

I should point out that when I do my little time trial it is really flat and that my heart trys to break out of my chest by the time I finish!

skavanagh.bikeradar

On my 10 mile commute I'm upto 4 minutes quicker on my road bike than the MTB and that's with narrow slicks on the MTB. Maybe it's a state of mind thing - I think the road bike is faster and push a bit harder.....but i'd say it's a lot easier to go fast on the road bike than the MTB.

Mar ge

I did a 100km event last Saturday with my MTB (hardtail - locked forks) on 1.4 Schwalbe Kojaks for the first time. Previously i've been only doing MTB events.
It makes a huge difference with the slicks - especially on cornering. Feels very cool indeed.
I'm about the same sort of speed (33km for an hour) on my MTB with knobblies.

With the slicks you can really feel the most difference when you are freewheeling - there is time to grab a breather rather than having to keep the gear spinning.